Tonight before bedtime I had two naked boys running around the house.
The diaperless 2-year-old was left alone for a few minutes in his room, only to be discovered moments later smearing poop into the carpet.
My bed was covered with unfolded clothes and instead of taking the time to fold them, this tired pregnant mama (of another boy!) threw them on the floor to deal with tomorrow.
The art room was left with scraps of paper and markers thrown about.
Not all evenings are like this. But, tonight just happened to be one of them.
And that’s just part of being a mom.
Being a mom is a lot of work. I never knew what to expect before becoming one. Does anyone really? But once you do discover what’s on the other side of birthing a child, you find you have a common bond with all the mothers before you – a camaraderie of sorts – a secret knowing what this job is really like. You become part of the mama club.
When you are a member of the mama club, you don’t have to explain the rewards of being a mom. You don’t have to explain the joys. You don’t have to explain the challenges. We moms are fully aware of them all.
And sometimes we get super busy. We get caught up in “keeping up” – trying to be like others or just trying to make it through the day. We put on that face. You know…the one that tells the world, Everything is just fine. But sometimes…it just isn’t. And no matter what…we need each other. We need to know we’re not alone. We need to slow down. We need to rest. We need time with friends. We need wine or dark chocolate. We need reality TV. We need a good book, a good laugh, a good bubble bath or a retreat away from it all.
Sometimes we need to shed our doubts. Sometimes we need to cry. Sometimes we need to laugh our asses off.
Sometimes we need to reconnect to our intuition, express our creativity, get messy, and live out our hidden dreams.
Sometimes we just need to mother our OWN hearts.
And that’s what Mothering with heART is about – taking time for ourselves and learning how to integrate the need for creativity, downtime, play and FUN into our daily lives while raising children. And when we learn to nourish our own souls each day, we are nourishing our children’s souls, too. Because that’s the cool thing about being a mom. We’re bonded to these little people. And they sense when we are happy. They learn from our example. So the more we return to our true selves and our authentic way of being in the world, we end up passing that on to our kids. And that means more inner peace, love, joy and happiness for us all!
I’m incredibly honored and excited to share with you a group of AMAZING moms, business women, writers, artists, life coaches and much more who are sharing parts and pieces of their mothering journey with us in my newest online experience, Mothering with heART. Check out the link below to meet them!
Mothering with heART Contributors
And the best part is, many of these contributors have a SPECIAL giveaway just for YOU! Check out these incredible gifts below. All you have to do for your chance to win one is:
1) take a moment to leave a comment on this blog post by Monday, May 20th, 2013.
2) for another entry, stop by and like A Free Spirit Life Facebook page. Already a fan or don’t use Facebook? That’s ok…simply share the link about Mothering with heART with your friends and let me know about it. I’ll enter you in the drawing a second time!
The giveaways include:
Win a spot in the upcoming e-course, Sexy, Raw & Radiant – from Mothering with heART contributors Stephanie Perkinson and Leah Kent.
Win a spot in the upcoming e-course, Dream Lab – from Mothering with heART contributor, Amy Bowers.
Win a copy of the book, Sacred Pregnancy (AND the magazine!) – from Mothering with heART contributor, Anni Daulter.
Win a FREE ebook, “How to Navigate your Biz While Staying True to You” (to be released in June) – from Mothering with heART contributor, Megan Monique.
Win a $25 gift certificate for the natural online store, Hip Mountain Mama – from Mothering with heART contributor, Suzy Hawbaker.
Win a FREE ebook, Lemonade & Fireflies: Inspiration for a Magical Summer – from Mothering with heART contributor, Shawn Ledington Fink.
Win a FREE copy of the new WishstudioPress zine, Glitter & Grunge – from Mothering with heART contributor, Mindy Tsonas.
Win 4 100% cotton naturally dyed handkerchiefs – from Mothering with heART contributor, Jennifer Schmitz.
Win a spot in the first ever, Mothering with heART e-course – from me.
Leave your comment NOW for your chance to win! I’ll announce a winner on Monday, May 2oth.
AND…from now through May 20th, you can register for Mothering with heART at the discounted price of $59!
To register visit: Mothering with heART Special Discount.
Your Personal Reflection:
What does “mothering with heart” or “mothering YOUR heart” mean to you?
Wow! What an amazing selection of gifts! I am registered in the Mother with heART course already but would love to gift a spot to my sister-in-law!
This is a wonderful opportunity, learning through these online communities is something I am enjoying very much.
I am so excited about mothering with heART! What great give-aways too! I can sooooo relate to your crazy evening–that is life as a mom!
This is an incredible giveaway!!!! Thank you 🙂 I am so looking forward to the mothering with heart class on July.
Entering this drawing with my heArt full! My daughter
turns four today, and her sweet, beautiful brother, 3 1/2
weeks old, get to celebrate with us this year!
Thank you for sharing your motherhood journey, and inspiring us all! Looking forward to registering for the mothering with heART course!
I found you through Shawn at Awesomely Awake. It’s so wonderful to find one persons words and thoughts who are relevant and inspiring, only to then find more of that. And believe me, I could use all the help I can get!
Thank you Shannon so much for your honesty in this post. Mothering is a journey that none of us could prepare for, but it is an amazing one! Thank you for this giveaway and your newest e-course! I CANNOT WAIT=)
such generous giveaways!!!…this is awesome…we all need a little mama love 🙂 thanks for this wonderful opportunity!
Wow…this page is overflowing with love and abundance! And I love this personal reflection: Mothering with heart / mothering your heart…a very important distinction…for the first few years of my childrens life I was so busy pouring Love into mothering them I forgot about “mothering me”…Very much back on track now!
(And I shared the link on Twitter,…You have such a generous spirit, you continue to inspire me…thank you!)
I am already registered for Mothering with HeART, but would love to win a space for my pregnant-for-a-third time sister. I’m currently taking your Inside Out e-course, and I love it! I also love many of the contributors that you have lined up for Mothering with HeART. Good things to look forward to this summer! Thank you!
Mothering from the heart means staying true to yourself as a woman and as a mother. I feel that motherhood gets easier when you don’t get stuck in all the expectations and advices everyone gives to you. Sometimes, we just need to relax… but that’s not always easy!
Wow, what a great bundle giveaway!! I think mothering with heart means to follow your own heart when deciding what’s best for your little ones and your family. You know what’s best, what their needs are, and how to be there for them in all situations.
I think this is a great idea- sharing and learning and connecting as mother and nurturers of the heart! Love
Mothering with heart to me- means being present and being in that moment- not of that moment. 😉
Thanks Shannon to you & your contributors for such great giveaway prizes. I love hearing that your take on Mothering your heart. Strangely I always find reassurance in hearing that every other mother has those great days & some of those not-so-great days. We all know they do, but until it is voiced by another, it sometimes seems unlikely, like you are the only one who’s house is upside-down or has crabby kids. I think Mothering your heart is doing whatever brings you a bit of piece & joy. Whether it is creating something, spending time with someone special (your kids, your husband, etc) or even just sitting quietly with a nice warm tea (one of my favs!). Whatever feeds your mind & soul for you. 🙂
beautiful!
what amazing offerings! i would love a chance to win any of these beautiful things. so glad i found my way here…thanks for the link, mindy!
How generous Shannon!!! xxO
This is a wonderful giveaway! I think mothering with HeART means being the best mom that I can be while staying true to myself and my art which is writing. I hope to teach my kids to follow their own art and their dreams.
I love these inspiring mothering communities….reminds me every day to be grateful for what I have and keep looking for the best in my life. 🙂
Oh my how I would love to win any of these 🙂
I love mommy prizes! Please pick me!
Thanks to each of you for your wonderful comments. Just LOVE this mama love going on. For those of you who didn’t win, consider joining one of the e-courses or downloading an e-book from one of our awesome Mothering with heART contributors. They truly are an inspiraiton and it will be a wonderful gift for YOU and your self-care this summer. Big hugs to you ALL… xo