As a stay at home mom, my days are filled with repetition of a routine surrounded by complete and utter chaos. Of course we have the essential everyday things that are what I call the repetitive routine like wake up, change diaper, get dressed, breakfast, school, nap, lunch, and then dinner & bedtime.
It is the same EVERY DAY with a few minor changes here and there. The space in between is just absolute chaos and I could have never fathomed how insane raising young children could be. So… with all this going down it can be extremely difficult to find ME in all the chaos.
I have always had a very strong sense of self and am a very passionate person, but I have noticed the deeper I have gotten into motherhood the farther away I feel I am getting from myself. I can barely find time to fold the load of laundry I have been drying for two days – how am I going to find myself in all this madness? I used to get my hair done EVERY six weeks and since having my kids… I think its roughly 3 times in 6 years. Its crazy.
When my oldest was about 3 I remember getting in the car and putting on one of her kiddie CD’s to appease her and it hit me… Why was I letting her dictate the music ALL the time?
Music has and will always be one of my greatest passions. Not so much playing it, but listening and hearing the stories that songs tell. My parents were both music-loving hippies and instilled that love in me, and I will forever be grateful. A very large chunk of my youth was spent attending concerts and festivals and I absolutely love the experience of live music.
So I decided right then and there that from now on we would have a routine music time at home for her to hear all the awesome kiddie music and mommy gets to choose in the car.
It was a small victory for me to earn a tiny bit of myself back.
Music helps me to express myself to my children and I love using it in my parenting. One of my favorites is when any of my 3 babies gets upset at the store because I am refusing something I politely ask them if they want me to sing the song, and then I begin to sing Rolling Stones, “You cant always get what you want.” My children despise it at 1st, but they usually start singing along with me and then we will walk out and the wanted item is happily still inside the store.
It’s just a little bit of me intertwined into parenting.
Finding ME after motherhood has been an extremely difficult layer to this parenting thing and I am finding myself constantly having to work on it. I feel it is important to know yourself and be honest with who that person is to your children. With music I feel I am giving my sweeties a little peak into my soul and cant wait to share all the greats with them as they get older.
Do you have any passions that shine through in your parenting?
How do you find your ME?
