A Moveable Mom

I am a believer in music therapy. It takes time and it is NOT easy to find the right tunes to turn around or to improve some interesting moods! I have different types of tunes for different parts of the house; calming for the bath, Buffett and Reggae for the backyard, a variety of genres in our family areas...for the variety of moods and personalities that arise from the 4 of us! I like to have music playing all the time-keeps my spirit and body moving! There are only a few weeks out of the year where, however, I DEPEND on music-beginnings and ends of school years. (Just so you know, Christmas music at the end of the school year. You heard it right, I can't explain it. It just works.) So, being an educator-with children in school-you can imagine the importance of finding the right music to keep our hearts happy when there is so much new-ness and unknown during the beginning of the school year. My family and I survived the first week of school (there should be a shirt for that...and...

My purse! (Handbag, satchel, pocketbook...whichever noun applies to you and your region of the country!) I spent two weeks carrying around an absolutely ADORABLE, weaved, red & blue...too small purse. My "stuff" (i.e. my life blood, security "blanket",etc...) was just busting out all over the place! I would reach in for my singing phone and had keys-money and all sorts of embarrassing goodies falling down around me. I have had a lot of missed calls these past few weeks. So, today, it was just me and the boys-translation: I needed to have my "stuff" together! Who was I kidding-"absolutely ADORABLE" + ME = disaster, disorganization, the list goes on and on. Old Faithful got pulled out-the one that I can fit a water bottle, kindle, 'Daring Greatly' book by Brene Brown (upcoming blog-I SWEAR, she and I would make the best of friends!!), epi-pen (I am a HOT mess sometimes!),...the list goes on and on. You're picking up on some patterns...

I love my job-don't get me wrong. It is the greatest, most stimulating, challenging and oh, so rewarding profession! As a mom of super silly boys, though-my summers "off" (fellow educators know why "off" is used very loosely!) have been the best (and most tiring)payment for a job well done during the school year. I got up early today for my first day back to work and just thought about these precious summer months that I spent with my boys. Time that I was able to fill with simple and humbling (humiliating?) experiences. Our bathrooms, filled with bathing suits-where you just felt around in the morning for the least damp one, threw it on, and topped it with shorts and a shirt. There-you're dressed...SUCCESS! My husband, the cook in our family-it's obvious why-especially on these weekday mornings when he abandons me...without frozen waffles! Nothing warms a momma's heart like the whiny tones of "daddy makes food we like" or my new personal f...

Hand, full of tissues *Eyes closing slowly *Boys home all summer scream "I'm bored"...

My husband, bless him (SEE,I have lived in the South for quite some time now), was recently persuaded by yours truly to take on a Pinterest project. Some creative DIYer painted and organized an adorable laundry room/closet. Hubby and I both know how much time we spend in that small area-why not make a soothing, therapeutic spot for a...blech job (has Webster's recognized 'blech' yet?) We found ourselves venting and discussing the project at our neighborhood pool and one of the EXACT conversations sounded like "my ironing pile was once THIS BIG! " What followed were a few laughs, more knowing nods and even more sharing and one-upping about similar or larger piles of ironing, piles of laundry...just PILES! How great and refreshing is that?! Plenty great and refreshing, I say. My mind made a sighing sound when I stopped and took in this modern mommy moment. No comparing how much work that was done while making a 5 course meal and hodge-podging a Martha Stewart-esque ...

One thing that gets me energized is a GREAT recommendation from a friend or friendly stranger for a new book, movie, song,etc...I decided to share what is working for me these days and would LOVE for you to add to my list (that's the best part of this village-besides, I have enough one sided conversations :) MUSIC I like to "Run It Off"; whatever it may be that I need to run FROM-a bummer exchange with someone, several hours of kid tantrums, the not so nice self-talk, whatever! My go to songs are 'Dare You to Move' by Switchfoot and 'F@*kin Perfect' by PINK. Try these for your warmup-and it won't matter what songs follow, you'll RUN all of your worries away! APPS songza.com (THE BEST-trust me on this one...music for every mood and activity), stickynotes (paperless POST-ITS on your phone or ipad, how cool is that?) WEBSITES kidpresident.com (this youngster is the genius behind this entry's title) and momastery.com are my top two blues beating...