Welcome!

Welcome to the first post at Balancing Life as a Mom!   

Here I plan to start a community of moms who want to share thoughts and ideas around the best ways to parent and fully enjoy this thing we call motherhood.  I’ll also be sharing my best tips on the things that matter most to me –

• Losing the baby weight
• Eating healthy & staying fit so I can keep up with my son (and new baby on the way!)
• Having fun as a family
• Staying organized so that our home runs smoothly with less stress
• Minimizing the “stuff” in our life
• Having stable finances and realistic future goals
• Keeping up a good relationship with my husband
• Finding time for me to fit in the things I love to do most to keep me sane and happy.
  

And I think these are things that, as moms, we can agree are pretty darn important.   

But it can seem overwhelming to fit it all in – especially when you are in that new baby/infant stage and have no idea how you will parent (or what type of parent you will be) and you are just trying to survive on a few hours of interrupted sleep here and there without damaging your child. 

And granted, it does get much easier as the kiddos get older, but each stage comes with its own challenges and setbacks – transitions to solids, mealtime fights, potty training, sleep training, once they start moving around more and getting into things, speech, developing their own little personalities, independent streaks…. 

And I’m personally not yet at the school-age, puberty or teenager phases, but I will be at some point, and I’ll be learning right along with you! 

Now, I understand that not every weight loss, parenting, relationship or organizational tip works for everyone.  Are my techniques foolproof?  No.  Is my son always perfectly behaved?  Not even close.  Do I have days where I want to pull my hair out, lock myself in the bathroom, and are consumed with guilt because I feel like a total failure as a parent?  Absolutely! 

But I’ve also had some pretty fantastic success so far.  And compared to the horror stories I hear from other moms, I feel like I must be doing something right.  So I wanted to create this blog to share what I’ve learned along the way, and what I will continue to be learning as time goes on and my kids continue to get older and advance through more phases and changes themselves.   

There’s an old African proverb that says:

“It takes a village to raise a child.”

Unfortunately most moms today don’t have access to that village situation.  We live father and father away from our families, friends, and loved ones (myself included – picture me waving to my beloved sister in Minnesota).  We have less time to spend with the ones who are around since most families need a two-person income to survive (check – I’m a mom who also works outside the home, and I really don’t love sending my son to daycare).  We are constantly uprooting our families due to new jobs.  It’s harder to make new friends, or keep up with our old ones, since we spend so much time working, running the home, and taking care of our little ones (I’m so guilty of this).  And thanks to suburban sprawl and rural living, we can spend a little too much time isolated from people in general (I love living in the country, but absolutely feel that it keeps me from being more connected). 

Luckily the internet and web-based communities like what I’m creating here can help shrink that and give you a “virtual village”.  We all need a support group – not only where we can read about things that interest us, but where we can ask questions and get direct answers on things that we are struggling with.  We need communities where our voice is heard and where we can be ourselves – dirty laundry included with no airbrushing allowed!  That’s my intended purpose with this blog. 

And I’d love for you to be a part of it.     

As you can see, this site is just beginning.  But I have so many fabulous things in store to come!  The best way to get connected and stay on top of everything is to enter your email address in the box below.  I promise not to spam you. Instead, you’ll get at least one email a week to provide you with helpful tips and suggestions to make your motherhood journey easier and lead you closer to the life you’ve always dreamed of having. 

Please bookmark BalancingLifeAsAMom.com to your favorites and visit often.  New blog posts, products and resources will be added over time since I can’t wait to share with you what I have learned.  You can also follow on Facebook.  I would love to see you there!  

All the best! 

Lesley