One hundred and thirty moms from across North America and beyond have graciously shared some of their mothering experiences with me through the Mothering Contexts Study Please check it out if you haven't already done so.
I really appreciate your time, your honesty and your willingness to participate!
I am looking to complete hundreds more... but at least for now to make my goal of 150 before I start back teaching on September 8th 2009.
Can 20 more surveys be done in 10 days? YES!!!
As for my own mothering lately, I've felt like a nag...
Me [the kids]
"Stop that!"
["Why?"]
"Don't do that to your brother"
[B1 removes leg from B2s back... Or, B2 continues to push B1 off the couch]
"STOP CRYING!!"
["I'm not crying!!"
"Where are your manners?"
["SorrEEEEEEE!]"
"That's not how we do things"
["Yeah, it is"]
"We don't run in a store"
(apparently WE do!)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Writing in a (blog) journal
Today's gem from my Robin Sharma's Daily Inspiration from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is:
Does a more public journal also allow for such awareness? Or, perhaps is the semi-private (who is reading this?) or quasi-public (someone could be reading this?) nature of blogging allow for a different kind of appreciation for what one is, purports or hopes to be?
On an always related note, I have 127 surveys! That is 127 mothers from across North America who have shared a little slice of their lives as mothers with me. Thank you all! My goal is 150 by September - so if you haven't yet done the Mothering Contexts Study please check it out soon!
Writing in a journal on a regular basis is very powerful. This helps you get to know yourself and deepen your self relationship. Your journal should be a place you visit and examine yourself. With the awareness that brings, you can then pledge to make better choices. And better choices lead to better results.
Does a more public journal also allow for such awareness? Or, perhaps is the semi-private (who is reading this?) or quasi-public (someone could be reading this?) nature of blogging allow for a different kind of appreciation for what one is, purports or hopes to be?
On an always related note, I have 127 surveys! That is 127 mothers from across North America who have shared a little slice of their lives as mothers with me. Thank you all! My goal is 150 by September - so if you haven't yet done the Mothering Contexts Study please check it out soon!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thank YOU (you know who you are)
for "linking" me up! I am now at 111 surveys completed ... and counting.
The Mothering Contexts Study is one way I am exploring mothering experiences. I am also completing in person and telephone interviews - basically hearing mothers' narratives.
As the summer comes to a close and my "back to work" date looms, I am reminded that this hiatus from my professional life was only temporary. I look forward to - with some apprehension, some excitement and just a little bit of concern - this next phase of my mother/work journey where B1 enters grade one, B2 goes to pre-school 4 half days a week and DOAD is off sabbatical. What the future holds I am unsure, but I am jumping in with both feet!
Friday, August 21, 2009
After This I Had to Add 51
51. Häagen-Dazs coffee
... after being on a liquid diet after having my wisdom tooth out - oh My!!
100 Surveys: 100 Things About Me (the first 50)
1. I love being a mom more than anything in the world.
2. The person I adore, admire and aspire to be like most in the world is my husband, DOAD (dad of all dads).
3. I am a writer.
4. I am at my best when I write, speak, teach, think about what I am passionate about.
5. The Mothering Contexts Study in a few short months has rekindled my career goals (please check it out).
6. It both delights and scares me when I see myself in my son (B1).
7. I sometimes worry that I put too much pressure on myself to be the best mother I can be.
8. I love to run.
9. I hate it when things are beyond my control.
10. I live away from my extended family.
11. I have developed close friendships with some incredible women, whom I am honored
to call friends.
12. I love the television show FRIENDS and actually had Friends Parties in university.
13. I've been to Japan, but spent most of my three days there either at the Holiday Inn or the airport.
14. My dearest friend in the world (who joined me in Japan) is expecting her first child.
15. It scares me that my youngest son has no (NONE, NADA, ZILCH, not even a little) fear...especially when I think of him as a teenager!
16. I really do want to change the world.
17. I want to have a mountain retreat (although I was a prairie girl).
18. I used to hate tuna and now that I finally like it, turns out the recommendation is to limit such fish to once a month!
19. I had braces in my thirties.
20. I have never broken a bone.
21. 20 is not completely true... does cartilage count? I broke my nose (actually the person who threw the baseball broke it)
22. I have always liked the number 22, since my birthday is January 22nd.
23. That's a cusp zodiac sign... which (I believe) allows me to be OCD, controlling and at times demanding of perfection and order (Capricorn) but also free spirited, a visionary and easy going (Aquarius).
24. My husband (who is an Aquarius) won't necessarily agree with #23.
25. I have had three miscarriages.
26. I still want to have another baby.
27. I hate peanut butter and jam.
28. I like peanut butter.
29. I like jam.
30. I used to want to be Madonna.
31. I am happy that wish never came true!
32. I have four tattoos.
33. I've run a half marathon in the dark through the mountains.
34. I have an almost 5 year old golden retriever.
35. I've been married for 10 years to an amazing man (see #2)
36. I will be 36 on my next birthday.
37. I once played Charades in the Great Barrier Reef for over 30 minutes stumping everyone with my three word movie. Turns out it's called Reservoir Dogs (not Reservoir OF Dogs!)
38. I love pictures and I'd like to become a better photographer.
39. I had no surgeries until I turned 34, and have since had three.
40. I love to hike.
41. I've published one book called Youth, Crime, and Society: Issues of Power and Justice.
42. I'm going to write a book on Mothering.
42. I want to write children's books.
43. I'd love to be able to work full-time AND be with my children full-time (so if anyone has a strategy or magic duplication device, please do let me know!)
44. My favourite hockey player when I was growing up was Dave Babych (number 44, Winnipeg Jets).
45. I have Ukrainian heritage and I am neither fond of borshch (beet soup) nor Holubtsi (cabbage rolls, but before looking it up I thought it was as I remember it sounding, "holup-chi") and Pedehey is not "heaven on a plate" to me.
46. I've belonged to numerous workout facilities (gyms) with very interesting names - from Energy (or E2, as the second location was called) to Fit 'n Firm.
47. I haven't worn a watch since June 2006, but before that I always had one on.
48. B2 was almost born: at home, in an ambulance, in an elevator, ... in a hospital room. He actually arrived on a stretcher temporarily parked in the doorway between the hallway and the room we would subsequently stay in.
49. When I got married in 1999 I had 5 grandparents present (maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, maternal great-grandmother), now only two remain (my Nana and my Grandma.
50. I love to sing and dance, but have always been self conscious of doing both.
2. The person I adore, admire and aspire to be like most in the world is my husband, DOAD (dad of all dads).
3. I am a writer.
4. I am at my best when I write, speak, teach, think about what I am passionate about.
5. The Mothering Contexts Study in a few short months has rekindled my career goals (please check it out).
6. It both delights and scares me when I see myself in my son (B1).
7. I sometimes worry that I put too much pressure on myself to be the best mother I can be.
8. I love to run.
9. I hate it when things are beyond my control.
10. I live away from my extended family.
11. I have developed close friendships with some incredible women, whom I am honored
to call friends.
12. I love the television show FRIENDS and actually had Friends Parties in university.
13. I've been to Japan, but spent most of my three days there either at the Holiday Inn or the airport.
14. My dearest friend in the world (who joined me in Japan) is expecting her first child.
15. It scares me that my youngest son has no (NONE, NADA, ZILCH, not even a little) fear...especially when I think of him as a teenager!
16. I really do want to change the world.
17. I want to have a mountain retreat (although I was a prairie girl).
18. I used to hate tuna and now that I finally like it, turns out the recommendation is to limit such fish to once a month!
19. I had braces in my thirties.
20. I have never broken a bone.
21. 20 is not completely true... does cartilage count? I broke my nose (actually the person who threw the baseball broke it)
22. I have always liked the number 22, since my birthday is January 22nd.
23. That's a cusp zodiac sign... which (I believe) allows me to be OCD, controlling and at times demanding of perfection and order (Capricorn) but also free spirited, a visionary and easy going (Aquarius).
24. My husband (who is an Aquarius) won't necessarily agree with #23.
25. I have had three miscarriages.
26. I still want to have another baby.
27. I hate peanut butter and jam.
28. I like peanut butter.
29. I like jam.
30. I used to want to be Madonna.
31. I am happy that wish never came true!
32. I have four tattoos.
33. I've run a half marathon in the dark through the mountains.
34. I have an almost 5 year old golden retriever.
35. I've been married for 10 years to an amazing man (see #2)
36. I will be 36 on my next birthday.
37. I once played Charades in the Great Barrier Reef for over 30 minutes stumping everyone with my three word movie. Turns out it's called Reservoir Dogs (not Reservoir OF Dogs!)
38. I love pictures and I'd like to become a better photographer.
39. I had no surgeries until I turned 34, and have since had three.
40. I love to hike.
41. I've published one book called Youth, Crime, and Society: Issues of Power and Justice.
42. I'm going to write a book on Mothering.
42. I want to write children's books.
43. I'd love to be able to work full-time AND be with my children full-time (so if anyone has a strategy or magic duplication device, please do let me know!)
44. My favourite hockey player when I was growing up was Dave Babych (number 44, Winnipeg Jets).
45. I have Ukrainian heritage and I am neither fond of borshch (beet soup) nor Holubtsi (cabbage rolls, but before looking it up I thought it was as I remember it sounding, "holup-chi") and Pedehey is not "heaven on a plate" to me.
46. I've belonged to numerous workout facilities (gyms) with very interesting names - from Energy (or E2, as the second location was called) to Fit 'n Firm.
47. I haven't worn a watch since June 2006, but before that I always had one on.
48. B2 was almost born: at home, in an ambulance, in an elevator, ... in a hospital room. He actually arrived on a stretcher temporarily parked in the doorway between the hallway and the room we would subsequently stay in.
49. When I got married in 1999 I had 5 grandparents present (maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, maternal great-grandmother), now only two remain (my Nana and my Grandma.
50. I love to sing and dance, but have always been self conscious of doing both.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Rogue Wisdom Tooth Gets Axed
Today I had oral surgery to remove a rogue wisdom tooth - I didn't get them in my teens like most! This so-called after care recovery is really cramping my style. All I have had to eat since last night's supper is chicken broth, a few crackers and water!
If you haven't filled out the Mothering Contexts Study please check it out.
I would REALLY, really, REALLY appreciate you passing along the link to other moms. I have 94 surveys completed and my goal by the end of the summer was 150.
I don't have this site linked to other blogs (perhaps with more traffic), so I would be delighted to have assistance on this. I am open to recruitment suggestions. Thus far, I have been reluctant to post anything onto more commercial mommy blogs or parenting sites.
Friday, August 7, 2009
91 Posts and 91 Surveys Completed!
This is actually officially the 92nd post, but I have made 91 posts on this blog (since 2006!) and now 91 awesome mothers have completed the Mothering Contexts Study.
Today I was looking at Robin Sharma's Daily Inspiration (from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari), a gift from two friends for my birthday. I went back a few pages to August 2nd, the day I began and completed Leg 5 of the Canadian Death Race 2009. It read the following
This resonates with me, for sure!
Today I was looking at Robin Sharma's Daily Inspiration (from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari), a gift from two friends for my birthday. I went back a few pages to August 2nd, the day I began and completed Leg 5 of the Canadian Death Race 2009. It read the following
To conquer, one first must yield. Rather than going against the change, one should flow with it. The nature of water is to flow. It goes with the current. It does not resist. It does not hesitate before it yields. But it is also one of the most powerful forces on the earth.
This resonates with me, for sure!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Go Death Racer!
We are back from Grande Cache and forever changed!! The death race experience was absolutely amazing. Leg 5 was a killer and lifer at the same time. It gave much more than it took, actually. It was an intense physical and emotional journey over 22 km of trail, including lots of up and a little down hills. The part I loved to hate and hated to love was filled with tree roots. I only fell 5 times!
Here are several shots from the weekend that inspired me to physically go beyond what I thought I was capable of.
A portion of Leg 5, racers enter below across the river after a quick jet boat ride to continue!
It was incredible. I finished the leg in about 3 hours, which was pretty amazing. B1 and B2 and DOAD were there at the finish line to celebrate with me. One of my first comments, "Who wants to go for a run?!" Ha!
This experience really taught me a lot about mothers as models. It is not simply what we do "as mothers" that defines our mothering, but what we do in the world that influences both how our children see us and how they view themselves. What else do you do that influences who you are and how your children see you? Please let me know via the Mothering Contexts Study.
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