A 30 day Quality Time Challenge

As one whose identity is completely wrapped up in being a mom, my quest to be a better person means being a better mommy.  I know that I will never be a perfect mommy, and I doubt that any mom can honestly say they did a perfect job, but I also don't want to go to bed at night and realize that an entire day/week/month has gone by without any meaningful interactions with my child.  

I often have days when I am so overwhelmed with daily tasks (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc) that I forget my kids need some undivided attention.  I am blessed with children that play very well on their own, and usually play well together, and a baby that is laid back and easy.  I do not want to take advantage of this blessing, and spend their entire childhood reorganizing the file cabinet and tagging JBF merchandise.  (Note:  As soon as my husband's new career path is more stable and lucrative, I vow to NEVER EVER under any circumstance sell clothes at a consignment sale again.  The sorting, hanging, tagging, organizing, dropping off of resale clothing is the bane of my existence. )

As a small step to becoming a better mommy, I am embarking on a 30 day challenge, starting Monday, to do something special with my kids each day.  I have a whole book of crafts/games/recipes that I have every intention of doing with my girls, but don't ever seem to accomplish.  It is time to open my book and do a fun activity with the kids and blog about it for accountability and to share some fun ideas.

Please feel free to join me in my quest.  I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts.

- 

Week 1: Plastic tub jungle and something more important

I had big plans to get lots of stuff done today, since it was a stay home day.  I was laying on the couch this morning trying to get enough energy to start working and M came to join me.  I hugged her and said "I need to get up."  She looked at me with her big brown eyes and said "You need to NOT get up,"  and then cuddled up next to me.  The work waited.  

Some things are just more important than organizing.  :)

But I did manage to get a project done that has been nagging me.  I had trash bags and trash bags full of outgrown and out of season clothing and shoes sitting in the basement, waiting to be sorted.  I got up the nerve to carry them all up and have a sorting party.  The girls made signs and carried clothes to piles while I sorted. I even found an entire winter wardrobe for M that D had outgrown.

The results 7 tubs, 1 box, 5 trash bags of stuff to sell, a tub to play in, and one giant laundry pile!  Now I need a big strapping man to help me carry all the tubs back downstairs!  

Goal 1: The Quest to be a HOTTT Mama...

Health and physical wellbeing...

Over the past several years, I have let my health and body get completely out of control.  There is no reason, excuse, or justification for being so overweight and unhealthy.

There are a variety of reasons that I want to get my body in shape and healthy.  I want to live a long healthy life and lower my risk for heart disease/ diabetes/ etc; I want to get healthy for my children and be a good example.  I do not want my kids to develop the eating and exercise habits that I have.  And to be quite honest, it would be nice to be a hot mama (MILF, if you will).

Ultimately my goal would be to change my lifestyle and get to a healthy weight.  My ideal weight is 160, but I am setting my goal at 170.  I would like to become physically active and have a more active family life, and inspire my husband and children to be healthier and make life long healthy choices.

I have a variety of ideas that I would like to implement, but as I mentioned before, I am going to try to set small manageable goals so that I don't get discouraged and overwhelmed.  I might even post my before pictures one of these days!  :)  Stay tuned...