Dear Mom, 

Now that I am a mom, I want to thank you for all you’ve done.  Before I had kids I had a totally different perspective of my parents, life, and children.  I never thought “oh you’re baby is so cute.” What I thought was thanks for posting a million pictures of your baby online I don’t care about. 

My mom was just my mom, someone I took for granted.  I expected her to help me in everything I need anytime. 

Now that I have two children (a toddler and infant!), my whole perspective of the world has changed. It’s something you can’t describe to someone who does not have children. Just like you can’t describe how it feels to have a sibling to a single child, or what it’s like to have a chronic disease to a healthy person. Becoming a mom is forever changing in every way. 

So, on this Mother’s Day, mom, I want to thank you for dealing with the long pregnancy (of twins), the nausea, cravings, mood swings, weight gain, stretch marks, turning dads hair grey when he heard about twins, and whatever else may have happened (the list is never ending).

I want to thank you for the long sleepless nights of feeding screaming babies and protecting us from killing ourselves and each other. I want to thank you for giving up most of your free time (who am I kidding, all of your time) to us.  I want to thank you for giving up your full time job to care for us and help us grow.  

Oh my goodness, let’s not even talk about the toddler tantrums and meltdowns! I’m not sure how you did it with a boy and twin girls! I guess that’s why you don’t remember most of it! Thank you for changing poopy and pee diapers with a wrestling monkey (or whatever we were), because it sure is hard sometimes. 

I want to thank you for all the great experiences you provided to us.  All the wonderful vacations, day trips, toys, and playtime you provided have made me and my sister and brother who we are (which by the way is awesome). 

The list goes on and on, and would take forever to write it all out.  

 Now that I’m a mom I understand what it’s like to wake up every hour to make sure my baby is still breathing. I know what it’s like to yearn for a nap and sleep but then toss and turn worrying if the baby is okay without you. Or finally get free time and just wonder how the kids are or have nothing left to talk about but how the baby babbled or crawled (at one time I would have completely rolled my eyes at this). I know what it’s like to want your child to have everything but also know you need to limit and teach them about the world. I know the struggle of balancing work and caring for kids, trying to keep friendships alive, having date nights and trying to talk about something besides the kids. 

Thank you for holding my hand, drying my tears, spending all your hard earned money to take me on trips and experiences to help me grow. Thank you for rocking me to bed, reading me countless books, and never giving up on me. 

Again, the list goes on and on and will continue to grow as the children and I grow. 

I also apologize for all those times we hide in the clothing racks while we were shopping. The teenage years in general and the lack of appreciation I have given you before having my own children. 

I am very blessed and lucky to have a mom (also dad- but it’s not Father’s Day yet) who are willing to help whenever needed. Besides the amazing mom support you provide, we always joke about the services of mom and dad including but not limited to: babysitting, laundry, yard work, food shopping, dog sitting, painting, bed and breakfast and many other jobs now that you are retired. 

So on this Mother’s Day I say thank you for all you have done and continue to do for all our families. Love you mom! 

My almost two and a half year old isn’t ready for a lot of the crafts you see on blog posts. 

So I decided to create some easy crafts for toddlers who don’t have the dexterity quite yet to use scissors or exercise caution with sparkles. 

So let’s start really simple with painting. For each holiday we have been painting an object related to the holiday and punching a hole in it and hanging it on door knobs or suction cups or using tape and sticking on doors. 

But for this holiday we painted eggs and bunnies using the washable sparkle paint, put in an old plastic egg carton. Then we took them all and made a paper wreath out of it to hang by cutting out the middle of a paper plate and gluing the pictures, Easy peasy! 

Another easy project is buying this under two dollar cardboard egg kit! I got mine at Walmart but I’m sure there are lots of different ones at craft stores. Now you can paint them yourself or they come with a dye kit. 

Next is the cotton ball Easter bunny! Sure, I had to help with the glue and the eyes a bit but she loved sticking on the cotton balls everywhere and placing the face! You can go more detailed with an old child as well. We used a carrot Easter ribbon we had and then a loop ribbon on the back to hang it on the door.  This also makes an easy gift to a grandparent or family member. 

What you need is a paper plate, cotton balls, glue or glue stick, ribbon, pink construction paper, scissors, googly eyes, and any other decoratons(nose whisker mouth). 

And get creative! It’s a cheap project too! 

Glue the pink ears on and then use cotton balls to line them! 

I’m sure you’ve all seen, heard, and been drilled that breast is best. Breast is best. Breast is best. 
So what about moms who can’t or choose not to breastfeed? What type of message does this send?  

This letters for the new mom, the mom struggling to breastfeed, the mom who chooses not to, or is unable to breastfeed, and to the moms who are strictly breastfeeding. 
Dear Mom or mom to be, 

Congrats! You will soon or have a little cutie pie! You may have noticed the ads, commercials, and educational information that says breast is best and tells you how fabulous your baby will grow up to be if they are breastfed. Or maybe you heard you will lose weight and still have big boobs?  
Or maybe you have hit reality. To the mom struggling with breastfeeding, I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to feel the intense pressure To breastfeed and are unable to produce enough milk damnit. stop looking at all the forums giving advice or the moms asking what to do with their abundant amount of breastmilk overflowing from the their faucets, it will only make you feel worse. 

Yes you can try supplements, you can pump before and after and all night and day and still not be able to make enough milk, but there’s no shame in giving formula, that’s what it’s made for, feeding a baby! Maybe you work and can’t pump, or have a sick baby, or whatever reason or not you are having difficulty, stop feeling like a failure.
I’ve been there, twice! Two preemies with poor underdeveloped latching skills in the nicu. Or maybe you were sick  or developed mastitis or one of the many fun side effects of breastfeeeding you weren’t told about. I’ve been there. 
Maybe it’s gotten to the point you’ve developed anxiety or depression and are no longer enjoying the precious moments with your beautiful baby. You just don’t understand why none of the supplements medications gallons of water pumping and all the other tricks aren’t working. They said it would be easy? All my friends are having no problems, why can’t I just do it? There must be something wrong with me.
Maybe you see all these photos of moms breastfeeding or posts about milk overproduction and you feel like strangling someone. I’ve been there. 
 Maybe you’re afraid of the looks you get in public feeding your baby a bottle. Maybe you change the topic when someone talks about feeding your baby. 
On the other hand, maybe breastfeeding came easy. Maybe you don’t understand why everyone complains about breastfeeding? Maybe you scoff at formula feeding moms and just don’t get it. Maybe you enjoy every moment of breastfeeding and having the freedom to whip them out wherever and whenever you want.  

To mom who feels like a breastfeeding failure and cry over not being able to feed your baby, YOU ARE FEEDING your baby. A happy mom makes  a happy baby. Whatever you feed your baby, breastmilk, formula or both, you should be proud. Proud you are a mom, proud you are doing your best, proud you are making the best choice for you and your baby, proud to be you!
When you look back at this short period in your life you want to be proud and happy, not miserable. Do what’s best for you there is no shame in any choice.
To the mom to be, don’t be afraid do your best with whatever choice you choose and if it doesn’t work there’s always help or another choice, don’t feel stuck in a corner. You’ll do great and be proud. 

To the happy breastfeeding moms, I hope this article helps you understand it’s not easy for everyone and be understanding.
Finally, to the struggling moms who feel like failures, you are amazing, stop killing your self and be happy. Looking back after my first I can’t believe I put myself in such a tail spin over breastfeeding, I wasted time worrying instead of enjoying. The public and healthcare puts far too much pressure on a new mom and sends the wrong message. Enjoy the free time your using for pumping googling and crying instead for snuggling with baby and reading books

You are an awesome! 

Mom no matter how you feed your baby, formula or breast, keep Up the good work and smile!  Your baby will grow up to be smart and happy because you are happy and you spend time with your little one.