WonderWell

I am honored to be featured in speaking on my favorite topic: women’s mental health.

Grateful to Maureen, the writer, for a wonderful interview and writing collaboration. Thank you for letting me get my writer-hands on this piece a bit. And thank you to whomever at The Key who heard my podcast and reached out to set it all up. Tune into the on YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts for more.💕

This is my mama leading that conga line at our wedding. She left us here on Earth nearly twenty years ago today. That means, many people who know me have never known her.
So I’m going to say a few things and if you’re someone who has also lost their mom, I sure wish you share in the comments with us today a thing or two you wish we knew about her. I’ll start.

When this picture comes up in memories I’m instantly transported to the little beachside playground where I had taken three tiny kids to burn off some steam because they needed outside and running and it was free.

I remember I was so stressed and so sad and absolutely convinced I was doing it all wrong and messing these little humans up because of it.

Then, I climbed on this wild, spinning playground piece and literally couldn’t stop myself from laughing. Laughing. Out loud. I wasn’t even sure I was capable of that anymore.

When I saw this picture later, I remember thinking, man, I miss that girl. We should hang out with her more.

I’m not sure if that moment is what helped me give myself grace and start looking to inject more joy into our lives, but regardless of when, that did happen. And ever since, when I see this photo it feels emblematic of my parenting journey.

Because, when I stopped being so hard on myself, let go of comparison and unrealistic expectations and instead chose to align my life with what I valued, I looked up and found so many moments of unadulterated joy.

Parenting is hard. But it doesn’t have to steal all our joy. In fact, if we let it, parenting makes joyful moments that much sweeter.

Hang in there parents. Your belly-laugh moments are coming. Just make sure you allow yourself the time to soak them in.

It’s wonder Wednesday and the second slide will explain why it’s taking all kinds of effort I order to find the Wonder and really feel slide one. But, I just need to look back over the last week and realize, rain or shine, there have been plenty of Awe inspiring moments! How about you? Share what brought you some wonder in the comments.💕