MY Hobbies?!

Last month, by some stroke of pure luck, I took the girls to the park, and there happened to be a Mom's Club hosting a play date there the same day. A sweet mom approached me, invited me to join, and since then, I've been able to join, gather with mamas and get Lennon around some kids her age...it's been great.

But one of the things that everyone does when they join this group is fill out a little paperwork...one of them being a little questionnaire about yourself.

Let me repeat that...a questionnaire about the MOM.

If you're a parent reading this, you probably can understand why i couldn't even remember the last time i had filled out something like this for MYSELF. For my kids, yes, all the time. But for me? It had been a hot minute."

So, one of the first questions..."What do you like to do for fun?"

I typed, "I like to be with my kids!"

Well, duh. This was a mom's group. They knew that already.

So while I really DO like to be with my kids for fun, I challenged myself to think further...what did I previously do that made me excited and gave me a feeling of exhilaration? What could I pick back up now, even with the crazy schedule we have? What could I begin now that I had found a new interest?

Y'all, I had to SLEEP on it in order to be able to answer these questions. When I came back to the sheet, I excitedly typed the things that I had either finally REMEMBERED that I had loved, or I was excited about the things that I had recently taken an interest in and would push myself to start! 

That week, I completed a DIY project with a mirror that I was trying to figure out how to get rid of. I'm now so proud of that piece, and our entryway with that mirror is my favorite place in our house. It didn't take a lot of time, and Ava and Lennon actually joined me to help complete it, but it was about rekindling the love and happiness I once had for crafting and art (that aren't of the tempera paint variety)! I started doing yoga again, and looked into different gyms in my area to get back into my other passion...health and fitness. It made me EXCITED, and in turn...I felt like a better mom, too.

The next week, I attended the "Mom's Night Out"...a quick little drinks/appetizer meet up where moms could just talk. In college, it was my FAVORITE thing to go out to eat. I literally gave myself a restaurant budget instead of a grocery budget. When Eric and I first got together, I'm not joking when I say we'd eat out, like, four nights a week. Getting out as an individual person, doing something I used to LOVE doing...it felt amazing.

Here's my message, not just to my fellow mamas, but to all parents in general...don't forget to fill out your OWN questionnaire. I'm not saying to literally sit down and fill out a sheet, but take inventory of what you're doing for your own enjoyment! You'll probably find that your numbers are WAY too low. 

Honor your passions, your interests, your natural talents. Grant yourself the permission to take time to enjoy these things. Enjoy them for yourself, and if possible, find a way to incorporate your family in order to spend MORE time with that passion.

Enjoy. <3