I have decided to begin documenting my motherhood experiences, along with others in my life, to share the honest, messy, and beautiful experiences that we share as mothers in a topsy-turvy world. This world that wants us to be perfect, where good enough feels like it’s never enough. This is managing motherhood.
My Journey to Motherhood
Since this is day one of our managing motherhood blog, I’ll start by sharing that I’m a mom of 5 daughters who have taught me the deepest lessons. They have all been incredibly patient with me as I shed years of childhood trauma to embrace the intimacy and joy that mothering my way could be.
So, first things first. I have five daughters. Alana is 32, Christina is 28, Sara is 20, Laura is 9, and Victoria is 7. I live on Vancouver Island in a stunning small town and my older kids are all within half an hour of me, although of course Victoria and Laura live with me.
Managing Motherhood
This week in my managing motherhood journey I’ve learned that journalling actually works.
The other night I had an argument with my nine-year-old about staying in her bed at night. At that moment, having nobody to call and vent to as I usually do during panicked moments. I then realized that there was an app for that. The app I found is called Penzu. It’s a journaling app that saves to your phone and allows you to look back at it. This means that you can see how far you’ve come and what may have changed about your outlook on life.
If you are looking for a place to jot down your feelings and vent about motherhood. Or simply find a place to practice self-care (yes, writing can be self-care). Then definitely download the free Penzu App (and no, I’m not sponsoring the app). I have found myself writing in it daily and since I started my feelings of overwhelm have definitely diminished.
I’m hoping to write every day, however, you know, I’m not so great at keeping up with things like that. Surely I’ve purchased 10 journals since January and have maybe written three or so pages in each of them. I’m also pretty sure my kids have scribbled throughout them all. This app is saving me from all of that. I don’t have to flip to the page I want or judge myself for not writing as much as I had planned. It’s really so simple and a definitely motherhood hack.
Sending you so much love as you brave motherhood one coffee at a time!
