I think every kid takes a few toys in the bath, but the amount my toddler brings… might be a little weird.
Last night during Mila’s bath, I counted: ten ponies, seven Barbies, a Barbie boat, six empty bottles, two bath books, a play broom, countless numbers, countless blocks, and all the bubbles that could fit.
To top it off, she asked me to get in the bath with her. Unless we took half of them out, there was no room for me to fit. She ended up chooses all her toys instead.
The amount she brings in is strange, but at least she has fun… right?
Sometimes you feel like you’re close to the top of the world. Just when you’re right at the top, you come tumbling down.
That was metaphoric, but yesterday that’s sort of what literally happened.
With a day off and a long to do list, I was running all over the place. I worked, planned a lot of things, and wanted to take pictures for my plant page. The latter is what got me.
There was something missing for my picture, but it was on the shelf over my bed. I had just grabbed a few things off of there and didn’t even think twice about doing it again. So, off I went.
When I stepped up, I put my foot between the bed frame and the mattress. Then, I lifted my other foot up…
Obviously my footing wasn’t as good as I thought.
I fell, heard a crack, and then felt pain and numbness all throughout my ankle and foot.
Mila witnessed it all and I felt so awful. I got my phone and told her to call Gigi (my mom) because I I needed help. She did so amazing.
After evaluating it and not being sure if it was broken, I went to the ER.
Four hours and a few X-rays later, I found out there was, thankfully, nothing broken. I did tear some ligaments though.
It hurts so bad to walk. I’m stuck on the couch today with ice and two amazing nurses. They’re not professionally trained, but they know where the snacks are and love to help.
My mom fail this week was literally the fall, but also thinking everything needed done in twenty-four hours. It was a painfully, humble reminder not to overwork myself.
To every mom who feels like she’s failing, you’re doing the best you can.
To honor that, I wanted to have another diversity talk with Mila. I figured to keep her full attention, I’d use her biggest motivation: m&ms. The girl loves them and always sneaks them. I guess I can’t blame her for that.
Anyways, m&m’s are a perfect way to showcase different skin colors, but we’re all human on the inside.
I lined her m&m’s up and asked her what colors they were. She told me all of the colors and I mentioned how all of them were all different. I talked about how people all have different skin colors too.
Then, I asked her if she would be sad if I told her she couldn’t have certain colors of m&ms. Of course she was. She told me she liked them all.
With that, I told her in the past, boys and girls who were black weren’t allowed to play with boys and girls with white skin. She seemed upset by this. Yet, i explained that some people judge others by their skin color.
Without giving her much more thought, I cut an m&m in half.
She seemed a little shocked, but I asked her if she thought the other m&ms looked the same on the inside. With a quick nod of her head, she pointed to another one and I sliced it in half too. It may be aggressive, but she liked it.
I told her that even thought people look different on the outside, we’re all humans on the inside. We have differences, but we still have the same emotions too.
Of course, as she gets older, these conversations will get more complex.
I’ll never claim to know what racism is like to experience. The only thinks i can do is teach my daughter to see people’s differences, but love them for their character.
Kids will change the world, but it starts with teaching them about diversity, even with m&ms.
Here’s some videos about Martin Luther King Jr. that Mila enjoyed this morning:
No matter if you’re stuck watching football, having a lazy day, or are needing a minute to yourself, self care is essential. Moms, especially, need a minute to themselves.
Finding out what calms your soul and clears your head is the self care for you. If you can nourish your body too, then it’s even better.
During the first few months after COVID hit, I got really into plants and helping our environment. They sort of go together, so that makes sense.
I found that taking care of plants and learning about them eased my anxiety so much.
Somehow a few plants has turned into a mini, indoor jungle, but I love it. They’ve also helped me want to take care of myself better too.
Hello self care.
Today, I want to share a little face mask recipe and give a plant recommendation and tip. This way, you can see one part of my self care journey. Maybe you’ll even want to try this self care moment.
Two things Mila and I are constantly running out of is avocados and honey. She will sit and just eat both.
They’re also pretty awesome for your skin too!
To make a mask, mash up half an avocado and 1 1/2 teaspoons of honey. Mix them up and apply. Use the other half for avocado toast the next morning.
Make sure to save the avocado seed too! I’ll make a post about what you can do with those.
Apply the mask to your face and keep it on for 15 minutes. After, wash off and do your normal skincare routine.
During the 15 minutes is a perfect time to do planty tasks.
If you don’t have any plants, snake plants are perfect beginner plants. You can get them at Lowe’s or the one pictured is from Lively Root.
They’re such easy plants. Snake plants tolerate low light, are drought resistant (which means you don’t have to water them constantly), and do well in household humidity.
Anyways, while waiting for my mask to do work it’s magic, I dusted my snake’s leaves. Dusting helps make sure your plant gets as much sun as it can. Even though this is a low light plant, it still needs to get as much as it can.
Self care is something everyone should make time to do. Mila put our DIY mask on too and helped me with our ‘planties.’ She just refused to take a picture.
Find something you love. Maybe it’s plants and masks or maybe not. Either way, you deserve self care on Sundays or any day.
When a quick trip to run some errands turn into making sure all their favorite toys have to go with us. Then then insisting said toys cannot stay in the car by themselves.
Oh, the horror of that possibility.
Once you’re inside of said errand spot, holding the toys becomes quite boring. They start to play on the floor.
As it’s time to leave, they forget one on the ground. But there’s no man left behind here.
You’re five minute trip, easily becomes thirty minutes. They only want to take one toy inside, so you’re arms are fuller than before.
It was so early, that I felt like I was the only person awake in the whole entire world. I didn’t feel alone though. You were with me. I felt your presence all around my body and inside my mind.
Some days I miss you more than any thing else. Those days, my grief runs deeply. It’s hard to have your child, that you love so much, be gone for so long. Other days your energy shines so bright. It’s like you’re not physically here with us, but your love and light is. Whether it’s while Mila plays, when we light your candle, or mornings like these, you’re always with us.
I drank hot tea from your ‘J’ cup. It warmed me and helped the calmness you bring spread throughout.
As I sit here, that warmth feels like you’re hugging me.
Even almost five years into this grief journey, I ache for everything I missed with you: your deep breathing while you slept, the look in your eyes when you saw me, and the sound of your voice. That’s the funny thing about grief. It doesn’t matter how far you’re out, it’s always right there.
In the calmness of the world and in myself, I can imagine all the things I wish I knew of you. It’s not the real thing, but it’s all we have.
I love you and miss you. I’m so thankful for this morning, full of you.
With Martin Luther King Jr day quickly approaching, I knew I wanted to do an activity with Mila.
Plus, I thought it’d be fun to share beforehand in case you have your child home from school and want to do a productive activity with them.
Mila and I talk about race a lot. It’s important to me that she grows up anti-racist, especially in the world we live in now. It’s never too early to start those conversations. She has black barbies and dolls, books with diverse characters, and watches shows with people of all races.
Still, talking about MLK with her was a must. During this activity, I mentioned his name and talked about how people have different skin color. We also talked about how she would play with anyone, no matter what they looked like. She seemed shocked when I told her some people don’t like others because of the color of their skin.
Back to the project though!
This is an easy art project that actually took less than five minutes. The conversation we had before, during, and after spanned beyond that though.
I started off by asking Mila what she thought her skin tone was between the three colors. She chose the middle color which was called “Territorial Beige.” It was interesting to see her perception of her skin tone.
This shade went in the middle because I wanted an ombre affect. Of course, you can do whatever color sequence you want.
I took a paint brush and painted her hand. Then we pressed it on the canvas. When pressing their hands down, make sure to get all of their fingers too. If not, it’ll be really faint. Finally, I cleaned her hand off and did the process two more times.
That part really is that easy.
After her handprints, or she calls them paw prints, dried, it’s time for the words. I ended up painting the phrase, “small hands change the world.’
You can use any quote or phrase here. There are a ton of MLK quotes that would work perfectly.
I have some more ideas to do for Black History Month that I want to share. They’ll be posted in the second half of the month. I have a few special activities for Valentine’s Day that I know you’ll love just as much!
If you like this activity or try it, let me know in the comments!
This is the side of motherhood that doesn’t get talked about a lot.
The times where it’s 2am and there’s been an accident. Instead of getting mad at your child who’s already upset, you choose to do the harder thing.
You strip the bed, get it cleaned up, and then take every clean blanket to the living room.
They’re still crying. It’s disappointing and when you’re almost three, you have big emotions. A single accident feels world shattering, but it’s not.
It’s the decision to sleep in another bed or, in our case, make a huge, blanket sleep space in the middle of the floor. You tell them it’s much more fun to have a sleepover in the living room anyways.
Then, you calm them and help get them back to sleep.
No. It’s not the night you wanted. I mean, who wants to sleep on the floor? But just because it was a physically messy accident, doesn’t mean it needs to be emotionally messy too.
Parenting is hard. Parenting with lack of sleep is even harder.
These nights are not in the greatest hits moments. Yet, something tells me these un-talked about nights have lasting effects.
Okay everyone, I originally had another meal planned for today, but knew this one had to go out first. You’re going to want to make this as soon as possible.
This casserole is easy to throw together and tastes GREAT! Mila ate a whole bowl full.
Here’s all you need:
4 cups of shredded chicken (any cooked chicken will do, I used rotisserie chicken)
2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
Salt and Pepper
Garlic and Onion Powder
Butter
2 cups milk
1 can Grand Biscuits
4 cups of frozen veggies (I used carrots, green beans, corn, and peas)
Cheese (optional)
First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
While oven is preheating, take large skillet and put it on medium heat. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and add frozen veggies to cook for 10-15 minutes. Then, place biscuits on a baking sheet.
When oven is preheated, Place the biscuits pan in the oven to prebake them for 8 minutes. They’ll finish baking when you put the whole casserole in. When they’re done, take out of the oven, but don’t shut the oven off.
Add the chicken, milk, cream of chicken soup, and spices to the frozen veggies. Stir for 5 minutes, until it’s bubbly hot.
After it’s mixed and heated, pour into a 9×13 dish. Then take the prebaked biscuits and put them on top of the mixture, baked side down and raw side up.
Before placing into the oven, melt 2 tablespoons of butter, mix in garlic powder, and pour over the biscuits. This will make your biscuits tastes extra delicious. At this point, I also sprinkled cheese over top of them too.
Then, bake for 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.
This meal is mouthwatering.
It feels great to find some meals that aren’t Mexican that Mila loves. This tastes like home and makes me feel all warm inside. I’m glad it made her happy too!
I’ll make sure to share the other recipe next week. Spoiler alert, it’s Mexican inspired, but just as yummy.
If you make this recipe, let me know what you think!
In a perfect, social media world, beautiful dinners are made every night and the house is always clean.
As much as I’d love for all of that to magically happen, I live in reality. Some nights the floors go unswept and quick meals look like this.
Guess what… I’m still a good mom and had a happy kid. We even snacked on carrots after too.
Whatever you need to do to get through the day, night, or minute, do it. Sometimes that means pizza bagels for dinner and not doing the dishes after.
You’re still a good mom if you don’t make Pinterest worthy meals every night or have a perfectly cleaned house. In your kids eyes, you’re always the best.
Grey Skies & Rainbow Highs 