Nostalgia...

So many people say to not live in the past...however I disagree with this (not entirely but in part) Your past is a HUGE part of your present. It has made you who you are and influenced where you are going...Nostalgia can be a great thing, it reminds us that at heart we are all YOUNG and VIBRANT if even just for a moment...Now the tricky part is holding onto those things in your past that make you happy and bring warm fuzzies...(not that part of your past that is like a preying demon on your present - that past needs to be left behind!)

This image of Cyndi Lauper definitely can be a big shaper of the kind of girl I was....Cyndi Lauper influenced me greatly....I wanted to never be the same as anyone else...I didnt want to dress like everyone, or look like everyone I desperately wanted to be MY OWN person....this is what I believed she embodied --- Glorius independance (hee hee)...What is your most nostalgic moment....

My moment - if I close my eyes I can still almost be in that moment...I live by a park sitting on my porch waiting for people I knew to walk by or drive by with a friend or two already on my porch, listening to our "Boom box" blasting freestyle mixes (Cynthia - change on me) it is dark outside and you could smell the hint of rain in the air...yep that is my most tangible nostalgic moment...and every now and then I close my eyes and go there and remember that on the inside I am still as young as ever!

Knowing your limitations...

As a parent we face so much societal pressure to be this "super mom" (even my "myspace" url has supermom in the name) We as women have to be this certain "type" of parent. The one that can juggle a job, shuttling children around, cooking dinner, cleaning the house, handling the bills --- all while looking well put together and fresh! Ummm yeah no that is not how my life runs...ever...Even when I had a job I did all the above while still maintaining a "fashionable" appearance but just ask my family - I was less than pleasant while doing all of this. I therefore am a big fan of "village parenting" --- where other's in your circle share the "parental shoes".
When my daugther was younger I had this in place...Friends shared running "our" children between activities and school - we planned parties together - helped cook meals - sent each other shopping needs via internet..etc...and now that I have my son we still step into each other's shoes to help out.
We all have one thing in common, my crazy friends and I - we are not afraid to say I don't enjoy doing it all and then some!
Every now and then you have to allow yourself the space to say this over and over...you have to tell yourself that it is okay to want to be more than just a mother (because in the end when you are more than a mother you are at your best of being a mother)
Thanks to Ayelet Waldman and her awesome book that allowed me to embrace this me and be proud of it!