MOMumental Mom of the Week (October 23rd, 2008)

Meet Dawn, our twelfth MOMumental Mom of the week.

Name: Kathy

City: Frisco

Marital Status: married for 12 years

Mom to: Two sons, Paul, 10 and Jack, 6, and a daughter, Reece, 8.

Occupation: Domestic Goddess, cook, Pumpkin Patch Queen.  You name it, the job of mothering appears to encompass a little bit of everything in some way. 

What was the last movie you saw and what did you think about it? 
I can not remember the most recent one, but the most memorable “recent” one was 27 Dresses.  I loved that movie.  I rented it not knowing what to expect, and was so surprised.

What is sitting on your bedside table right now? 
A couple of books, alarm clock, lamp, a mosaic my daughter made, a clay pot my son made and pictures of people I love.

What is the last thing you told your children that your own mother told you when you were a kid? 
I love you, sweet dreams.

What was the last meal you cooked from scratch and when? 
Does open faced ham sandwiches cooked under the broiler, apples and peas count?  That was tonight.  Last night burritos, and spaghetti the night before that.  Okay, the pumpkin patch is killing some of my normal dinners.  You could interview me next month and I might sound like a decent Mom.

What was the best piece of parenting advice you got?  Who gave it to you?
Two things: 1. No one other than a grandparent wants to hear how awesome your children are and 2.  What happens at your house should stay at your house when your children are playing with a friend.  Of course not if it was dangerous or life threatening, but if little Johnny is a bully and does not play well with others you won’t do anything but alienate the mother if you call to tell her about how bad little Johnny was at your house.  Deal with it yourself in an appropriate manner with Parenting Love and Logic.      My Mom on both!

What are three products that you could not live without (e.g., your journal, your Blackberry, your facial moisturizer – anything you use constantly!) 
cell phone and good sheets.

If you could put one product on the market that doesn’t exist today, what would it be?
A reasonably priced robot that would iron and do other house work.  No, really I can’t think of one.

Has your definition of success changed since you became a Mom?  If so, how? 
No, but unfortunately I probably measure some of my own success by my children’s success.  I don’t think this is healthy, but being a mom does not come with a quarterly review on your praises for a job well done and where you need to improve.  Sometimes it is hard not to get lost in your children’s life when you are not working outside of the home.

What do you do in your “me”-time?  How do you protect it? 
Go shopping.  I have great friends that protect it for me.  They make me stop and take a moment to breathe when it looks like I need it. 

If an expectant mother asked you “what it’s like to be a Mom”, what would you tell her?  
Being a mother is the most amazing job in the world.  Yes, it is probably the hardest job you will ever have, and the most unappreciated in some aspects, but definitely the most rewarding and fufilling.  Yes, there are days when calling CPS and making an anonymous report to obtain a babysitter for the night sounds good, but in the end you would not change anything.

Before I was a mother I never understood the bumper sticker “GOD does not make junk”, now I do.