Today, I'm Thankful For...: ...Pinterest

Day 4
When I was younger, I thought about what I would be like as a mother. Would I be a stay at home mom? Would I be a business mom with a nanny? Would I be the PTO president? I always wanted to be a stay at home mom that would keep the house clean and make dinner every night. All the laundry would always be fresh, clean and put away. My children would always be put together and would call me "Mommy". I would head up the PTO meetings and have thousands of great ideas to make the school a fun place to be. I would be at every school party and do all sorts of crafts.

Now, here is my reality. I am not a stay at home mom, a business mom with a nanny or the PTO president. I am not a room mother and my house is always a mess. Most of the time the laundry seems to be done on an as needed basis meaning if you need to wear it tomorrow I will throw it in the wash tonight and hopefully remember to put it in the dryer. I do not cook and my children call me "Mom" which doesn't really have the same sweet ring to it as "Mommy".

What I have done is manage to be the best mom I can be and I feel like most of the time I do a pretty good job! While I do not preside over PTO meetings, I am present for every single one of them and we do participate in PTO sponsored events. I am not at every school party but I do manage to make it most of the time and I will assist in crafts if I'm asked.

I'm not a creative, crafty girl. I was always so bummed that I couldn't come up with cute things to do for my kids and new traditions to start. Then Pinterest entered my life. Oh, the day I joined Pinterest my life was changed! I spent weeks "pinning" items that I might want to try to cook or make, places I'd like to go, ways I could get my house clean in 15 minutes a day, etc. I can search for anything and ideas pop up from people all over the world and they can solve my problem.

Since I have become a "pinner" I have started to share the cooking role in the house. My husband has always been the cook and I've never had anything of his that I didn't like but I have started making dinner a couple of nights a week. I enjoy seeing the look on their faces when they love the meal that I prepared all on my own. I have attempted some of the cleaning suggestions and feel like they really do save time. And oh the ideas it has given me for Valentines, Christmas presents and Halloween goodies! This morning, I got up at 5 AM and drove to Krispy Kreme. I put vampire teeth in the hole of the doughnut and two little chocolate chips on the doughnut and made them into "Monster Doughnuts". My kids were so excited and the looks on their faces made it all worth it.