Coming to a Nursery Near You

Posts Tagged ‘motherhood’

and can you fit it into a 60 second video? I am by NO means a fan of video cameras, particuarly with me in front of it – but for $30,000, I’m gonna plant my mug right square in the middle of one in the next few days because Huggies, in celebration of THIRTY YEARS of hugging baby bottoms, is looking for your videos on what motherhood means to you.

Yes, that’s right – $30,000! That’s what the grand prize winner will receive if their video receives the most votes.  Time to dust off those address books!

Even if you don’t own a video camera, hop over to their website because they’re touring the country and if they come to a city near you, you can record your video right there!

Huggies will also select 30 videos from moms across the country to feature in their new commercials.

Here’s more -

About Generation Huggies:

Now through November 20, 2008, there are two ways for moms to create a video reflecting on “What Motherhood Means to Me.”
1. Videos can be uploaded to www.GenerationHuggies.com
2. Alternatively, moms can create a video on-site when they
visit a local Generation Huggies event.
3. Videos should be no longer than 60 seconds in length and
no larger than 5MB.
4. Everyone can participate by giving a hug, or vote, to their
favorite video through November 30, 2008.
5. Judging ends November 30, 2008.

Visit www.GenerationHuggies.com for the official sweepstakes rules and details. Entry is limited to one per day per person or e-mail address during the Sweepstakes Period. Void where prohibited; no payment or purchase necessary. The sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the 50 United States plus the District of Columbia, age 18 or older.

If you do create a video, I hope you’ll also post it on your blog – and please, feel free to come back and comment! I’d love to see everyone’s  .

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My thanks to Mom Central for the opportunity to share this with you.

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One of the best things about twitter is the fact that it connects you to so many people that are normally not within your realm.  As such, I happened upon a blog post by Her Bad Mother last week that had my heart pounding in my chest and tears in my eyes, because I could feel her anxiety, her fear, her helplessness.  As I read The Closer You Are to Fine, I became not just a fan, but one of her confidants.  I became her friend, her sister, her neighbor.  I wanted nothing more than to hug her and tell her that she’d be ok – and that her baby would be ok. 

And you can manage the constricted heart and the withholding of breath until you get there, to the hospital, but once your baby – your tiny, tiny baby – has been stripped of his tiny clothes and is laying naked on the hospital bed – a vast expanse of cold sheet beneath his tiny frame – the machines looming, menacing, around him, you struggle. You crouch beside him, cradling his head and nuzzling his cheek, babbling whispers of love into his ear, willing him to not cry, to not squirm, to let this be over, fast.

That’s the stuff of great writing.  That’s why I nominated Her Bad Mother for the June Perfect Post award, made possible by the Letter T, the Number 4 and the friendly folks at Petroville and Suburban Turmoil.
You can visit them to see more of this month’s Perfect Post awards, too.  But before you do, seriously – go read “The Closer You Are to Fine” first (and then her followup).

On reading more of her latest blog posts, I’m coming to realize that I really wasn’t the only one who thought that breastfeeding wasn’t the easiest thing on earth (but pushed through it anyway, despite the pain), that being post-partum with a baby and other kids is really freakin HARD, and that life, in general, is harder with a new baby. Motherhood is hard.   I wish her the best.

As you may or may not have noticed, I am not always confident in my abilities as a parent.  Most recently, this has been glaringly obvious to me that I am lacking something, somewhere because my two oldest children seem to HATE each other.

How is it possible that 2 kids with so many years between them can find so much to fight about?

I do blame alot of it on the stuff that they’ve picked up from other kids.  But if I do not allow them out to play with other kids, they’ll be … I don’t know – stunted?

But it’s still really difficult to listen to my beautiful little girl tell her brother she hates him. Where did she even LEARN that?  Outside.  Where did she learn that kicking or smacking was an effective strategy for getting what she wants?

Anthony, by the same token, is all of a sudden enjoying his new "Freedom" that came with him getting his own room.  So the whole "GET OUT OF MY ROOM" thing has come into play and it makes me NUTS. 

They spend more & more time every day screaming at each other or coming to me screaming that the other one has done SOMETHING to them, said something, etc. 

All I can think is that I’m doing SOMETHING wrong to either make them this way or not be able to STOP THEM from doing it.

I know what you’re thinking.  ALL siblings fight, Dawn.  I know that from first hand knowledge.  My oldest brother and I fought like cats & dogs constantly.  I remember calling my mother up at work frequently to tell her of the newest outrage.  I am 28 months older than my brother – old enough to be IN CHARGE OF HIM, thankyouverymuch – and him being old enough to HATE that idea.  The nasty words flew.  He was smaller than me, but  much more physical, so I’d have to run from him, hide behind a closed door – one that he (more than once) put his fist or foot through! 

So I KNOW that all siblings fight.  But OMG, I never thought it’d be like this for kids that have 6 years between them!

Hubby (from work) says "separate them – keep them apart" – yeah, OK – but this is alot easier said than done.

I know that Anthony needs space.  One of the main reasons why we decided to split them up at night was because of that -he’s getting older, his body is changing, etc.  and he doesn’t need to be co-sleeping with his 4 yr old sister any more.  So into the other bedroom he went.  But he’s taking this opportunity to distance himself from her more & more every day, and I don’t like that.

I suppose it’s inevitable that he’s going to develop more interests that do not include HER, but it’s hard to watch, too.  Libby doesn’t know nor care about his changes – she just wants what she wants – WHEN SHE WANTS it – and that includes playing too roughly with the baby, or playing in what has always been The Play Room – which is now His Bed ROOM.

But OY – where are my earmuffs?

Well, unfortunately, I didn’t win that coveted $30 g.c. but as I mentioned the other day, I really enjoyed writing my thoughts down about the definition of motherhood. The rest of these lovely moms also did, as there sure were alot of them! Take a minute or five and go read them, too

• Thanks, Mom. by Papaya Mom (Congrats! She’s the winner) (*)
• Motherhood by Jo Hemmant
• Motherhood is… by Melissa Buker
• Motherhood Is by Elaine
• Motherhood Is… by Summer
• Dichotomy by Robin
• A mother’s brain cracked open by Shawn
• Motherhood is Fulfilling by Amber(homeschooldiva)
• in da ‘hood by stephanie
• Nothing prepared me for what motherhood is by Jen
• What Does Motherhood Mean to Me? by Neena
• My two jobs by Deb – Mom of 3 Girls
• Mother of Many by Donetta
• Motherhood- It’s not what you think by boogiemum
• Nostalgiancholy by swirlingnotions
• Mommy-ing by Phyllis Sommer
• Motherhood is a 10 Letter Word by warillever
• Motherhood Is. . . by Jennifer (JenuineJen)
• Motherhood Is/Means… by Amanda Regan (madamspud169)
• Motherhood – A To Z by Mama Zen
• Group Writing Project: What is Motherhood by Ursula
• The Top Ten Definitions of Motherhood by Kate
• Journey Into the Unknown by bellevelma
• If sweating gets rid of my impurities… by Jenn
• Motherhood Is… by Kymberlyn Steel-Fannin
• Motherhood is . . . by Christy
• Motherhood is an Emotional Rollercoaster by Believer in Balance
• Heaven In Her Smile by Michelle
• “Perfect” versus “Imperfect” by Michelle (beartwinsmom)
• Motherhood is a Marathon, Not a Sprint by Sunny
• The Many Faces of Motherhood by Lynnae
• Motherhood isn’t . . . by Jordan (MamaBlogga). Oh, wait, ME!
• Motherhood Is…Much Funnier After A Nap by Jenner
• I’ve Learnt So Much by Tiffany*
• My Definition by Dawn
• A Mother, Found and Filled by SingForHim
• “I Don’t Have Time For This!” by Lucy
• [late] Motherhood is. . .NOT about me! by Janean

Thanks to Jordan at MamaBlogga for doing this. I look forward to the next one!

TechnorTags: writing, mamablogga, motherhood, writing, essays

My writing assignment this week from my therapist is to write about the things I value in myself. She specified, though, that it cannot involve my children.

How is it possible to delineate the two? My children are what define me. Aren’t they? Motherhood has changed me. My husband actually made a comment once before about how I’d changed – I wasn’t the same person he’d met. Well, of course I’ve changed. I had children! I was transformed from mild-mannered martha to SUPERMOM!

Able to change diapers with a single hand.

Able to leap tall piles of clothes in a single bound.

Able to see through the little white lies and get to the truth, justice and the am… oh sorry.

Able to defend my children as fiercely as a mother lioness. That’s probably the best way to describe myself – my “new” self – a mother lion, protecting her cubs. I am always their biggest cheerleader. No longer able to just content myself with planning the day for myself or me & my man, I now contend with FIVE of us at any given time. Feeding, changing, teaching, correcting, helping, and always, always, loving.

How do I write about what I value in myself without talking about my mothering instinct? The way I know when someone’s not feeling well without them saying a word? The way I can hear the first wretch of a sick child long before their father does. The way I can distinguish a hurt cry from a crowd of kids and know it’s my child. Or a raised, alarmed voice. Or any of the other distinctions that my children make for me.

Perhaps the thing I value MOST in myself is that, on the whole, I am a Good Mother. I love my children, I do not berate them, wear them down in guilt, make fun of them or let them make fun of each other. I teach them about valuing other people, no matter what their differences. I teach them how to love Each Other, no matter how much they may drive each other crazy. I teach them about patience, even though I may not always have alot of it. I teach them to look at the world differently, and to have an appreciation for that world. “Don’t hurt that bush – it’s a living thing” and I mean it. “Leave that bug alone – he has a family too, you know.” And they remember these things. Because of me. I teach them responsibility – being responsible for themselves first and foremost.

Perhaps the things I value in myself will come when I’m not thinking about it. But being a mother is what makes me who I am. Motherhood defines Me.

 

This post is part of a group writing project at MamaBlogga – I just love writing things for her writing projects, because it always makes me stop and think! You can see the other entries at her blog.

 

TechnorTags: group writing, mamablogga, motherhood