The last time my child(ren) made me laugh: Our family dinner conversations are usually quite humorous and make me laugh. I also have a good laugh when I watch the kids “performing” with their Star Station.
I carve out time for myself by:
I enjoy the “me time” and adult conversation time I get when I go to painting class at Sandy Baumgardner’s.
My favorite outdoor activity to do with my children: I love going camping. It gives us an opportunity for lots of family time without being distracted with laundry, a messy house, TV or Internet. I wish we could go camping all year long.
The one thing I wish I had known about parenting before I became a parent: Life seems to go by so much faster now than before I had kids. The days go by fast and each year seems shorter and shorter. I remember hearing people say their kids grew up so fast, but didn’t realize how true that was until now.
The invention I wish I could create to make my life easier: A “Toy Picker Upper” would be great. If I could have some sort of machine or robot that could go from room to room and pick up toys and actually put them where they belong, life would be good. One that could pick up and sort dirty clothes and towels would be great, too.
My proudest moment as a parent: When I hear my kids say “this has been the best day ever” after I have spent the day doing something together with them.
The way I encourage “green” habits in my kids: We recycle all of our cans, glass and plastic bottles, junk mail, magazines, newspapers and cardboard.
My favorite kitchen gadget: I love the in door water and ice dispenser on our refrigerator. When the kids can get themselves something to drink, it is one less thing I have to do for them.
My Favorite way to slow-down as a family: Making home videos with the kids. We have several that should be on “America’s Funniest Videos.” We also like to watch movies or play games.
When I have 30 minutes to myself: After the kids are in bed I have really been enjoying catching up with family, friends and classmates on Facebook. OK, and maybe I spend a little more time with that than just 30 minutes.
My most embarrassing parenting moment: That would be a close call between the time when my oldest son, Joshua, got away from me while I was changing his diaper and took off running through a baseball park without pants on while I was chasing him like a crazy women ... or the time my other son, Jacob, called a woman and her husband “old” as we were standing in the checkout line at Walmart.
The future parenting moment I fear the most: With four kids I have quite a few parenting fears, like how we will manage to keep up in a few years with junior high and high school kids’ activities when they all happen to be on the same day. And how we will survive four kids driving close to the same time and how will we ever afford the insurance? There’s also the fear of having all four kids go off to college.
If I could throw a temper tantrum it would be because: I really get irritated when I clean up one room and go into another room to start cleaning it up only to find the first room has already been made messy again. I just wish the kids would wait at least a few hours before they mess up a clean room rather than only five or 10 minutes.
The biggest challenge I’ve faced as a parent is: Organization. I know our family could function so much more efficiently if our house and lives were more organized, but with the kids’ activities and my husband’s schedule, I have a difficult time getting and keeping us organized.
If I had an “I’d rather be...” bumper sticker on my car, it would say: “I’d rather be in Hawaii” Our Hawaii trip has been my all-time favorite vacation.
My favorite way to show my kids I love them on Valentine’s Day: It is fun to surprise my kids at their classroom Valentine’s parties at school when they are opening up Valentine’s from classmates and find one from me.
To nominate a mother for Meet A Gazette Mom, please contact Ashley Walker at ashley@emporiagazette.com.
joetraveler (anonymous) says...
Am I missing something? Who is this Gazette Mom? Is it now an anonymous honor? Or do we guess and win a trip to Hawaii?
February 14, 2009 at 7:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
potscrubbermom (anonymous) says...
I just wanted to comment on this article. I know Gwen's parents from when they used to live near us. Gwen is to be commended in this day and age to be a stay at home Mom and do so many things with her kids. Many parents are missing out on the things kids do in their lives. It would be nice if you could do a article on every stay at home Mom because they are to be commended. I was a stay at home Mom on a farm and we had 4 kids, and now am a Grandmother of 8 and my daughters and daughter-in-laws are all stay at home Moms. Good job Gwen keep it up, Beverly Sparkman
February 15, 2009 at 9:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )