Tag Archives: momlife

I am her, She is me.

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Dedicated to my three earnest littles, and to all the mamas, past, present and future.

Mama, Mother, Mummy, I am her, and she is me.

We shared a life, a body, a very first breath, they took theirs and I held mine.

Never did I know such ache, relief, and joy so absolute, so sublime.

Knit together in the quiet dark places within my delicate being,

The handiwork of the Father upon nose, fingers and cries that filled the room ringing.

Ordinary, messy, unselfish love brimming from such a tiny heart,

Made me believe in true, unconditional, love, from the start.

The love took shape, warm, familiar, and round.

A woman lost, a mother found.

I hear their cries, I know their need,

Born from within in me, I feel it when they bleed.

Dark snuggly mornings, closed in together tight all around,

Barefoot in those early hours, feels like holy ground.

I want to be with them always the thought without them makes me ache,

Staying close, face to face, with a call, or in that place between dreaming and awake.

Mama, Mother, Mummy, I am her, and she is me.

Words by: Rebecca Wilcoxson (earnest mom).

Permission to Finish Softly.

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It is one week from Christmas, yes SEVEN days from that wonderful, blessed day where we celebrate the birth of Christ and maybe a merry elf who loves to leave our favorites under the tree.  My shopping list is still quite long and after the last three weeks which included a root canal, food poisoning and every person in this house sick with this cold that seems to be EVERYWHERE, the to-do’s before Christmas arrives feel endless.

As I take a break and scroll through the social media platform of choice, I am seeing so much “hustle mama,” “you got this,” and “finish strong” all over the place.  From fancy wrapping paper hacks to reminder to move an elf – it seems as though even a quick scroll only adds to one’s holiday to-do’s.

I am a lover of family traditions that we do together, from baking, to making Christmas gifts and garlands, I love being creative and getting the kids involved. I enjoy color coordinating my gift wrapping, making sure Santa’s cookies are home baked and delivering goodies to friends and family. I really like getting stuff done and feeling accomplished. This year though, this year that has been trying, busy and at times over whelming – I am not trying to “finish strong.” I am not trying to end the year with a huge bang, get it all done kind of attitude. Instead, I am giving myself permission to “finish softly.”

Finishing softly by not making ALL the Christmas things; I have strung dried orange garland wound up in a bowl because we have not had time to buy the garland to hang with it. I have stockings in a blue storage bin parked at the bottom of the stairs waiting to be hung because we ran out of command strips. I have all the ingredients to unbaked cookies on my counters waiting to be darling little cookie trees with the softest butter cream icing ever. There are Amazon, Walmart and Target boxes all stacked, unopened and unwrapped filled from Black Friday and Cyber Monday hauls for Christmas gifting, just waiting to be sorted, wrapped, and set.

There are kids’ toys, books, and clothes that I want to sort through before all the new comes in from Christmas. New items that will overwhelm already bursting drawers, filled toy bins and piled high bookshelves. It will not all get done before Christmas, and likely not all before 2023. But I am giving myself the “okay” to go easy. Taking the time to read, snuggle all up with kiddos and blankets and watch movies, enjoy hot cocoa, and go looking for Christmas lights – the Christmas to-dos will keep.

Finishing this year softly by going into this week of homeschool lightly, not feeling pressure to get all the homeschool Christmas lessons done – just getting something in each day. Reading the Nutcracker together, baking for fun, not perfection, and laughing to Alexa’s Christmas jokes together. Making hot tea and enjoy sleepy mornings with warm scones from the oven. Breaking out the Kiwi Crate and craft some fun gifts for giving. Calling a neighbor or friend to say Merry Christmas and ask how they are doing. Going softly with my family, not rushing, pushing, and trying to finish this year in anyway but gently.

Finishing soft by taking time for rest.  Sacred rest.  Saying no to the good things so I can say yes to the best things in my life.  Not adding anything more to a to-do list that will already remain incomplete for the new few weeks.  Going to bed in good timing, resting with my love and staying connected during the hustle and bustle around us.  Closing the door, shutting the blinds, and taking time to breathe, pray and restore.  Going easy into the season of giving by giving myself permission to go gently and be intentional.

It is hard to go easy, it feels like mom culture around me says “first, biggest, most!” or “more, better, everything.” For me this year, these next few weeks, I do not want to end this year with some huge finale or crescendo, I want it to slowly melt into 2023. Gently roll into the new year with revival on my heart, restoration in my soul and go softly. Mama, if this season is getting to be over whelming – give yourself permission to finish softly. We are world changers, but let’s aim for micro changes that are a balm to the weariness of our souls. Less hustle and go softly.

Rate My Park – Summer Series Part 2

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An Earnest Experience in Erie County Pennsylvania

All summer long, Fridays will be designated to exploring parks in Erie County PA and rating them!  The Earnest Littles and I are having a blast park hopping and seeing what is out there!  Each post will give a final rating out of 10 for the overall park and then we will break down the categories.  For each park we are looking at equipment, cleanliness, bathroom options, parent spots and picnic facilities.

Please note, the opinions given in this post/rating are our opinions alone and do not speak for the parks, the townships or anyone else.  Our intent is to give a glimpse of our experience and how much we, as a family liked the park.

Greene Township Playground, 9333 Tate Road, Erie PA 16509

Overall Rating 9.75/10.  Wow!! This playground is amazing.  The play structures are huge and numerous, there is a side designed for children 5-12 years old, and 3-5 years old – perfect for our kiddos who range from 4-12 years – and it was mainly all fenced in.  There was so much to do we felt like if we left too soon, we would miss out on all the fun.  The running, laughter and joyous screams were aplenty as many families had made use of this incredible playground while we were there.  There is a massive amount of green space offering gorgeous panoramic views of baseball diamonds, football fields and what appears to be wooded/forested areas.  There is also the Paradise trail that is a ½ mile paved path which goes out to the vast green space behind the playground.  This park we HIGHLY recommend, if you go to any parks this summer, make sure you make it here!

Equipment:  The playground is massive.  I am not sure that I can fully describe it and ensure I have included all the adventure that is available.  On the 5–12-year-old side there is a massive climb structure/climber complete with a walking bridge (that lead to another climber that resembled a gazebo/playhouse), wall climbing, monkey bars, four slides (large covered twirling slide that what the height of the structure, one small one at the first level; and three slides side by side about halfway up the structure, that offered different textures/shapes for sliding experiences).  This is where we lose the 0.25 in the rating, the three slides are bumpy and all three of my kids said they did not enjoy 2/3 slides that are side by side since the ride down was slightly rough.  The ground cover on this side was wooden mulch/wood chips.  The swings were plentiful with six belt swings, one large swinging saucer and an inclusive swing on the 12-5-year-old side, then there were three bucket swings including one that was a parent-child swing on the 3–5-year-old side.

The 3-5-year-old side had a mini merry-go-round, and numerous play/climbing structures that resembled playhouses, a boat (which has an appropriately sized slide), a tractor, and a train.  There was so much to keep little feet busy and to discover from a percussion stand to large displays of braille letters (lower and upper case) and numbers.  The ground cover on this side was the manufactured rubber intact flooring (not the rubber pieces). 

All in all – this park was fully enjoyed from the 4-year-old to the 12-year-old.  In the picture of them, my 7-year-old gave a sideways thumb for the rough slide experience.

Cleanliness:  The park was very clean, there are plenty of trash cans located all over the park that allows for easy access and helps to keep it clean.  The equipment itself is kept up well, with natural wear from use it was pleasantly clean as well.

Bathrooms:  There is a decent bathroom building available for use (it was open when we were at the park).  It was fully stocked with toilet paper and soap at the sinks.  They appear to have at least two toilets per restroom (Men’s or Women’s) both equipped with a handicap option.  However, we did not see a change table option for itty bitty ones.

Parent Spots: There are numerous of benches located right by the playground, a few even had shade from some nearby trees.  The benches were located all around the playground equipment as well, lots of options – some had natural tree shade and on the 3–5-year-old side, there were benches with pergolas above them.

Picnic Facilities: Two large pavilions (one was smaller) with many wooden picnic tables fully.

Stay tuned for our next review.  Live in Erie County?  Have you been to this park?  What are your thoughts?