THANK YOU for the fabulous submissions to our motherhood contest, “Life is Too Short”. Hilarious, poignant, they have been just what the doctor ordered to feel normal and happy about being a mom. Congratulations to our Weekly Winner, Julie Cole (see her submission below)! Keep on submitting your experiences/thoughts to me@conniesokol.com to be a weekly or grand prize winner.
Enjoy another excerpt from my new Mother’s Day book, The Life is Too Short Collection. It’s perfect for women and mothers of all ages and stages (latest review below).
Where you can find the book: Utah Costcos (print), Amazon (ebook and print), book signings at BYU Women’s Conference (bookstore) May 2nd from 1-3 p.m., Salem Library (April 22, 4-6 pm with readings), presentation at Spanish Fork Library (April 30, 7-7:45 pm “5 Key Motherhood Lessons”. (Ebook on sale $2.99, print $11 to $13.95 depending on location)
Stop by any book signing and win a FREE motherhood download!
Enjoy,
Connie
Review for The Life is Too Short Collection:
“Honest, down-to-earth, humorous and inspiring…Life is Too Short Collection is the perfect read for a quiet rainy day…there is an essay for just about any woman to relate to. I love that Connie was so open and real about what it is to be a woman, a mom, and a wife.” Saba Negash Taylor, Of Thoughts and Words blog.
Enjoy this excerpt from The Life is Too Short Collection:
Stop Being a Bossy Pants
The other day I asked my daughter Chloe to be my Sous Chef; meaning, she would help me with dinner. She is the “cooker” of our family who loves to bake and do all things with the oven. So there we were, making lasagna and these darling lemon mini Bundt cakes with this fabulous new dealy wheely pan. She is wearing her apron. She is ecstatic. She is officially cooking!
And what do I do? Be a cook hog! From assembling the noodles to scraping out the batter bowl I forgot to simply demonstrate and instead pretty much took over the whole deal IN THE INTEREST OF TIME. I was reminded, yet again, to back off and let the little lady do the work. She’s in third grade and can learn for herself. And if I ever want to realize my dream of sitting on the couch while my children slave over the stove, it begins now.
Do you find yourself doing this? We want our children to become self-sufficient and Future Stellar Adults. But then we have to get the girls to dance, or pick up someone from school, and it’s chop-chop, and I’ll just do it myself.
For once, try doing it differently. Allow the bathroom to look semi-clean even though your child has been at it for two hours. Celebrate that the school project supposedly resembling the Pyramid of Giza looks more like a melted marshmallow snowman. Ignore the plethora of wrong notes on the should-be-recital-ready piano piece. It’s all part of the learning process.
Each year our children decorate the Christmas tree and each year I find myself less inclined to fill in the gaps. What does it matter? They’re learning better how to decorate the tree and their self-esteem is soaring. Of course, it’s entirely coincidental that very large gift boxes are strategically placed in various spots in front of the tree.
Later that morning the same daughter and I attempted to make Cream of Wheat. At the last minute I needed to flat iron someone’s hair for school. When I came back to the kitchen she had not used the one cup of grain that I had told her, but instead, three cups. Her response to the thick, unwieldy mess was to be expected—crying, she ran from the kitchen into her room and slammed the door. Calmly, I explained to her that (a) we could buy more Cream of Wheat, and (b) it was all part of the learning-to-cook process (I bit my tongue about anything else).
So this week I encourage you to make yourself stand back and not be a bossy pants. Simply oversee and demonstrate, and help only when your children truly need it. There will be mistakes. There will be tears. But there will be growth.
*To purchase The Life is Too Short Collection (ebook on sale $2.99, print $11 to $13.95 depending on location) visit a Utah Costco, Amazon, a book signing, or our website.
Submission from Julie Cole–
