Okay, this may be ’so-last-year’ but I’ve been happily riding the veggie puree bandwagon since Christmas day when Janice and I unknowingly both gifted each other a copy of Jessica Seinfeld’s now-famous cookbook.

Apparently I don’t watch enough Oprah and late night TV because not only did I miss last year’s famous Oprah interview with Jessica Seinfeld, but I hadn’t even heard about the Magic Bullet until I read about it in Jessica’s cookbook.

I did manage to get in the loop enough to hear about the drama that Jessica’s “Deceptively Delicious” may have borrowed ideas from Missy Chase Lapine’s “The Sneaky Chef”. But, to be honest, the fact that her cookbook may not be very original doesn’t bother me. The idea that you can add cauliflower puree to scrambled eggs was news to me and I don’t care who told me about it. I’m glad I know now.

I think fortifying every-day recipes with pureed vegetables is brilliant and I can’t believe how much extra nutrition I can stuff into myself and my kids without any of us gagging or whining.

And, of course, I’m all for teaching children to eat vegetables in their natural state — load up their plates with carrots, peas and corn. But why not slip in some extra squash, broccoli and beets to the other parts of breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert? And it doesn’t have to be deceptive, you can teach your kids about the benefits of healthy eating and have them help you wash, puree and cook.

Any new habits that help us get healthier are a good thing right?

But sometimes having a new kitchen gadget makes starting a new habit a bit more fun.

Remember how I mentioned I hadn’t even heard about the Magic Bullet until I read that Jerry Seinfeld had bought one from an infomercial to give to his puree-loving wife? Well, of course, then I wanted one… But since I already had a super fancy blender and a Cuisinart in the cupboard, I restrained myself.

But then… when the folks from Magic Bullet asked us to test out their new Platinum Pro Magic Bullet and offer a few to our readers, we were quick to agree. The new Platinum Pro is slightly larger than its predecessor and has 40% more motor power. You can watch an independent TV test run of the new Bullet on YouTube.

The testers on that show decided the unique little upside-down blender did a great job, and I’ll second them. I tested out grating carrots and making a smoothie before my neighbor stole it to puree everything in her house. Happily, she returned my new blending machine to me the next day with great reports of pureeing enough baby food to feed her little girl for a month.

Now since all you Internet friends are too far for me to lend you my Magic Bullet for your pureeing sessions, we’ll just have to give away a few. And if you don’t end up lucky this time, you can pick up one at http://www.magicbulletplatinumpro.com for $99.99 or get one at Macy’s.

Leave us a comment and tell us what you’d blend up with a new Magic Bullet. (It would also be nice if you spread the word about this fun giveaway by linking to this post and/or telling your friends.)

We’ll draw three random winners on Friday, June 6th. Make sure you check back then and/or subscribe to our RSS feed so you don’t miss the announcement. We also email the winners, but with spam filters eating messages, you need to check back to be sure. If we don’t hear from a winner within a week, we’ll draw a new winner.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian shipping addresses.

The owner was so pleased with your many kind comments on the Lily on the Fly giveaway that she would like to offer our readers a 15% discount.

You can use the discount code 5mins4mom when you place an order on her site.

I do think that this would make a great graduation gift or a shower gift for a young bride.

The whole Fly family wants to wish all of you “many hearty meals.”

5 Minutes for Mom brings you exclusive samplings from the best mom blogs in our weekly column, The Sampler, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom contributing editor Shera, from A Frog In My Soup.

This week I am featuring a post submitted by Karon Goodman who blogs at Receiving Grace, Reflecting God. Karon is a writer, speaker and “more-gray-hair-than-I-want” mom in Alabama. Her blog is an outlet for her to share about grace in all aspects of our lives, including motherhood.

Graceful Landings

When he was a toddler climbing out of his bed, I was there to steady the descent. When he was eight and swinging from a tree limb, I was there with outstretched arms just in case. When I talked to him the other day, I was powerless in my pajamas miles and miles away.

I’ve learned that age — his or mine — has nothing to do with overcoming that need to wrap and rescue. My son will graduate from college in a few weeks, and if he doesn’t drop any more unexpected words on me, maybe I’ll be there to see it.

I try not to bother him and call very often. You know how it is. Usually it takes fifteen calls from me before he finally — miracle of miracles — answers, or wisdom prevails and he returns the call. He called me back almost instantly the other day. Oh goody! I thought when his name showed up on the little square screen. He must have been thinking about me.

“Hey, whatcha doin’?” I ask so simply.

And with just as much fanfare, he replies, “Uh, we’re just doing this sky-diving thing.”

Exxx–cuuuuse me, what did he say??

“Hmmm, that sounds . . . safe,” I hear the words coming out of my mouth and see all sorts of unsavory visions in my head.

It’s a school thing, he says, no big deal. I hear clanging metal and whishing wind but choose to focus on his benign explanation. He’s gotta go, will see me sometime, love you too, bye.

I’m left to imagine in my jammies, praying God’s watching where I can’t see, ready to soften his landing from any stumbles that come his way. Today those stumbles, I fear, are more often emotional than physical as he navigates the landmine path of young adulthood, far out of my let-me-do-this-for-you reach. My plea for God’s presence, protection and guidance for him is a continuous one. It’s often all I can do.

God must have set aside oodles of motherhood grace, because it’s a deep and daily need for me as I wonder what my son will have to graduate from for me to easily release my grasp. I can’t come up with an answer. Maybe the Father who loves me so understands and reaches for me a little quicker when the “sky-diving things” come upon me too, unable to completely let me go, desperate to guide my landing.

I’ll hold on to that, and remind my son he can always hold on to me.

~ Written by Karon Goodman of Receiving Grace, Reflecting God.

If you would like to be considered for The Sampler please review The Sampler Guidelines.

This column is Hosted by Shera. She can be found at A Frog In My Soup

Whether you are having your first or your fifth child, each pregnancy is special. It might be especially dreadful or especially delightful, but we want to remember it–if for no other reason that our children might want to know about that time–before they were born.

A pregnancy journal is a great way to not only record some details about your pregnancy, but also to educate yourself month-by-month.

The Happy Baby, Healthy Mom pregnancy journal is a covered spiral bound notebook, organized in tabbed sections by the three trimesters and then postpartum. This is divided up week by week full of information about that stage of the pregnancy, nutrition pointers, and journaling questions. There are questionnaires throughout to help you determine if something in your pregnancy should be discussed with your doctor (such as excessive morning sickness). This book is very comprehensive, and if used completely would be a great reference in trying to coach a friend or sister or even your own child through her own pregnancy later. My two pregnancies were different. I remember things about both of them, but I’ve forgotten more than I’ll ever remember.

The Belly Book is a bit more low-key. It also has the hardbound, covered spiral notebook format that is so handy in a reference book. It would be great for a first-time, second-time or seasoned birther. However, the simple format lends itself to the busier schedule of a pregnant mom who is also tending to other little ones, while still affording her the opportunity to focus on her newest addition. It is also divided into trimesters, but it focuses more on journaling and photos. There’s a spot to preserve your ultrasound photo and a belly photo for each week, with a space to journal about that week of pregnancy. There is a place to record information from each doctor visit, and of course to journal about “birth day” as well.

Some pregnancies are not expected, and that can fill those nine months with conflicting emotions. Rachel Brignoni has written an encouraging book called Hope. . . Joy (and a Few Little Thoughts) for Pregnant Teens. This book offers pregnant teens a course in finding hope and in remembering their worth and the understanding the power of positive thoughts and joy, even in the midst of an unexpected circumstance. Brignoni writes from the perspective of one who saw her pregnancy at 17 as a huge bump in the road at the time, but is able to encourage with the wisdom of looking back over many years.

I will draw two winners for these books. One winner will receive the book for pregnant teens  and one of the journals. Feel free to try to win this book for someone you know. I’m sure that it would be a huge encouragement to her.

A second winner will receive one journal of her choice along with Post-Partum cards, which are designed to help the “barely conscious” mom to stay in contact with the outside world, with simple check the box or fill in the blank notes that you can send to your friends and family.

Please leave a comment, and tell me which book most interests you.

The contest will close on May 28.

Anyone with little girls around the house knows how easily all those hair bows can get misplaced. But what’s the best way to store them? If you’re like us, we have so many that if I can’t readily see them, I forget they’re there.

Well, Bambina Ballerina has the answer. Why not display them on an adorable wall hanging? And when I say adorable, I really mean it. I’ve seen her colorful Tutu Hairbow Holders on her site but when I received one in person, I was speechless! It was so pretty that I considered hanging it in my room instead! I could tell that a lot of time, effort, and pride was put into making this quality piece.

Bambina Ballerina is owned by Trisha, a SAHM to a beautiful 3 year old girl. She was inspired to design these unique bow holders because she was tired of purchasing expensive hair accessories only to end up losing them somewhere along the way. So she came up with a practical yet stylish solution.

The large bow holders measure approximately 28-30 inches long and the minis are 15-17 inches. All are made from soft flannel or cotton, paired with a color-coordinated tulle skirt. The ribbons are where you would actually clip on your hair bows and some designs even have a criss-cross pattern across the bodice to hold bobby pins or the smallest of clips.

How would you like one for your little girl? Bambina Ballerina has generously donated a $25 gift certificate to be used in her boutique. You could get a free mini holder or use it towards a large one! A random winner will be selected from the comments below on Thursday, May 29th.

This giveaway is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.

So I’m a little worried that some of you may have gotten the wrong impression from my post yesterday about how I have not yet yelled at my girls. (Also, please remember that my girls are only 3 years and 7 months. I imagine that I won’t be able to keep this record for ever.)

A few hours later, Janice published her perspective on the trouble with tempers.

But I thought I should round out the picture a little more.

Neither Janice nor I claim to be star parents. Very, very far from it. We both often feel extremely inadequate as mothers and homemakers. And despite being twins, we sometimes differ as parents.

As Janice mentioned in her post, we feel we compliment each other well and when we do disagree or have different experiences, it’s fun for you get two different points of view.

So I thought I’d stop and ponder how Janice and I differ as parents…

A Few of Our Similarities

1. Janice and I both love our children more than we can ever describe.
2. We’re both Christians and believe that raising our children as Christians is the most important gift we can give them.
3. We love breastfeeding. Janice nursed Jackson until he was 16 months old and I nursed Julia until she was 25 months old. Olivia and Sophia will likely nurse until after their first birthdays.
4. We both are weak at setting boundaries with our kids and in other areas of our lives.
5. We both hate housework and, to be honest, we’re messy and we lament how our poor kids have little chance of learning to tidy up behind themselves.
6. We’re both terrible at getting our kids in bed on time. We’re awful at judging our time, and more nights than not bedtime comes and we’re still ‘almost done a post’ while stories are yet to be read and teeth still need brushing.
7. As crazy busy work-at-home moms we both had to admit we needed help when we had our new babies. We both had to weaken and hire nannies to help with our children and housework so that we can still run our online businesses and work at home. It would be nice to do everything ourselves as we did before the new babies arrived, but it was clear that we ought to get some sleep instead of working all night.
8. Janice and I both think we’re open to various parenting ideas and we try to not be judgmental about our friend’s parenting styles. Some of our friends strictly follow attachment parenting while others disagree with the concept. Some of our friends spank their kids and others hate the idea. We like to let a parent choose what is best for her family and we don’t bother judging them. We’re busy making our own mistakes and trying to figure out what works for our own families.

A Couple of Our Differences

1. I co-sleep with my girls. Janice let Jackson sleep in his crib as a baby but from about 18 months until 3 years, he also was a co-sleeper. Janice’s 7 month old baby Olivia currently sleeps in a crib.
2. I lean towards attachment parenting more than Janice. This was especially the case with Julia whose temperament really seemed to benefit from extra holding and closeness. A barrier to Janice wearing Jackson was that he weighed more at 1 year old than Julia does at 3 years old. Carrying him all day wasn’t really an option for Janice. He’s now 4″4′ and 70 lbs at 6 years old.

Wow. Now that I list that out, it looks like we’re twins after all. I can’t even come up with more than two differences and those two are strongly influenced by other family factors.

I bet if we all made lists like this, most of us would find out we are all more alike than we are different. And I suspect many of the differences may arise because we’re all parenting children with unique temperaments and personalities.

In the end, I think we are all moms who love our children and we’re all doing the best we can. So let’s give each other a virtual pat on the back and say, “Way to go, Mom!”.

The winners of Baby’s First Sounds: Discoveries for Little Ears are

#258 Corrie C.
#122 Rhonda
#119 Amanda Cole

You should have an email from me.  Please respond with your name and address.

I love to watch movies with my kids. Since going to the movie theater is so expensive, and because we’re lazy homebodies, we generally prefer to watch it on DVD. We pop some microwave popcorn, change into our pajamas, dim the lights, and we’re ready to go. These days you can even buy the DVD for less than the cost of two movie tickets.

One of our recent favorites was the Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. Finding a movie that is appropriate for both of my children is difficult (Kyle is almost 4 and Amanda is 9). Finding a movie that is okay for both of them to watch and doesn’t bore my husband and me to tears is even harder. The Water Horse fit the bill in all of these categories.

The movie takes place in Scotland in World War II. The cinematography is beautiful. The story is told at a gentle, old-fashioned pace, yet still held the interest of both of my kids. The movie is essentially a drama–a coming-of-age story about a boy coming to terms to life without his father–but is told with humor, suspense, and adventure. I will say that although my son enjoyed it, if your child is sensitive to scary drama, I would hold off on this one. There is a part when the Water Horse turns on men (due to being scared and provoked), but it’s pretty intense for younger viewers, thus the PG rating.

But really–can you resist this?

For about a week after watching this movie, Kyle had a perfect Water Horse impression. He screwed his mouth up just right and did something with his eyes and got that same lovable look on his face.

If you think your family would like this movie, please leave a comment to win one of 5 Water Horse prize packs including

• the Water Horse DVD
• a blue Water Horse t-shirt
• a cool egg that hatches the water horse, and you can watch him grow just like in the movie (my kids loved watching this, even though I accidentally cracked the egg first, spoiling the cool hatching feature)

We will post the winners on Wednesday May 28.

Earlier today, Susan posted about “What If Mommy Loses Her Temper.”

And in case any of you felt like you wanted to lose your temper (or burst in to tears) just reading about a mom who hadn’t yet yelled at her three year old, I thought I would chime in and make you feel better.

(That is one of the great things about reading a blog written by twins - you get two points of view.)

I must admit that I regularly lose my temper with my six year old son. I wish I could say I didn’t. I wish I could say that I have been able to hold it in and calmly and masterfully parent my monkey of a boy.

But I can’t. I raise my voice. I break my own rules. I mess up. Regularly.

Far too often, I have to say to my son, “I am sorry I got angry and raised my voice.”

It drives me crazy that I let my short fuse get the better of me. When I stay calm and make the right parenting moves everything runs so much more smoothly.

But you know what happens when Mommy loses her temper?

Mommy learns to have a whole lot more patience when her son loses his temper. Because if I can’t handle my emotions correctly all the time, (and I have had a lot of time to practice,) then how impossible is it for a little child to keep cool and collected when life doesn’t go his way.

Sometimes I think the length of my mommy fuse is directly proportional to the number of months I had to wait to get pregnant.

I figure three and a half years of charting and temperature taking gave me a very long fuse. All those months of excruciating heartache made it almost impossible for me to lose my temper once my blessed little child arrived.

Now, I’m certainly NOT saying I’m a star parent… obviously not… my list of parental shortcomings could fill pages. But I am proud, and quite surprised, that I’ve made it to my daughter’s third birthday without ever losing my temper and yelling at her.

During Julia’s first year of life, I spent every day in such amazement that I had finally gotten pregnant and had a baby, that hours of walking the floor while nursing and singing to a fussy baby was fine with me. And, there were many people — sometimes including Janice — who said I spoiled her.

I simply replied, “Oh well, maybe she is spoiled and will only sleep with her mommy nearby, but I don’t mind.” I happily co-slept with my little bundle of fusses and didn’t mind nursing her throughout the night. I laughed that Julia decided for me that I should embrace attachment parenting. So I did and I loved having my baby ‘attached’ to me.

After that first year, Julia gradually turned from a slightly high-needs baby into a sweet little girl. Now we are extra blessed to have a very easy little girl who responds beautifully to simple parenting techniques such as giving choices with a little dose of distraction tossed in here or there.

But, like every toddler and preschooler, some days Julia can drain my pool of patience almost dry. And the other night, I could feel the surface cracking.

Julia was pushing her routine night-time procrastination stunts too far and eventually threw herself into a stereotypical kicking and screaming tantrum over having to wear long-sleeve pajamas. As I lay on the bed, holding and hugging her wild little body next to me and trying to console her, I grew more and more agitated.

My consoling turned to stern directives. And I heard myself saying in a deep, very stern voice, “Julia, what you are having is called a temper tantrum. You have lost your temper and you are having a temper tantrum. And do you know what? Mommies can lose their tempers too. What do you think will happen if Mommy loses her temper and Mommy has a temper tantrum?”

And to my complete surprise, Julia’s screams and cries tapered off and her little body went limp as she stopped to ponder the question. My tone had been so serious and the reality of Mommy getting really angry rocked her little three year old world. As she stopped and thought, exhaustion won and she fell fast asleep right there in my arms.

I thanked the Lord and closed my eyes to welcome my own sweet sleep.

UPDATE: For a different perspective, Janice just posted about her experience with her “short fuse” in her post, “When Mommy Loses her Temper…” Click over and read about what happens with the other twin who is raising a six year old boy! And please note that my daughter is still very young. I am sure I will lose my temper with her in years to come. (And if my memory correctly serves, when I was pregnant and exhausted last year, I lost my temper with Janice’s son Jackson on a few occasions!)

As the women-of-the-house, we are responsible for a lot of money. I’m certain that all of us perform some (or all) of the following tasks:

• grocery shopping
• clothes shopping for ourselves and/or the whole family
• paying bills
• finding service providers for phone, internet, insurance etc.

Many of us are trying to stretch our dollars as far as they will go, to allow us to be home full-time with our children, work fewer hours outside of the home, or to be able to add extras into our budget, such as family vacations.

I recently found a website which can help save money in all of these areas.

Pinchthepenny.com is a consumer savings site designed to help their readers save more and spend less. To get started, they have a 6 Step Savings Plan which targets the areas which offer immediate savings including credit cards, home phone and cell service, insurance, and coupons.

They also have links to stores offering free shipping and weekly deals.

We each have areas in which we might be able to compromise or change our providers if we knew it would save us some money.  Why not check out Pinchthepenny.com to see if you can create some wiggle-room in your budget?

Hey, it’s that time again… time to share what you have tackled this week at home from your to-do list.

Let me just say I am so proud of you all! All 84 of you last week pushing yourselves to get things done! And you did! AWESOME!

This week I decided to tackle the long awaited and mysterious Hallway Closet - dun dun duunnn!!!

(I know, I know, let’s see what gross things Carolyn has hiding in her house now! LOL… and yes that is the bag to my wedding dress!!!)

What are you tackling? Link up and let us know!

Join Us For Tackle It Tuesday

We’re making housework blog-able!

Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about Tackle It Tuesday here.

The project can be little or big – whatever you want. Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in getting our household tasks done. (It doesn’t even have to be housework… just whatever is on your To Do list.)

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Now go on girls… don’t be scared to KEEP IT REAL… we’re cheerin’ you on!

One of my fabulous new blogging buddies whom I met in La Jolla, Deanna from Domestic Chicky, sent me this shot of Olivia she took during Olivia’s “modeling” stint. So of course I had to show it off to all of you!

Thanks Deanna - I love it!

How young do you feel?

Lipton wants to keep you feeling young and living young with their new White Tea line, made from young tea buds plucked early in their life cycle.

These young leaves are packed with flavanoid antioxidants to help neutralize free-radicals than can damage cells. And with no further processing, the leaves maintain all that cancer fighting goodness and keep their light, delicate flavor.

The iced teas passed my family’s taste tests and as I type this I am sipping the hot White Tea with Island Mango and Peach Flavor. It is a very mild tea which allows the fruit flavors to come through.

Now, to have some fun feeling young…

As part of their “Free Your Y” campaign, Lipton is giving one of you a Lipton Branded Fuji Crosstown 2.0 Bike, valued at $399.00!

(Wow - do I wish I could win this prize! I think I would feel very young zipping around on that fantastic bike!)

The details…

One winner will receive:

• a Lipton Branded Fuji Crosstown 2.0 Bike
• 5 coupons for a free 1.5 Liter Bottle of Lipton White Iced Tea
• $75 check for professional bike assembly

To enter, leave a comment letting us know what keeps you feeling young.

On June 2nd, we will announce our randomly selected winner. This contest is open only to US residents.

To promote their “Free Your Y” campaign, Lipton is also running a huge video contest on You Tube at www.youtube.com/freeyourY. If you want to check out the videos and vote for your favorite, head on over. Voting runs from May 17th to the 30th.

The Pepsi/Lipton Partnership will provide a check for $75.00 to be used for professional assembly of all Lipton Fuji bicycles awarded. Neither Pepsi Co. nor Unilever is liable for any injuries, damages or accidents that may result from the receipt, assembly or use of this bicycle.

I am proud to share this week’s book with you.

One of the most wonderful things about being a mother has been seeing my parents and my in-laws as grandparents. I have wonderful memories of my growing-up years with my grandparents–traveling for weeks each summer with my mom’s parents seeing the country in their Silver Streak trailer, and spending a week each summer–alone without my sister or cousin–at my dad’s parents’ home. They didn’t need anything fancy to keep me occupied, but kids are different today, and parenting is different today, too.

We like to make the most of our moments–hoping that we can educate, or inspire, or train in some way.

The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting offers “101 practical ideas and meaningful activities to share your love.” The book begins with an inspiring introduction, exhorting grandparents not to “hold your wisdom close to your chest,” because you are a bridge to your grandchildren’s roots. My husband’s grandmother, Grandmommy, not only shares amazing stories about her history and that of her family, but she tells it like it is–which of my husband’s siblings cried a lot as babies, her memories of my husband Terry’s childhood, and so much more. My grandmother Mimi has always told me stories about when I was a little girl. I learn about myself through a grandmother’s loving eyes when she counts and recounts these tales.

This book is full of activities to do–some are crafts, some are simply activities (like a whole page of fun things to do with a flashlight), or teachable moments such as viewing constellations. Along with information and instructions for completing the activity, there are suggestions about topics to discuss while doing it.

For example in the “Extended Stay” section of the book, grandparents are encouraged to discuss chores. Having the grandchildren for an extended stay allows you an opportunity to have them do some chores, and for you to give them some spending or saving money. Some of the chores are even just fun activities, such as making stationary on the computer, or having them tutor you in computer skills. The topics of conversation around this particular subject include discussing saving and spending and sharing about some of the jobs you had as a youth.

Each segment also includes a note of interest–from grandparent to grandparent–called “A Grandparenting Aside.” These little nuggets include admonitions about passing along your fears or phobias to them with seemingly innocent comments, and freedom from guilt if you want to find a way to preserve some kid-free time in your golden years.

I know that in addition to moms who love and appreciate their parents as grandparents, that we have quite a few grandparents who visit our site, so if you’d like to win a copy of this book for yourself or to pass on to your children’s grandparents, leave a comment below. You may even want to keep it for yourself–I won’t tell if you don’t–but then you might want to buy a second or third copy for a belated Mother’s Day gift or a Father’s Day gift next month.

Looking over this book and writing this post got me thinking about my grandparents. I mined through some of my blog archives for posts about some of the topics I mentioned above:

• Mimi talks about her childhood during the Depression in the Dust Bowl of North Texas.
• A grandpa cashier at the toystore reminded me how precious children are and how much grandparents love to see them grow.
• After my grandfather Mac died, I shared some of my childhood memories of traveling with him and Mimi.
• I preserved some of Grandmommy’s stories that she shared with us while visiting, including tales of covered wagons.

Leave a comment if you’d like to win a copy of the book (shipping to the U.S. only). I’ll announce the winner in next week’s column.

I can’t think of a better way to commemorate Mother’s Day than to share these motherhood moments from these 10 winners in our San Disk Motherhood Moments contest. Each of these readers has won the SanDisk Cruzer® Gator USB Flash Drive.

I have given just the kernal of each of their stories in this “Motherhood is. . . .” essay that I created, but for more details, feel free to click over to read the full story. Reading each of your motherhood moments made my own Mother’s Day even more poignant, so thank you for taking the time to enter.  I published my own motherhood moment on my blog in honor of this day.  I’d love for you to read it.

Motherhood is. . . .
by Jennifer Donovan and the readers of 5 Minutes for Mom

Motherhood is when your child’s birth mother recognizes your authority over your child.

Motherhood is seeing the love that your children have for each other.

Motherhood is the first time your “I love you” gets a “love you” back.

Motherhood is the first real conversation that you have with your one-year-old child (emailed from Sandy).

Motherhood is finding out that you have a lot to learn, but persisting until you learn it.

Motherhood is rituals–of a type of hugging dance that you can have with your teenage daughter.

Motherhood is the reminder that comes from your child that “everything really will be OK” (from Julie Smith, comment #193 on our post).

Motherhood is seeing the fruit of the many times we’ve comforted our children, when they actually comfort us (emailed from Meg).

Motherhood is seeing our children grow, and hearing their own reflections about how they’ve changed since they were little.

Motherhood is being surprised by joy–when going in to reprimand a little one who should be sleeping and instead being rewarded with some late-night cuddling.

If your story was mentioned here, you should have an email or a blog comment from me. Please respond so that I can get your information to the contest sponsor.