name: Catherine

age: 32

current city: Memphis

living situation: I live with my husband Blake; our two boys, Jack (five) and Will (18 months); our Springer Spaniel Bessie; and last but certainly not least, Fred, our friendly squirrel who lives in the front yard. He makes it into all of Jack’s family portraits.

occupation: I work four days-a-week at an all-boys school as the seventh and eighth grade counselor. I love my job, and I love my schedule. It allows me to have the joy of professional fulfillment and adult time, as well as that extra day “off” to be a mom, help at my child’s school, have play dates, run errands, and enjoy some time to myself. Am I busier on my “day off” than the days when I work outside of the home? Yes. Always. 

how do you structure your time and space? We are pretty regimented around our house just because that’s how things work best for us. Perhaps this explains the stresses we had this summer with no schedule! Multi-tasking is definitely the key to our household. I’m not good with clutter, so I’m pretty anal about keeping things neat most of the time. While this is great in some respects, I will say that by 7:15 when all of the small people in my house are snug in their beds, I nearly always melt right into mine.

Our daily routine typically involves my heading to the gym first thing at 5:15ish and arriving home at 6:35 to little people slowly waking up. My husband showers while I start working on kids’ lunches. By 7:25, we are all dressed and mostly fed, and I am ushering everyone out the door, always with a Diet Coke in my hand and an extra one in my purse for later.

My husband is incredibly helpful with everything involving the boys and household chores. There’s no doubt, we couldn’t make it without him. Our nights right now are a little stressful only because he is working late each night. That means that the kids are pretty bored with me and are anxiously for dad to be home regularly for dinnertime soon.

But, typically dinner is at 5:30 with baths shortly after. We play games or read books, and then bedtime it is. I’m not good with any chores after the kids go to sleep. I always hear moms say that’s when they do household chores. Nope, not me. I’m totally done for the day, except maybe some bad reality TV and the latest US Weekly.

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives,

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? As many mothers would say, a lot of my highlights turn into challenges quickly – especially around the four o’clock hour. The highlights are certainly the innocence Jack exudes when he’s so excited about new experiences and meeting new people. I love feeding into all of that by just being silly and surprising the boys constantly. Some of the highlights are also messy and involve spaghetti explosions or finger painting with ice cream. It’s fun, and hey, it all washes off pretty easily.

Currently, I’m most challenged by/with my “Crazy Will,” as Jack calls him. He’s pretty head-strong, and when he’s unhappy, he’s very unhappy. My challenge comes at the typical witching hour when I’m just worn out. With Blake working late lately, the afternoons seem looonng. He’s also not sleeping through the night right now, so that’s an added bonus. On a positive note, today was a good day, and who knows what tomorrow will bring. It’s funny to me because the day can change so quickly with little guys. I’m certainly much more flexible than I used to be, and I even surprise myself with how things that used to bother me no longer do. I think that’s just a part of motherhood and having to “roll with the punches.” That’s also what makes it a lot of fun!

-what season(s) preceded this one? The past few months have been pretty stormy. With some family medical issues, frustrations dealing with a major construction project, and job stress, I sort of felt deflated ending the summer. I honestly wondered how I would muster the energy to start the school year well. Thankfully, it’s been an incredibly smooth transition. Things fell right into place as they usually do. I have felt rejuvenated by new students and fun colleagues at work, my kiddos have loved their new classrooms and teachers, our family health issues are going really well, and the housing project is moving along rather smoothly. So, do I wonder if the wheels are about to fall off? Maybe just a little but I’m enjoying the smooth ride while I can. 

-what season(s) might your future hold? I think our immediate future holds a lot of busy months that would normally seem stressful, but given all of the plans and projects we have, (and how well they are going right now!!!) I’m just excited about it all. I feel like we are going to have more fun each and every day as Will gets older and can communicate more effectively. Of course, I’m realistic and know it won’t all be rosy, but I do feel hopeful. I think I usually have a negative view of winter because it limits our outside activity, but I’m really looking forward to all the excitement that the next few months will bring. 

 favorite family activities: being silly!!! anything outside, lots of swimming, eating dinner on the patio, dance parties in the kitchen, going to the lakehouse and beach, and Jack and I especially love baking!

favorite solo activities: working out, having wine on the patio while listening to beachy music, reading magazines, planning creative projects that I sometimes start and rarely finish

source(s) of inspiration: I am inspired by music, my friends, people who are genuinely happy and peaceful, and artists (more specifically painters). When I’m down, my husband inspires me. We are very much each other’s yin and yang.

best MakeShift moment: One of my favorite things about nursing was the ease and convenience of it all. I remember being out all day and not having to pack bottles, and I just thought that was such a blessing. I really hate packing diaper bags! I selfishly loved that it allowed our schedule to be incredibly flexible. I never would have thought about how nursing would actually make things easier, but it certainly did for us.

[if you or someone you know would make a good “mother of invention,” please check out the nomination process and questionnaire located on the sidebar to your right.]

“in the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. –albert camus”

name: Annie Price

age: 34

occupation: Small Business Developer, Artist

how do you structure your time and space? There are two windows of time on most days in which I am full-on mom, generally from  8:30 to 1:00 and 4:30 to 8:30. During this time we try to strike a balance between activities out of the home that involve interaction with others and the natural world, and time together creating, playing, discovering, and loving. Then, during nap times, evening times, one scheduled morning a week, and other random times that my daughter is in another’s care, I am oscillating between giving energy to my own artistic creations, the part-time work that I love as a small business developer at a local microenterprise development non-profit, my commitment to developing my own yoga practice, and time-honoring the adult relationships that I hold dear. 

There are certainly many days when I am filled with a sense of gratitude and abundance and feel like I have a good handle on all that swirls around me. And then there are the days when I feel utterly overwhelmed and paralyzed with exhaustion, and I opt to spend my daughter’s nap time curled up in bed regaining my own strength for the next shift of parenting a toddler. I am indebted to the precious loved-ones in my life who see the wonder and grace that lies within my daughter and are willing to step in and give me space and time to reconnect with myself. This time is essential to me. I have had to face my guilt about wanting, craving, and needing time to myself. It took my husband and me over four years to conceive our child, and now here I am demanding time away from this precious being? But I have discovered that I cannot be the mother-wife-friend-colleague-creator that I pride myself on being if I do not seek solace for myself, and I am finally confident in verbalizing that.

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives,

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? I am currently feeling the bounty of spring more than usual. We live in a cabin in the woods, and each day in my time outdoors I try to take note of what is coming up around me and then connect it to what is coming up within myself. I still feel like I am emotionally residing in early days of spring; I am not ready for the full-on explosion of summer. I am still feeling protective and am nurturing my own tender shoots. 

-What season(s) preceded this one? It was the darkest, roughest, longest winter I can recall, on many levels. I became extremely ill with meningitis at the end of last fall and spent a little over two months recovering. We had to call in reinforcements to help with our daughter and day-to-day tasks, and this was very humbling for me. I had to surrender to the mess and chaos around me and simply rest; this was incredibly hard for me. I remember lying on my front porch swing one winter afternoon in my sleeping bag, and I just stared at the trees and their naked branches for an hour. I felt so emotionally connected to them and how exposed and still they were. I listened to them as they whispered to be patient and that spring would inevitably come for all of us, and that my only responsibility at that time was to be quiet and patient. They were right. 

-What season(s) might your future hold? I am awaiting summer, though I am not fully ready for it. Truth be told, I feel like I have been emotionally awaiting a full summer for years. I always cling to spring and anxiously await the coming of fall. I am curious what this means for me metaphorically. When am I going to feel ready to come into full bloom? I am looking forward to really embracing “summer” again one day and entering into that realm of discovery, play, laughter, spontaneity, fearlessness, and a little more personal and professional risk-taking.

favorite family activity/activities: creek stomping and outdoor exploring, snuggling, baking together, and dancing either in the living room or at local live music events.   

favorite solo activities: yoga; escaping to my favorite little hiding places in town- antique shops, bookstores, coffee shops; going out to breakfast with a book, magazine, or journal in hand; road trips!

sources of inspiration: the changing of seasons and the endless beauty found in nature; the little details of my daughter- her hands, expressions, or the way she looks from the back as she runs down a path; the pages of unique home décor coffee table books; fabulous finds at vintage and thrift shops; my soul sister girlfriends; my family; countless musicians and artists who are pouring their souls into their craft with little financial reward; and a long list of women authors. 

best MakeShift moment: Oh gracious. MakeShift moments are the modus operandi around here. One example is that last Christmas, we didn’t feel like our daughter needed a lot of stuff. I decided to simply turn a huge cardboard box into a play space for her, and we filled it with Christmas lights, cut out windows, et cetera, and gave her a bunch of art supplies that she could use to color the walls and such. She also received a baby doll for Christmas from her grandparents, and she took it into her little cardboard house and stayed in there for hours pampering her baby, singing to her, loving her, and acting out all of the things we have done while raising her. It was so moving. I just sat there and cried. When it was raining the other day I cleaned out a section of her closet and put a little mattress in there, along with more lights and pictures on the walls and she spent hours in there in make-believe land. Creating these little spaces gives her a small, sweet place of her own and gives me an opportunity to pour myself a glass of wine and sit back and relax.

 I have also learned that saying “no” to everything is no fun for anyone, so I have started giving in to some of the ongoing requests like letting my daughter play in the driver’s seat of the car  (she could do that for hours), making a big ole mess while letting her help me cook, or dumping out all of my jewelry and tangling it up in make-believe play. I will miss these days and their sweet mess. I know this.

[if you know someone who would make a good “mothers of invention” feature for this blog, please check out the nomination process detailed in the sidebar pages to your right.]

we are back from an eventful “family camp” weekend in middle tennessee at camp NaCoMe. with the exception of an unavoidable conflict here and there (such as my brother’s wedding last october), i have gone to this church camp twice a year since i was five years old. in all of these 28 years, i have yet to adequately describe to others what exactly we do at NaCoMe and just why it is so much fun.

we dance…

…sing, eat lots of food, practice yoga, do some makeshifting…

jog, eat more food, walk in the creek…

…eat more food, play horseshoes, catch crawdads, play tennis, eat, talk to old friends on the porch…

and let grandparents, other people’s parents, and other people’s children look after our little ones.

in turn, we look after other people’s children and grandchildren too. the great outdoor challenge was not such a challenge in this beautiful, green, wide open space.

this nacome had the added element of four (FOUR!) tornado warnings/watches that sent us to our cabins to clutch our packed-and-ready emergency bags and to prepare to huddle together in a crawl space down below. in the end, the crawl space remained empty (apart from a few adventure-seeking children and their gracious parental chaperon), and we were left on the porch to watch the sky unleash its wrath on a little town five miles down the road.

this morning, it was as if the storms never happened.

as the sun brightened the rain-soaked trees, we packed up our boys, with new memories of adventure, and carted them back to memphis. there, they too will fail to describe to others what exactly we do at NaCoMe and just why it is so much fun.