conferences, authors, adults, enjoyment

I just have to share the really fabulous day I was lucky enough to enjoy.



I went to a librarian conference as a vendor. I know. sounds boring. right. not so.



I was lucky enough to get to spend the day with AnnMaree Montgomery, my upline supervisor with Usborne Books and good friend, and with Kimberly Greene, a fantastic author and exciting, charismatic, down-to-earth woman. {Kimberly wrote *My Sister's a Popstar*, *The Fame Game and Me*, and *My Life on TV*.}




So as I write this I realize that maybe to the untrained eye, this would seem like a boring, no big deal, sort of day. But to me, it was fantastic. How often to I get to have adult conversations ALL DAY LONG? AND with a *famous* author {if she's not famous now, she will be soon because she is amazing at what she does}. AND have these said adult conversations about real life issues, like what children are learning by watching tv and how those stories so drastically effect how they view and treat the world, themselves, and others. And talk about fun things, and interesting things, and boring things, and our children, and our views, and religion (well a bit), and life.



I got to be an adult, with adults, not worrying about my kids, not worrying about dinner, or the house, or my normal day to day stresses. I got to laugh, smile, think, interact, talk, listen, enjoy, and be an adult.



hmmm. Is there a theme going on? If you haven't figured it out yet, I can simplify.



I. like. being. an. adult. not. just. a. mommy.



Don't get me wrong.

I L.O.V.E. love being a mom to my beautiful, special, fantastic boys. Those boys have been the greatest gift in my life. I adore them. Period.



I just have a difficult time enjoying life as a *mommy* when I can't get a break from being *mommy*.

Day in, day out, no reprieve, no rest, no break.

This becomes very taxing on me; physically, mentally, emotionally.

There are days I feel lucky I made it through (and let's be honest, I feel lucky my boys made it through too).



AND days like today really help build me back up. I got to be an adult, with thoughts, ideas, insights. I got to be a person. I even felt like a professional person. Oh, that's good.



The icing on the cake is that my boys were very happy when I got home. They enjoyed a fun day with grandpa (minus the sick 3-year-old that decided the last 1 1/2 hours he'd vomit and diareah all over the place). They were sweet, loving, and just adored me when I got home {even my poor sicky}. And you know what, that felt good too. When we're together ALL THE TIME my boys just get sick of me; I'm not fun, or special. I'm just mom. Since we spent a whole day apart, we all could see our love and adoration for eachother. It was good. What's that saying? Seperation makes the heart grow fonder {something like that anyway}.



Another perk of this day is that I was able to enjoy bedtime. I know. How is that possible. I swear, bedtime is my nemesis. I dread bedtime. I adore AFTER bedtime, but the getting to bed and to sleep is the WORST. TIME. OF. DAY. AWFUL. However, today it was enjoyable. They didn't act too different from normal. {Bob-a-loo didn't feel to great so he got in bed very easily.} But today I wanted to hear what they had to say, the pillow talk, chatting, their silliness. It was a perfect way to unwind and discuss the day. And since we weren't together ALL day, we had something to talk about. I still had to ask them to calm down. The difference was that I was already calm, I wasn't upset with them being excited. I enjoyed their enthusiasm and was able to let them talk themselves down from the day and to a place of peace and rest.



It's amazing to me how crucial my state of mind is on how I deal with my children. The saying *If mom aint happy, aint nobody happy* comes to mind. A plan is in the works. My boys diserve a mom who appreciates them DAILY! I will make this happen. I'm not going to lie, it may not be a quick fix, but it is coming. I aint gonna be that *aint happy* mom no more!