Relishing Motherhood's First Contest

One of the purposes of this blog is to help me remember to relish my motherhood. So often I get swept up in the to-do list, in the rush-rush of everyday life, in the seemingly endless piles of laundry, grocery lists, and bits of who-knows-what that need to be vacuumed from my 28 year old carpet. And yet, if I let those things define my day, my job, my life, then I've missed the whole point. I am not a stay at home mom because of those things. We could easily outsource those things if I had a full time paying-me-what-I'm-worth kind of job. We have chosen for me to be at home for the sake of our children and our marriage and our family. So why would I let my mind be consumed with the less meaningful aspects of motherhood?

I have found great joy in motherhood in the past year as I have actively sought it. Some days, I have to put "have fun with the kids" on my to-do list so that I remember. Some days I get bogged down in the other stuff and forget to relish. But as I have sought to have fun, to enjoy, to savor, I have shared such sweet moments with my children and our family. Moments that I would have missed if I hadn't slowed down and looked for the opportunities. That is one of the things that I love about homeschooling--the time that we spend learning together is quality time spent together. Every. Single. Day.

Anyhow, in a desire to share the love, I am sponsoring a writing contest.

The Topic:
An Ah-ha Moment of Motherhood. Tell me about a time when something really clicked for you and you saw motherhood in a new way. Or when you felt enlightenment in regards to your role as a mother or how you should handle a situation in your family. Or when you had an epiphany about your own mother. You get the picture. I'll be posting mine in the next couple of days.

The Rules:
Write a new post on the above topic on your blog. Be sure to leave me a comment on this post so that my readers and I can come over to your blog and read it. And please mention the contest and link to this post when you write your contest entry, so that if your readers want to participate, they'll know how to. The contest begins immediately and will go through June 30th.

The Judge:
My darling MIL, Myrna, will be our judge. She is uber-qualified as a mother, an accomplished writer, and has all the qualities one might want in a judge. She does like chocolate if you are into bribes!:)

The Prize:
A CD copy of my 2007 original cookbook, Come to Family Dinner, with over 75 of my favorite recipes for everything from Rustic Rosemary Country Bread to Apple Raspberry Crisp, and includes all of my original cheesecake recipes. I may even bake a goodie to send along with the cookbook--if I'm in a good mood and not too crazy busy, mind you.:)

If you don't have a blog and still wish to participate, please email me your entry. I claim the right to post any such entries on my blog (giving you the credit for writing it, naturally.)