Mom-Me Moment

Well top of the morning to everyone today.  I woke to a phone call from College Girl.  She was filling me in on her next activity.  Graduation is only a week and a half away.  So proud for her.  She is so nervous.  So much to do.  And of course I am dying to go and help her.

Yeah, I confess....I am a Momaholic!  Next week I will get to go and help her pack up her apartment and move her things back home for storage.  I do not think she will be with us but a week or two at most before moving on.  Either with a new job or out looking.  She has some sources to help her get started. 

So are you a Momaholic too?  Should we go to MA?  Who would take care of the family while we were away?  Dena Higley, a very real mom, confesses not only to MA but that ever scary term....Helicopter Mom.  You know the ones.  Hoovering around their kiddos, jumping in all the time to do for them.  Helping them to the point you wonder just which one is learning and which one is parenting.  Now I admit I have my terrible helicopter moments.  College Girl can attest to that I am sure.  But, I hate to think I have been too much all of the time. 

Momaholic is Dena’s comical peek in her life when everything fell apart. She shares a story of how she had to reassess what her role was as mom.  And how she could really be the glue her family needed.

The real life characters:
* A MOM who is literally the head writer of a network soap opera
* A HUSBAND who expects perfection but wise to know he’s being unrealistic.
* An autistic SON
* A popular DAUGHTER who is suddenly pregnant
* An ADOPTED DAUGHTER from Vietnam with no leg below the knee and fingers fused
* An ADOPTED SON from Ethiopia, rescued from the streets at the age of 9
This is a story showing the a “normal” family can fall apart. Miss Drama, becomes the biggest mess of all and ends up finding a whole new freedom for her soul.  Pretty good if you ask me.  We all know the family that looks perfect.  But do we see what is really going on in the walls of the house?  Pretty good can often be the cover for "Lord help us!"

One of the ways I was really bad in my own MA life was with food.  I know I already have an issue with eating.  I use it to comfort me, to join in on my misery, for celebrations and sometimes I even remember that I am to eat because it is good for me.  College Girl has that wonderful sense to eat because she is hungry.  To eat how much she needs and stop.  Yes, she is not part of the clean your plate club.  Oh and she eats what she needs too.  Amazing control in my opinion.  But I was never good at remembering to think of portions in their right amounts.  You know, you have heard them.  3 ounces of meat is the size of a deck of cards.  Do we really every eat a fourth of a cup of anything?

With my grandbabes I am really having to learn to listen to them not to myself.  They love many really wonderful healthy foods.  And they stop sometimes with a few bites.  Trying not to fall into the age old trap of .... "you finish for you will not eat again til dinner" is hard.  Okay they eat some now.  And again in 2 hours.  And then maybe more in another 2 hours.  Small portions, what we might think of as snacking forever.  But  if each 'snack' is a portion of a healthy meal then why be ever so freaked out.  Some cheese now, later an apple, followed up with Princess Emma's favorite of Chicken with a Handle!

I am educating myself by checking our Portion Size Me.  In here Marshall Reid decided to change his lifestyle and demanded that his family help him along the way. His plan was simple. For thirty-one days, Marshall made a conscious decision about every piece of food he put into his body.  An idea was born. For an entire month, the Reids as a family "portion sized" themselves. Weary of trying to follow strict, depriving diets, they instead paid close attention to how they ate by looking at portions, reading labels, and learning about ingredients. In the process, they came to know so much more about each other-and about themselves.  Pretty smart kid!  I know that I too had to learn to listen as College Girl was growing up.  She was more in tune to her needs than I was.  Once I quit trying to parent her all the time and became a partner in her diet, life was much smoother.  That I am sure a great reason she is the size she is and I am the size I am.  I am still trying to learn what is healthy for me.  I think I will forever be in the feast or famine syndrome.

Thanks so to BookSneeze and Sourcebooks for sharing with me.  They are great companies when looking for books that are guided to healthy lifestyles.  Of course you know, unpaid, my own thoughts and as always unsolicited advice.