Modern Motherhood Musings

You’re reading Modern Motherhood Musings, a weekly newsletter written from one mom to another. Each week I share an honest reflection on motherhood, and a collection of things bringing me joy. I’m passionate about community, and I hope that by sharing our stories, we all feel a little less alone.

📝 This week’s musing…

I turned 35 yesterday.

Birthday’s are always a little panic inducing for me. I feel the clock ticking and I have so much FOMO, but they also always cause me to reflect.

I spent my 25th birthday in Paris with my best friend (Hi, Margie!). We had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower, and the world was our oyster. I was single and my life looked drastically different back then.

In the years between that Paris trip and today I changed careers, moved across the country, got married, had 2 kids, and formed some of my closest friendships.

The past 10 years have made me more confident in myself, and I owe a big part of that to motherhood. I’ve had to work through childhood wounds, ask hard questions about faith and politics, and spend time forming my own opinions about what I believe and why.

25 - 35 was about figuring out who I was, and who I wanted to be.

What do I want 35 - 45 to be about?

My husband and I like to tell people that we’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel now that our youngest is 16 months old.

Having some margin again has allowed me to rediscover my passions, and some of those dreams I had at 25. I always dreamed of being a writer, or a chef, or of working in Women’s Ministry at a church.

Maybe I won’t be the next Ina Garten or Julia Child, but I can find joy in feeding my family. Maybe I won’t go to seminary, but I can volunteer and serve the women in my local church. Maybe I won’t write a New York Times bestseller, but I can be dedicated to this little space on the web each week.

I celebrated my 35th birthday surrounded by my parents, incredible husband, and two sweetest boys. At 25 I never would have imagined this life I’ve been blessed with. I can’t wait to look back when I’m 45 and say “Wow, I could have never dreamed of this life back when I was 35!”

Time goes by so quickly. If you’re feeling stuck in this season of life, or overwhelmed with the mental load of motherhood, just think about where you were 10 years ago. So much life can happen in just 10 years.

✨ Friday Favorites…

🏖️ I’m loving this Jergens Natural Glow for a bit of that sun-kissed look I desperately need after the winter. It doesn’t have that harsh sunless tanner smell I’ve found in other lotions.

🩳 Buying clothes on Amazon is always hit or miss for me, but I bought the boys the cutest swimsuits for Spring Break, and I’m so impressed with the quality.

🎞️ It’s not going to win any Oscars, but we watched Wanderlust (Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd) the other night and it was the perfect cheesy-feel-good-rom-com that we needed.

👯‍♀️ Creating Community

Each week, the Creating Community section will feature either a question or challenge. The goal is to inspire you to build community, because we all need each other.

Thanks for reading this week’s edition of Modern Motherhood Musing!

Happy Friday! I hope y’all have a great weekend!