Hello and welcome!

You are probably wondering why I brought you here, so let me explain.

My name is Ashley Baldwin, and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and a mother of two children. Over the years I have debated started a blog but felt like there were enough parenting/motherhood blogs out there to go around. My hope is that with the combination of my profession and personal background, I can bring some fresh information and can contribute to my community of moms. I also believe that I am real and raw (and fairly funny…but you can be the judge of that) and hope to normalize some of the crazy things that occur in the world of motherhood. My other goal is to help to share tips and tricks I have learned over the years that help me as well as maybe learn some new ones from all of you!

There are so many thoughts rolling around on where to being with this, so I will just start with the current week’s stress. I saw a meme this week that said:

Friend: Want to do a play date next weekend?

Me: Nope, I can’t. My kids were healthy this weekend so they will be sick next weekend.

I laughed when I read this, but I think it also hit too close to home. Does anyone else seem to feel like in the post-COVID world that our children are sick non-stop? My kids have been in daycare since they were babies, and it never has seemed to be this bad.

I picked both children up from their summer daycares yesterday and was greeted with two children with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. As soon as I realized this, I felt so defeated. All the initial thoughts and anxieties of who stays home, are they ok, how long will this last, did we just accidentally share it with everyone we know, etc., etc., came barreling to the forefront of my brain and camped out there for far too long. It got me thinking, besides the obvious concerns of not wanting anything to be wrong with our children, why is a sick child so stressful?

For me, it is that at least in our house, sickness usually occurs right around other life plans. This has included the first days of kindergarten, at least half of our mother’s days, birthday, holidays, vacations, etc. I think that as moms, we are constantly emotionally “on” and work so hard to make everything run seamless, that when it doesn’t, it can feel hopeless and overwhelming. I have learned over the years that I am not alone in this. I have also learned the importance of slowing down and giving myself permission not to “fix” it right away and to take a breath before I problem solve. This helps me to not feel as anxious about whatever is going on and to realize that this current issue or stressor is not actually as big or as life-altering as it feels in those initial moments. My kids have been REALLY sick before, and if yours ever have too, I do think it can create another trigger of truly worrying about their wellbeing. Slowing down and taking some deep breaths also helps to remind me that it isn’t as bad as it has been, AND even when things are hard and scary, I am capable of managing it, just like you are. So, remember, when life chucks lemons at 100mph at you (because isn’t that the definition of motherhood??), slow down, take some deep breaths and remember that you’ve got this, and you can do hard things. What feels big in that initial moment of chaos, is likely not as big and life-altering as it tends to feel. Nice to meet you and welcome!