Mommy Camp!

So I shared in my last post about the conversation that TJ, Jackie and I had about what we would do with $100,000 if we could do anything.

My answer was a Mommy Camp.

A place where mom's can go for a weekend to get away.  To sleep, to vent, to cry, to yell, to be encouraged, to be challenged, to eat, to relax, to breath, to focus, to laugh, and laugh some more, to play games, and converse with other moms who "get it".

Have you ever been having a crappy day and you ran into a really good friend or a complete stranger and all you had to do was look at each other and you just knew that they understood.  The "I've been there!" look but oozing with compassion.  Then there are times, ok maybe many times, when you meet the glance of a good friend or a complete stranger and you get the look of judgement.  No thank you!  I can't stand that. 

There is nothing more refreshing to my soul than empathy.  

Empathy: the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person's feelings.

And nothing more distasteful to me than someone who is NOT empathetic.  This very issue is an on going conversation in our house and is often my greatest frustration in relationships with people.

Let me give some examples.  Here is the common one between TJ and I (Love you honey!) and I imagine between a lot of stay at home moms and their spouse.  I will begin to share how hard it is to manage all the things I have to manage through out the day such as; getting all the kids up, dressed, fed, and out the door in the morning, homeschool, cleaning the house, planning and cooking meals 3 TIMES A DAY (sorry, had to shout) taking the kids to long appointments that are emotionally or physically demanding, homework, running errands with three kids in tow and on and on.  He will listen and then proceed to tell me what he would do if he were in my shoes.  Makes me mad every time.  EVERY TIME. And our conversation almost always ends in me saying, "can you just admit that this is really hard and sucks sometimes!? That's all I want.  Some empathy!"

Can you relate?

Here is another example.  I am dropping the girls off at school and it is a miracle I even got the kids to school because the whole morning has been a fight and we are all grumpy about it.  I chose my battles that morning and making my four year old get dressed, brush her hair, and put on shoes was not a battle I fought and won.  She doesn't have school this day so I don't care.  We show up at school and she is still crying from being an EMOTIONAL FOUR YEAR OLD and I throw her over my shoulder wrapped in her blankey and proceed to check Carly in.  There will inevitably be a mom or two who have one kid and they are always showered and looking cute who will give me a look as if to say, "what kind of mom are you?  Is it really that hard to get your kid dressed?" ( I will keep my thoughts to myself as to what I want to say to "those" people.  HA.  And in their defense, they have issues too.)  But then you catch the eye of a mom who just gets it.  And it is like you can take a deep breath and laugh.  And she may say something like, "oh boy, been there! Hang in there mom, keep thinking about bed time".

I just love those women.  No, really, I do.  I adore their spirit, and how comfortable they are to be themselves and authentic.  They know they are not perfect and they are ok with that.

All this lead me to Mommy Camp.  I wanted a place where mom's could yell, "YES! IT REALLY IS THAT HARD!"  Because you know what, it is.  Being a mom is hard.  Being a mom to multiple kids is hard.  Being a mom to multiple kids with issues or difficulties is hard.  Really stinkin' hard!  And I think us mom's in this caterogy want to know we are not alone.

We want empathy.  And honesty.  AND ENCOURAGEMENT.  We also want a place to breath because so often we are tense or we go go go and never stop to deal with the fact that we are depressed, overwhelmed, sad, angry, alone, unhappy, tired, burnt out, and disappointed.

All moms need a place where they can retreat.  But...my heart is for the ones who struggle with the words above on a regular basis.  They need a place where they can walk in the door or into the conversation and be greeted with the look.  The look of empathy.  The look that says, "I get it, and we are going to make it!"

Mommy Camp!

More coming on this idea in another post because believe you me, the dream is a brewing!

Hugs to you moms reading this!  You are awesome!