Giveaway: iPad Mini and myCharge Hub 6000
Bragging about your parenting skills is not allowed in today’s world. No one wants to hear about how your child is hitting her milestones early because you introduced reading and classical music while she was still in the womb. Or how your son is perfectly behaved in restaurants because you fed him homemade baby food instead of crap from a jar, giving him a finer appreciation of real food.
You know what happens when you say such things in public?
People nod their heads while secretly thinking— If you want to think good parenting is responsible for your early-talking toddler with the undiscerning palette, that’s fine. We just won’t be friends.
Most people know that nobody wants to hear about their perfect kids, so they either keep things to themselves or more often, they let their parenting feats spill out in the form of “humble brags”. You know those self-deprecating status updates on facebook that are actually thinly veiled ways to pat one’s own self on the back?
I keep trying to get my seven-year-old to go outside and play, but he just wants to read and read and read. What can I say? The kid loves his chapter books!
A friend gave my kids store bought pop tarts and they refused to touch them! It was so rude! I guess they are used to the whole wheat ones I make at home with strawberry jam from the farmer’s market. LOL.
I am so nervous about dropping Atticus off at his first day of preschool. After all the stuff we’ve taught him at home, I hope he’s not bored!
You get the idea. Somehow it’s more obnoxious when moms are trying to pretend the shout-out to themselves isn’t there.
But that doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to be proud of our finer moments! Especially when we self-identify as an imperfect parent and our bragging opportunities aren’t as readily apparent.
Today, I want to give every mom permission to brag about her parenting skills. Not a humble brag. A FULL OUT BRAG. Don’t disguise it with the genius of your child. Make your brag all about yourself! Don’t stick an LOL or a winking emoji at the end. OWN IT!
But I’m not good at anything…
Don’t sell yourself short! Every mom is good at something. For instance, I might suck at cooking, cleaning, crafting and making sure my children brush their teeth before they walk out the door, but…
I AM AWESOME AT HAIR BRAIDING.
Ah, that felt good. I’ve been wanting to say that for awhile.
I can braid Mazzy’s hair like nobody’s business. It’s a skill I taught myself in sleep-away camp when I was thirteen and I could not be happier than to have a long-haired daughter on which to show-off my god-given talent.
Elsa’s hair? Yep, I can do it.
Anna’s hair? Yep. I can do that too.
How else do you think Mazzy beat all the other Annas roaming the streets for Halloween? Her hair was ON POINT.
I also did Mazzy’s hair myself both times she was asked to be a flower girl.
For the most recent wedding, I had her look at a Pinterest board of braiding styles, pick the photo she liked the best and then I was able to replicate it for the big day.
Did I practice a few days before hand? Nope! I didn’t even need to! I am THAT confident in my skillz.
Here’s what I did to her hair for picture day at school yesterday:
Here’s what I did for her birthday party last year:
Here’s what I did for no occasion whatsoever:
I officially award myself the “Best Mom at Hair Braiding Award”!
(Yes, I know, I know, you can find many moms who are way better at braiding on Pinterest, but Pinterest is a make-believe place and I don’t think these moms actually exist in real life.)
Want to win your own award? Nominate yourself! You could win fabulous prizes!
Today, I’m partnering with myCharge to launch the “Moms in Charge Awards” which is your excuse to brag freely about your parenting abilities. Even if that ability is licking your kid’s ice cream cone so it doesn’t drip. (I’m really good at that too, by the way.) Are you the best at lunchbox notes? The best bedtime storyteller? The mom who always has the best snacks at school pick-up? Perhaps you have a story about the time you microwaved a hot dog preventing your picky eater from starving.
No feat is too large or too small for this contest.
Post your mom skill in the comments or upload photo proof to facebook or instagram and you could win a MyCharge Hub 6000 plus an iPad Mini with a case.
Yes, that’s right. AN iPAD MINI.
What’s a myCharge Hub 6000? Funny you should ask! It’s a portable charger with built-in cables and connectors for smartphones, tablets, e-readers or whatever device your little rugrat is choosing to drain the battery out of that day. You can get up to 27 hours of additional talk time, as well as integrated, quick-charge wall prongs. That’s why myCharge refers to it as their “Swiss Army Knife of portable power devices”.
You don’t need me to explain an iPad mini, do you?
I will also give ten runner-ups a myCharge hot pink Razor Plus. The Razor Plus is super light, ultra-thin and delivers 13 hours of additional talk time for your smartphone. So you can let your kid play Candy Crush on your phone all through dinner at the diner and still be able to call Grandma on the way home.
I’ll be picking my favorite entries (both written and photo entries) and then judges (to be determined) will pick the winners. I might get other mom bloggers to be the judges. I might get moms of mom bloggers to be the judges. I might get my own mom to judge. We shall see. Whoever judges, I’m guessing humor and creative answers will come into play.
To enter, you must complete three easy steps:
1) Describe your mom skill in the comments below or post photo proof on the Mommy Shorts Facebook page or on Instagram with the hashtag #momskillz. Your description can as short or as long as you like. Something general or an isolated story of which you are particularly proud. If you enter through Instagram, you must follow and tag both @mommyshorts and @mycharge.
2) Share this post in some way— like it on facebook, tweet it, pin it, etc.
3) Sign up for the myCharge newsletter using the email entry form below.
You can read the full rules here.
That’s it.
Good luck giving yourself some credit!
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This post was sponsored by myCharge but all thoughts, opinions, and braiding skillz are my own.
I nominate myself for best tea party maker. I buy tea sets all the time for my 4-year old and I to change up our setting. We make homemade pink lemonade and decorate the table. We only wear our Sunday best (which includes frozen dresses) and tea hats. I was Mary Poppins for Halloween and she has requested she join her for tea, so we will make said party and Ill be dressed up ready with my English accent for good measure.
I am the best at getting out of bed, making breakfast, reading to, smiling, laughing and playing with my 17mo son and showing him that mommy can still smile and love her little man even though we just lost our second baby boy (34 weeks old) 2 weeks ago and I’m recovering from the c-section. I am the best (and so is my husband) at still being able to laugh with our little boy even though our hearts are broken, and we can show that to him, too.
I am great at not only getting my daughter to her specialty appointments in Seattle (which is an hour ferry ride and 20 minuet drive from our house) before our set time but she’s dressed, hair done, glasses on and snack packed. I am on top of all things medical for her. And I can do most things one handed 🙂 thank you for this awesome opportunity! I hope I win and good luck to all the other moms!
Whe I took placement of a 3.5 yr old foster child he could only count to 2. With a couple weeks he was counting to 8! Both out loud and counting objects!
I am awesome at instilling manners in my girls! From the moment they were born I modeled and expected them to use their please and thank yous. Please (peas) and thank you (tay-q) were some of their first words. If they ask for something or say something impolitely, I simply reply with, “try again” and won’t oblige until they say it politely. My husband is pretty great at it, too! It doesn’t stop my 4YO from sassin me, or my 19 month old from having complete melt down tantrums, but it sure does make me smile when I hear their polite exchanges!!!
I am amazing at mobilizing three kids and getting wherever we are going ON TIME!! We are almost NEVER LATE! #momskillz
As a mom of two tiny girls, I am the best at remembering sweatshirts. Yep, mom skillz is making sure no one is cold in restaurants (or anywhere else)…secret is a messy passenger seat at all times with all seasons of outerwear (plus backpacks with same). And my husband’s dad skillz is answering all bedtime questions from grade schoolers. Super helpful for sure!
My Mom skillz: being super OCD and making everything pretty… And I mean everything!
– I can fold fitted sheets neatly.
– I can tell you were anything is in the house with GPS accuracy because everything has a place and a place for everything!
– You broke your toy? Mama will fix it and make it look pretty again.
– Co-ordinating outfits for the entire family for church on Sundays? A must…
– Couch looking a bit shabby? Let me just crochet up a throw for it so it looks pretty again.
– Need a Pinterest worthy pregnancy announcement/cute photo of the baby for the grandparents? I got you covered.
Yup, a weird skill that manifests itself in loads of different ways, but my husband thinks I’m creative, and if I do say so myself, I like that I can make just about anything look good! Even my trash is organised and neat looking…
I am the best at finding 4 leaf clovers. I find them without even trying, I can be walking through the grass and look down and see one. Between march and october I found 46 and yes I counted because I was curious how many I actually found 🙂
I am the best at knowing dates, times, and activities for children not just mine but other people’s as well. Want to know when gymnastics classes are available? No problem. Ballet? Got that. Karate? Swim team? Girl Scouts? Got it, got it, got it. Want to know when the class party is and what to bring? I know that too. Want to know free days for museums? I got those too! I know what’s going on, when it is, and what you need to do or bring to be there.
I am a kindergarten teacher, and I have five children at home plus my adult daughter. (That’s a whole other contest/blog post in itself). I commute an hour each way to my job on good days, and my husband leaves for work when it’s still dark out. What I am awesome at is rolling with it. People always expect the teacher’s kid to have it all together, to have Pinterest inspired lunches, perfect spelling tests, amazing science projects, and never fudge their reading log. Not me. I’m exhausted when I get home. I ask my kids if they did their homework, and if they answer, “yep” I’m good. They eat school lunches because I’m too tired to pack them home lunch and even when I try to pack them lunches, they eat everything I bought to make lunches with before I’m done unpacking the groceries, so I gave up. My oldest turned in the most embarrassing replica of a cell I’ve ever seen. I wish I would have taken a picture…but I was trying to pretend I didn’t know who’s it could be when I saw it displayed with the other hand painted 3D models. He TAPED a cotton ball to a PAPER PLATE and turned it in. Did I mention he’s in high school? My middle son got busted at school for selling socks. Yea, socks… He’s quite the hustler, but apparently they “frown on this type of activity” at his school, at least that’s what the dean told me when she called to tell me. It’s always the teacher’s kid! It’s not uncommon for my kids to forget their homework, or to miss school functions because I didn’t look in their travel folders, nor is it out of the ordinary to have “fend for yourself” night for dinner. I love my kids, and they know it, even if I don’t stencil love notes on card stock for them to read at lunch. I’m their biggest fan at dance recitals, baseball games, and 4H (ok I’m lying I hated 4h and bribed my daughter with pet guinea pigs in order to never have to go to another one but I TRIED 4H and isn’t that what’s important?) So while kids in my class wistfully tell me, “I wish you were my mom…” I can pretty confidently tell them, “No… You really don’t ” and I’m ok with that. My family loves me flaws and all, and for that I am blessed beyond measure.
I am the best mom at cleaning up puke, kid or dog’s! And I don’t just clean up already deposited puke. I can swoop in and catch it in my bare hands before it hits the carpet, without puking myself! While cleaning up the stairs one Christmas eve my husband complemented me as he was holding back from heaving himself, “Now I know why I married you. I could not be doing that.”
I am the best mom at not saying no. I think no should be used for emergency situations. So for example i tell my little guy, we dont pull doggie’s fur that hurts him. Not a super amazing talent but i feel like no is always an instant answer but i try to reserve it for when i want him to stop in his tracks so he doesnt get hurt.
My daughter just said, “You’re the best at giving your kids love!” I must have done something right!
My mommy skill that I do best is probably reading books in funny voices. The kids love when each characer gets its own voice and I’ve even read to their classes and get compliments from their class mates.. ide say it’s a pretty awesome skill because it makes book reading more enjoyable for the kids
I’m not just a great cook but a great traditional food preparer. Through my extensive research and intense efforts my children have never had anything not created by me. I make bone broth, kombucha, yogurt and fermented foods to be consumed daily. My kids drink raw milk, receive an incredible amount of probiotics, vitamins, minerals and a alge called spirulina. I also soak, sprout, dry, grind, and make my own breads, and nut butters. In the world of processed food I am very proud of myself for only providing the absolute best for my kids. It takes up all my free time when I am not with my kids but it is so rewarding. Neither of my kids have ever had a health issue or an illness such as the flu, and my son was able to speak full sentences by 18 months.
I am hands down the BEST meltdown diffuser! I teach at my son’s school, and if there is a meltdown, I am called. It takes no less than 30 seconds of mommy’s calmness to bring Autism Hulk back to sweet loving boy.
I have one year old fraternal twin girls. It is so challenging, but I am amazing at schedules. They eat, nap, and even poop at the same time. It was tooth getting to this point, a lot of crying and headaches, but I did it. Kudos to me!
I would have to say my mommy skillz is rolling with it. As a first time mom everyone expected me to freak out about everything. Nope i was just fine.
baby drops binkie on the ground….pop it in my mom to clean it off and give it back.
baby falls down…wait until he fusses to pick him up
Despite being newish to Mommyhood, I’ve always had the Amazing Mom-purse. My coworkers always come to me for the weirdest things because they know it will be in there. Yesterday it was glitter duct tape. I’ve been told that I should go on Let’s Make a Deal and won bets of “I’ll give you $20 if you have a _____” in your purse. The upside is that I have anything you could ever need in my purse. The downside is that it literally weighs as much as my two year old!
I’m feeling rather frazzled from a full day with my four boys, so the first thing that comes to mind is that I’m an awesome snuggler. I give the best hurt or upset crying cuddles, goodnight and sleep tight hugs, and first thing in the morning snuggles. Husband and I have a king size bed, so right after I wake all the boys, they all come and squash into our bed with me for 10 minutes. 9 year old and 7 year old argue over which side they get, 4 year old goes on top of the covers (because he’s a wiggler and prefers to be in the “hole” between my legs as my feet touch). 1 year old either tries to completely take over my attention, or disses us all for a Baby Einstein show. He gets plenty of personal snuggles while his brothers are all at school during the day. Some day, before too long I’m sure, our oldest won’t want to snuggle anymore, but I think the fact that I’m warm and soft and good to lay next to has helped extend the snuggling age for him.
I provide over the top lip-sync performances for my 4 yr old and 1 yr old during breakfast and lunch. I like to stick to the classics of whitney/mariah/christina but sometimes I mix in the latest kidzbop so we keep it fresh.
I once had my kids convinced I had magical powers. I would unwrap the rolled dough containers …ie cinnamon rolls, Cresent rolls, etc. Place it between my hands in a prayer type position, making sure the seams were in the palm. Concentrate, look very intense and mystical until the moment the rolled warmed up and popped open. Their eyes would widen and they were duly impressed as well as maybe wondering just a little what other powers I may have had and whether I would be able to use it against them.
So I realized I neglected to actually state my mommy skill….. I guess it would have to be making my kids want to behave just a little better by use a healthy mix awe, reverence and a smidgen of fear at my awesome powers 🙂
My special momskillz is I’ve trained my kids 7,9,10 to do their homework ON THEIR OWN and they do it as soon as they get home. If you haven’t fainted yet, heres another one, they help EACH OTHER when they can’t figure something out. As soon as homework is done they will be back to KILLING EACH OTHER. But for those magical 15 minutes every night i think I’m the MOST AMAZING MOM EVER!
I am an awesome cook and it was important for my daughter to appreciate real food. I started giving her the food we were eating at 6 months and now, at 2 years old, she eats blue cheese, fish, olives…all sorts of things! My friends are always remarking about how odd it is that she eats all this stuff…while they’re shoveling processed food down their kids mouths. I’m not judging…I’m just proud that she has such amazing taste buds!! #momskillz
I am absolutely, hands down, THE best snuggler around.
Hmmm… My post was cut off.
Anyway… My kids and I are a very snuggly bunch… They love to snuggle with me & I make sure we get in some quality snuggle time every day. Their father passed away very suddenly, just a few weeks ago… And it has been so incredibly hard on my babies. So our snuggle time is even more special & so very important to all three of us. I’m so happy that they are still young enough to actually *want* to snuggle with Mom. ❤️
I really AM the best at baking and decorating cookies! I have about 100 cookie cutters and I enjoy making cookies for my family and friends. I also like baking other things, cheesecakes, birthday cakes, candy, cupcakes, pumpkin bread. In my house, nothin’ says Lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven! My husband says the secret ingredient in my cookies is crack, but I’m not telling.
i am the best at fibbing to my 5yr old, from getting her to eat “church chicken” (which is our churches friday night fish fry, since she will only eat anything that looks like a chicken nugget or strip) to thinking that certain annoying places, like chuck e cheese, are only open on certain days of the week, which are never the days that it actually is! believes it everytime. this makes me a great and super mom! 🙂
My #momskillz is my super duper pee/poo radar! For the past four-ish months, I have been able to accurately detect when my 14 month old is about to pee or poo… When the radar goes off, I rush her to the bathroom where she does her business on the toilet (her potty seat is attached to the toilet seat)!! Yes, I will brag about it! To top it off, Just three weeks ago, she started saying “ba-poo” everytime she needs to poo. I think we are going to swear off diapers pretty soon. She’s only 14 months old!! I’ll go knock on wood before I jinx myself.
As of late my most important mom skill(z) is a little activity I like to call bear recon mission. My daughter (14 months) has a bear lovie that she cannot sleep without. She also has a penchant for pushing the bear out of the crib while she sleeps. I have a ridiculous knack for checking the monitor at three am and other ungodly hours, realizing the bear isn’t in the crib, and crawling into her room unnoticed to find and replace the bear before she realizes it’s gone.
My almost two year old isn’t much of a public talker, by public I mean anyone who isn’t me. She grunts and guh guhs a lot when people are around. But I am proud to say that I 100% speak her language. Like we learn our baby’s cries I understand her goo goo ga ga language. 🙂
i am the best at lazy Saturday’s!!! All week long we look forward to sitting in bed watching cartoons (daughter) and drinking coffee while surfing the web (me). My daughter asks on week day mornings if we have plans because I am so good at lazy saturday she just wants every day to be lazy Saturday!!!!
I am really proud of my ability to make small things a big deal. Scavenger hunts at the park, adventures at the grocery , I like to think that they will grow up and think the little things in life can be fun. Or they might just grow up to think their mom is nuts….
I make little things a big adventure for my girls. Trips to the park, grocery shopping, I hope when they are older they keep feeling like life is an adventure… but they might just think I am nuts. (my husband just pointed out it will probably be both)
Another Mommy skill (now my Mommom skill) is my ability to get a child to sleep. Years ago when I worked daycare I was always given the most difficult cases at naptime. I was a wiz with my own kids as well but as I have gotten older my skill is really sharpening….my granddaughter, Lily, loves to give everyone a hard time at bedtime. I have listened to others struggle with her for hours on end (that stubborn, single mindedness is going to be awesome when she is an adult…not so much at 3…lol). I can generally have her out within 3-5 minutes from when we first start talking about her day.
I prefer to think that I have a calming effect vs the probable truth that I just bore her right to sleep.
I am the best at applying fresh bandaids in the dark. My 3yr old is obsessed with bandaids (yes, that topic has been discussed on this blog and several others). She will ask for fresh bandaids if any of them fall off while she is sleeping. And I can enter her room and unwrap and apply a new bandaid in total darkness without twisting it. I would say its pure art – but unfortunately its actually a skill that I have honed by applying hundreds of (unnecessary) bandaids.
I am awesome at helping with math and reading homework. Last year she was saying how much she “sucked at math” this year her teacher said she’s ready for advanced work. Two nights ago she was doing division problems for fun. And I don’t do it for her, just give her a little guidance if she gets stuck, or point out where the error was so she can fix it. She also asks to do reading with me, which I love because I love to read and I was going she would learn to enjoy it.
This was my proudest mommy moment. My daughter is 9. We live in S. Florida, so her class at school is extremely diverse. My daughter was talking about all the kids in the class, from the little boy that likes princesses, to her friend with two mommies and the boy she thinks is so cute because his pretty brown skin matches his eyes. After my daughter wandered off to do something, my mom looked at me and said “That child doesn’t have a prejudiced bone in her body, does she?”
I could have just burst with pride. I’m sure I’ve done lots of things wrong (and will continue to) but I got a really important one right!
I love to cook and my kids get a hot breakfast everyday and a homecooked meal almost every night of the week! My husband always tells them they don’t know how good they have it but I know they have it real good!
It’s all about the pancakes. Every Sunday, I make pancakes from scratch using healthy ingredients. My boys love them!! To the point that they refuse to eat other types of pancakes. If we go to Bob Evans or IHOP, they “tolerate” those pancakes and do not inhale them as they do mine 🙂
Saaaad face…..if only ALL the Mama’s could enter. Like Me. From South Africa. Who packs THE BEST lunches. (Always includes peas.)
I make awesome cake pops and oreo truffles for classroom parties and teacher treat.
I ROCK at having a stocked purse and car. Need a change of pants? Done. A drink? Here. Lollipop? Snack? Crayons and paper? Potty? Diapers? Books? I’m a pack mule with a cute bag and it makes shopping look EASY!
I’m a good planner. So we always have everything we need before we leave the house for anything: snacks, toys, books, extra clothes, etc. Prevents tantrums.
I’m totally good at NOT losing my shit. I am a single mom to a (very adult-acting, sassy and headstrong) 7 year old girl. She has kid OCD and there is a certain way certain stuff has to be. When I’m late for work and she just can’t take the Minnie Mouse lunchbox with the Frozen backpack and insists on switching her lunch over piece by piece I don’t lose my shit. When we are at Grammy’s and I’ve said, “no.” and Grammy (of course) says “yes.” and she gives me that look like, “ha! I win!”, I do not lose my shit. When I am holding up the drop off line because her reading folder is not in front of her daily folder and the people behind me are losing their shit and hating me and I know I am late, I do not lose my shit. When she tells the guy at Walgreen’s to “hurry and scan everything cause my mom has to work at the bar where she doesn’t wear pants!!” I do not lose my shit. (For the record, it was Saturday and in reference to my Flashdance costume I wore on Friday. I bartend at a normal bar where any other day I do, indeed, wear pants). Patience is a virtue I do not have…but I have gotten pretty damn good at holding it together in the face of my kiddo. And that, my friends, is skill epitomized.
I let their friends trash our house! Yes, I do. I’m the mom winning brownie points for letting 5,000 neighborhood children run roughshod over my carpets, stairs, playrooms, and my sense of better judgement. I give myself the “More the Merrier” award for letting my kids have a gaggle of mess making buddies over time and again. And they love it.
Booger wrangling. I can lasso those little buggers out of the farthest corners of the deepest caves. No booger is safe from this mom.
First, thanks for this. It’s so easy to be hard on yourself, especially this working mom who travels and misses a lot of the every day things. But I will say I am the best “make up lyrics to a song and dance around the living room mom.” Chalk it up to never knowing the actual words, but my kid loves my creations better than the originals.
I could win an award for Olympic-Level sucking at many parenting-things. Including, burning Brussels sprouts, forgetting to put my kids lunch in a brown bag on field trip days, sending one kid to school without a watter bottle while packing two in the other kids backpack. But I can pattern-design and sew a mean Elsa costume: http://www.marinobambinos.com/2013/11/disney-frozen-preivew-queen-elsa-costume-tutorial/ 🙂
My 17 month old daughter not only knows how to say please and thank you, and the appropriate situations in which to use them (which she does so liberally), she’s been doing it since 14 months. I am the best at raising a polite kid.
I am really good at hiding the fact that I said shit or dropped an f bomb in front of my almost 2 year old. I am the best at quickly coming up with a similar sounding word and teaching it to her, instead of the bad word she would otherwise shout at people in the line at Target.
My kids would give me the award for the best “crazy” pancakes. I make them in the shapes of animals, letters, etc. I even made a scarecrow one with no head because my son was being “No Noggin” for Halloween and he wanted a pancake to match. I will mention this contest on my blog later today and post a picture of the No Noggin Pancake to prove it!
I am really proud to be raising a vegan son, and not an unhealthy vegan, a whole foods, plant-based diet vegan. He just started cooking with me too, which is getting him to try more foods (he ate mushrooms, peas and raw spinach the other day). He doesn’t take any meds, all natural supplements and essential oils. Neither of us are ever sick.
We not only eat vegan, but we live the lifestyle. We don’t support zoos, aquariums, circuses, etc. I’m really glad that he’s learning to show compassion to all living beings and will be exposed to how animals are treated at an early age, so that’s all he ever knows.
He also loves to clean. I made cleaning fun early on (I personally love to clean). We always turn on music and have a dance party while we clean, and now he gets the mop out of my pantry on his own and tells me he wants to help me clean.
He also has some killer dance moves which I take full credit for ; )
I can find a song to sing for any occasion in any place at any time – and I can even make my own up – thanks to a life time of musical watching, summer camp attending, and choir singing 🙂
I’m a new mommy to a 4 month old son and I am a pee-dodging ninja! He pees on my husband at least once a week but I am quicker at changing my son or simply getting out of the way. Sure, most of my clothes are covered in spit up or breast milk but I’ll take that over pee any day!
I am really good at getting my kid to try new things, especially vegetables. I even got her to like brussel sprouts! Go me!
I am really good at juggling my children and their things. I once boarded a train while breastfeeding my newborn son in one arm and pushing the stroller and carrying a bag with the other. This however does not carry over in the rest of my life. The other day I was grocery shopping alone and I dropped two separate jars, apple butter and sauerkraut.
I’m awesome because I’ve provided breastmilk for my son for 18 months (today) and counting even though he could never latch. He was born 8 weeks early and I pumped for him for 15 months and 9 days. I ended up with a deep freezer full of milk and he’s still drinking frozen milk. In addition, I donated 2 boxes of frozen milk to a mama in need. I really feel my son has done as well as he has because of my dedication this! Go mamas!
I’ve only been a mommy for 3 months but my Best Mom Skill is making crazy amounts of breastmilk. My baby was a preemie so I had to pump for the first few weeks. I produce so much milk I have a deep freezer full. Now she’s off bottles and is EBF and gaining weight like a champ!
I call myself a ‘gestational queen’. I’ve had a girl, a boy and multiples. I’ve had an induced, medicated birth; I’ve gone into labor and gave birth without any medication; and I’ve had a c-section. I’ve breast feed, I’ve formula feed and I’ve tandem feed. I feel really stinking proud that every crazy time I became a Mommy again, I was able to adjust, bend and move forward to do what I needed and my babies needed from me. Plus, I think it’s rad I was able to experience so much.
I am THE BEST singing Mom out there
I am the MASTER of Reversed Psychology!..
My Superpower is my “Mom Voice”. It can stop wayward behavior just by saying my boys’ names. It is so powerful that it can even make other people’s children fall in line. Even if I wasn’t directing it at them! Which earns me either looks of gratitude or disapproval from other moms. It is a great Superpower but it must be used wisely!
I can freeze time like nobody’s business… I have my camera who is my secret weapon. Capturing 4 kids ranging from 16 to 16 months could cause for hair to fall out but I’ve learned that all you have to do is snap. They don’t have to be looking at you. It’s the moment that you want to capture. Do it everyday because when you blink they will be big but you’ll have those images to bring you right back. That’s why I love taking pictures and documenting our everyday no matter how INSANE it gets.
I am awesome at turning around my 5 year old from cranky, crying, and a bad attitude to a happy, soft spoken and kind child with one simple action. I bark like a puppy and he magically transforms. It’s the oddest thing but it works!
I’ll pat myself on the back for instilling good manners in my son. Since he was four, he has said please, thank you, excuse me, etc. I get compliments on how polite he is all the time.
I did take it too far once, though. When he was little he had an adorable speech impediment. One day he was rubbing our little dog’s tummy, when he looked up at me and said, “Mommy, Penny has tits.” I jumped to correct him, calmly explaining that those are her nipples, and there is nothing wrong with that, but we don’t say tits, we can say breasts, yadda yada yada. He listened to me with an increasingly confused/alarmed look on his little face, and then he said, “No, Mommy, you know those bugs, what bite?” TICKS. He was saying he thought the dog had TICKS. In my efforts to make my child completely inoffensive to anyone, I taught him all about boobs at age four. Go me.
I have completely mastered the art of having the sex talk with my kids. I’m completely nonchalant about it, not at all uncomfortable or embarrassed. I explain at the level that’s appropriate to them, answering the questions asked. I make it clear that none of it is dirty or shameful, that this is just one aspect of the human experience, and I’m happy to help them understand it, just like anything else. If they change the subject and move on, I’m cool with that; if they have additional questions, I’ll sit and answer until they’re done.
I have been able to teach my son to be as goofy as my parents never let me be, and he surprises me every single day with how much alike we are in personality. He’s only a year & a half, and he can moo and hoot with the best of them, he bobs his head & fist pumps to the music when we’re driving with the silliest grin on his face, AND he jumps (I kid you not). Watching him discover, grow, and advance is nothing short of amazing (and I’m not just saying that because I’m his mom). Sometimes I worry that he’s going to be the weird kid later in life, but right now, I’m just elated that he gets to be himself, which is something that I still struggle with as an adult. I’m the best hands on/hands off parent that I know (so far)
My kids are not morning people (they get that from Dad) and are monsters when it comes to getting dressed on school mornings. The mom skill I’ve developed over the years is getting them completely dressed without waking them up. Shirt, pants, socks, shoes, jacket even, if needed. So much easier than a fight every morning! I still do this for my 7- and 4-year-old.
I am the best at getting my kids (ages 3 and 6) involved with serving others! I’ve taken the kids to serve meals at a homeless shelter, ring bells for salvation army, work hard to earn money to buy a toy to donate. Serving others was something my parents instilled in us at a very young age and so I found myself diligently seeking opportunities to do the same!
My mom skillz are awesome at balancing my 20 month old and my six week old on my lap in a small armchair while I breastfeed the infant and read the 20 month old a book–and all the while the infant is squirming and the 20 month old is jabbing elbows into my side as he points at the pictures of all the things the story neglects to mention.
I am the queen of keeping the magic alive in our house without the kids suspecting parental involvement. My husband often travels for business & after a trip to Denmark, he brought home some Danish coins that have holes in the middle. Our then 4-ish year old son somehow got the notion that these were magic coins & that if he put them under his pillow, candy would appear the next morning; thus the Sugar Plum Fairy was born. Said son is now 9 & if he suspects anything, he doesn’t let on. Although he doesn’t do the magic coin under the pillow bit often anymore, he recently came across one of the Danish coins & specifically hoped that the Sugar Plum fairy would bring him a box of sugar cubes because his 4th grade class had done some science experiments with them & he want to do those at home too (plus eat the sugar cubes). The second my husband’s car was out of sight as he was taking our son to soccer practice, I went off to buy a box of sugar cubes. Turns out though, at least in my area, sugar cubes aren’t common fair in a lot of our grocery stores so I drove around for almost an hour, to 5 different stores just to find a box of cubed sugar so that our 9-yr-old could hold on to magic just a little longer.
I am amazing at doing my daughters hair, photo posted on fb. Or seen on Instagram account @annabelleslonglocks 🙂 she JUST turned 4, and I just had baby number three, 3 weeks ago today.
My mom skills involve making unique homemade Halloween costumes every year. My daughter always feels special and gets a lot of attention, which she adores.
My son is OBSESSED with the ABC phonics song – he likes it upbeat at playtime, rhythmic in the car, and smooth jazz style while drifting off to sleep. BUT he gets bored with the traditional “Apple, apple, a, a, a. Baby, baby, b, b, b…” SO the thematic version has been implemented! I am the BEST thematic-phonics-alphabet-song-singing MOM EVER! From animals, to cities, to foods, to adjectives, to the great outdoors to…well, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. 🙂 My son’s knowledge of words will be “Amazing, amazing, a, a, a. Brilliant, brilliant, b, b, b. Complex, complex, c, c, c. Developed, developed, d, d, d….”
When I saw how beautiful you braided your daughter’s hair I realized why God gave me four boys. I could never do anything with hair including my own. But I am a very organized person, I don’t like to cook but can cook quite well and through all my organizational skills was able to secure scholarships for my sons. I am also a very understanding caring and compassionate person so when they went through difficulties especially as adults I was the person most there for them
I’m the best game inventor in the whole wide world!! When my 7 yr old became obsessed with Pokemon, i invented PokeMOMMY!! All her stuffed animals are my pokemommies with super powers like “Super kissing” “Super hugging” …… you get the picture. Actually, the more i write this the more ridiculous this sounds – whatever! It works for us and makes us laugh! And as my 7 yr old recently said “My Mommy is PRITEY OSUM” 🙂
My mommy skills is the ability to twist hair. I’ve got 2 heads of natural hair and it’s a challenge. We do mini twists, buns, and ponytails for fun.
I must say you are pretty amazing at those braids! Simply gorgeous! Makes me want a little girl (I have 3 boys) 🙂 I would say my mama skill is being able to go grocery shopping and navigate the mall with all 3 in tow without any issues and they are 6 and under. I like to keep them occupied with playing “I spy” :)) I am also pretty good at doodling and coloring with them 🙂 nlevdan3 at yahoo dot com
My Mommy Skillz include time management and endurance. I am raining my 15 year old niece, I have an 8 year old daughter who has cerebral palsy and she is also deaf and blind. I have a 4 year old son who NEVER dits still and a 4 month old that still nurses every couple hours and has a few issues that require physical therapy. I am balancing their school, activities, therapies, and I always find time for each of them. I may lack sleep but it have mommy Skillz!
My mom skill has always been the ability to get my kids (now also a grandbaby) to smile and/or laugh even through tears. I am so good at that I get young strangers to do it too!!
My mom skill is baking. Every year since my daughter turned 3 and since my son turned 1 I have been making them home made birthday cakes which I think are awesome. Last year I made my daughter a princess castle which wasn’t perfect but was awesome for all the love and time i put in it.
My mom skillz regardless of how is sounds is, I’m the best at wipeing my 5 year old son’s butt after he poops. He just can’t get the hang of it and always comes out of the bathroom no matter who is around and said’s mom my butt “picas” which to him means itches but in Spanish it can mean burns or itches. He said’s mom your the best butt wiper can you please clean my butt!! I love those words , it makes me feel so empowered and yes it may seem gross but I love that I can make him feel clean after he poops and I AM THE BEST BUTT WIPER EVER, and I claim it!!!
I am the best mom taxi….with six kids ages 14, 14, 4, 3, 2 and 3 mos. and a husband who works in the evenings. I have mastered loading everyone up for trips to and from preschool, pre-k, marching band, etc. We may be late, most of the time, and my 14 yo may think we are never coming to get her most nights, but everyone always gets where they need to go (eventually). So, I must be the best!
I am awesome at getting my kids to eat well. My kids love veggies, fruits, fish, steak, chicken, and they will try anything new. I love it!
And Ilana, your braiding skills are AMAZING!! I love the flower girl look with the flower in the center. AMAZING!
Is singing kid songs a talent? It is in my house! I can come up with a song for ANY situation that presents itself. My brain is filled with song lyrics and I can whip one out at a moments notice. Cooking with mom? Yep…got one for that. Building with Legos? Check. Fighting with siblings? Absolutely! Bad day at school? I’ve got one for ya!
I’ve been known to challenge my kids to come up with a word/situation/theme for which I cannot think of a song. Can’t. Be. Done.
I’m not gonna lie…I’ve got a great voice to go with it too!
There are so, so many things I fall short of as a mother. My 7 year old has a few too many happy meals, and far too few times when we meet his bedtime. However, in spite of all of my downfalls, I have the happiest child around. I haven’t ever had a high self esteem, so I go out of my way to build up his. His is very high, but at the same time, he is extremely compassionate. I’ve literally seen him give the shirt off of his back. There have been random parents and teachers and secretaries that have made a point to tell me what a wonderful kid I have and give examples (little things such as giving his chocolate milk to the new little foster kid at school because the school ran out and Alex didn’t want the child to do without.) So, I guess I’d boil it down to I’ve taught my child his worth, while teaching him of other people’s worth, as well. I could not be more proud of him, and just the thought that I might have had some of the influence in what is shaping his personality…it’s simply amazing.
I am the best at making forts. I never make a fort the same way twice and they are awesome. The Best Fort-Maker award goes to ME.
The one thing I’m the best at is knowing what trouble my boys are getting into even if I can’t see them! Just the other day my 5 year old told me he was taking a toy downstairs, he came back to me a min later. I asked him why he threw it down the steps and all he could say was, “but you couldn’t see me!”
I win the award of the Mommy with the best eyes in the back of her head!
I am the Queen of getting my kids to eat veggies! Asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, artichokes…you name it – my kids love veggies!
And farting too – I can get giggles, exclamations of disbelief, and looks of admiration from them! Who knew it could be such a skill?
I may not always be able to get my 3.5 yo to eat the appropriate amount of veggies, but I make a point to eat healthy so I can transfer that goodness to my milk for her. So not only am I awesome at (extended) breast feeding, I also do it tandem with my 10 month old!
I pride myself on having caught puke in my hands on multiple occasions. I know. Sounds gross, but when the alternative is it hitting the couch cushion or car seat, I feel like a BOSS. The awesomeness of not having to clean up those non lauderable surfaces far outweighs yucky factor.
*launderable
P.S. Sorry not sorry there is no photo. Puke catching is a 2 handed job!
I am THE BOMB at making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I can make them in 15 seconds flat. Tick, tick, BOOM.
As a working mom, I feel like I suck at everything, especially being a mom… but there is one thing I do better than any mom I know and it secretly makes me proud of myself. I make all of my 8 month olds baby food…everyday, every meal for the last four months… amd not just typical food…nope not this mommy, I rock out curried lamb with chickpeas or homemade minestrone soup or braised beef and sweet potato mash or coconut rice pudding… her and I go grocery shopping together on my only day off n per week and find random ingredients andni let her smell them…if she smiles…I create a foodie meal…and she loves every bite
I think I get the best driver to ballet class award….I pick my 4 year old daughter up from kindergarten 10 minutes early one day a week just to make it on time to ballet….teacher doesn’t love it but school traffic sucks!
I literally make the best chore charts and sticker charts you’ve ever seen!!!! I think that gets them psyched to do what’s on it 😉
I am the queen of letting things roll off my back. I think my ability to be patient to the extreme is reason I was sent 3 wild and crazy boys, and now one cute but drama filled girl. My kids will be wrestling or running around and I am (usually) able to take a deep breath and approach it with a sense of humor. My favorite example was when I had to go to Costco with all of them around bedtime. My oldest was holding on to the cart so it dragged him on his stomach on the floor, and my middle two were in the cart tongue kissing (don’t ask), and my littlest was screaming. I just smiled, put my head down and tried to make it a game with them to get out of there. Someone stopped me (I thought to reprimand me) but she said I was such a good mom and was so patient with these kids. It still brings tears to my eyes.
My one brag-worthy mom skill is raising my kids almost screen-less. Hazy watches on average one movie and one TV show a week, always on the weekend, and George can’t really sit through a whole TV show.. They don’t use our iPad or iPhones except on a long flight.
I can’t braid worth sh*t though.
I’m the best I know at making up Paw Patrol scenarios. My 4 year old son loves the show and playing with his “pups” but he NEEDS me to be Ryder and tell him and the pups what the problem is. For example, one this past summer was “the world cup is about to start and the fields are not ready. Chase (the police dog), you block traffic so the lawn mower can come. Rubble (he drives the bull dozer) will build the bleachers and Marshall (fireman dog), you water the field.” Then my son says, “No job is too big, no pup is too small,” plays for about a minute, and then asks for another scenario. And, he remembers them all…no repeats. This skill is nothing I can market in the real world, but it is pretty important in my house.
I am a master at the mom glare, best of the best, children melt in my hands with a simple glare. As a Childcare provider I have tested my glare on many children over the years and it ALWAYS does the trick.