activities

Keeping it Real

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I don’t think too much about what our lives look like to others. I mean I take a few photos and put up a fun tutorial now and then. However, I started reading (completely innocent and kind) comments about All for the Boys on other blogs saying things like “Love this blog but be warned, it will make you feel like a lazy mother” or something to that effect. Then I got asked if I do a big activity or craft with my boys every day. PLEASE do not feel like a lazy mother, heck you like this blog because of the inspiration to play with your kids right?!

I am by NO means a perfect mother. I do believe I’m a good mom and you should too! (Mom, Grandmother, Father etc.) Our life is loud, bickering, messy, boring, unhealthy dinners once in a while but it’s also laughter, love, respect, educational, fun… It’s real and it’s ours and I love it.

Everyone is different everyone’s schedules are different. Heck even mine changes. I used to work full time out of the house with a 45min drive each way to the office. Now I work most days at home (still full time) and that has different stresses on us as a family but we take each change in stride and make it work for us.

To me the most important thing is remembering to take time to make special moments and memories with my boys. We go on one on one dates (their choice), I do fun activities like we show on the blog, we act silly in the grocery store, we make jokes, we take walks to the park, we dance in the rain. 

Honestly one of my 9 year old’s favorite memories of fun times together is when we made a band with stuff from the kitchen. You know, banging on the pots and pans, throwing beans or rice into a jar. It was a few years ago (I was trying to keep them busy and from getting on eachother (and my) nerves) but he will bring it up every now and then. There are no perfect pictures, there isn’t even a scrapbook page, just his very fond memory. And THAT is my goal as a mother. No fancy science tricks, no brand new toys, and no perfect photography needed. Everyone has what that takes.

(Cute DIY bongos from minieco)

So my advice to you is step out of your comfort zone a little and play with your kids.

Create memories.

And please remember that all you see on a blog are a few pictures from a few moments in our lives.  (and thank goodness there isn’t any sound 😉

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Allison Waken is a wife, mom of boys and Phoenix, AZ native. She has been creating inspiring content for All for the Boys since 2011. Allison loves travel, movies and spending as much time as possible with her family while she can!

9 Comments

  1. Great post! I love all the different blogs I follow but there is that tendency to judge ourselves too harshly as women and mothers. Thanks for reminding me that we are all different and I'm not lazy…just busy 🙂

  2. I love this post. It can be a strugggle as a blogger to keep it real when it is clearly and should be an edited version of your life. Excellent words of encouragement.

  3. excellent advice and encouragement. you're right everyone's lives all look so different. i love your blog, even though i don't have boys. i'm a momma and just trying to do my best and love my kiddo!

  4. Love this post. I was one of the moms who said I love your website but feel like a bit of a slacker when I read it. Then my close girlfriend told me she feels like that when she reads my blog. I told her our lives are probably more similar than different, I just photograph and occasionally write about what we do because that is what I enjoy doing. However, we all do these things with our children. Mine are just captured in photos and written in words tossed out into cyberspace, but both of our time and love for our kids is in the images and memories in our hearts. It's all good. However, I do recommend your website to many of my friends with boys. You ignite a creative spark and we have found so many fun ideas that you posted. Thank you so much for inspiring me! Stacy

  5. I love this post! As a blogger, I realize that no one is seeing what's going on behind the camera….. I may have gotten a good shot in front, but my oh my you should see the mess behind me! 🙂 I love your blog and am encouraged by it whenever I read it. Seize the Day!

  6. I love your blog! I love your ideas. Although I don't have much time to try them all. I have a lot of them booked marked for when I do "need" those activities. I pass them on to friends with boys and girls.

    I also have my own blog about my life with three boys (in April we will find out if there will be a 4th boy). I understand what you are saying, people will make comments about my weekly posts about my weekly activities and say things about how busy I am, how do you get so much done and other stuff that may sound similar to your comments you have gotten. When in reality the photo I may post for that day may have been about the only thing I did that day!

    Just like in Stacy's comment above we love our kids, we do fun things with them and we want to share that with others on our blog!

    Keep up the great work on your blog!

  7. I think everyone needs to keep a healthy dose of perspective in hand when viewing other people's blogs. I once heard someone say that when looking at parenting blogs "we all tend to compare our very worst to the blogger's very best" and I think that's so true. For what it's worth, I love your blog and I appreciate the inspiration you give me to do fun activities with my boys.

  8. I love love love this post. Thank you for keeping it real. 🙂 Everything you wrote is something I know in my head, but sometimes I need a reminder! I really love your blog and your ideas.

  9. What an awesome post! And thanks for doing what you do. You never fail to have great ideas out here of things that I can do with my boys in the evenings or on the weekends. As a working mom, I do my best to make the hours I do have with them quality ones – because that's ultimately what matters. If I have just one hour and make it memorable, then the rest doesn't matter. They'll know I love them. Thanks for sharing these words and all the ideas. 🙂

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