I received this surprise in my email last night from an artist@jamieclarkart and I cried. Then I came home from my girls trip today and was showered with so many kisses and hugs and I cried. My son was waiting for me by the door and as soon as I parked in the driveway, he stormed out and said, “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” as he ran to me to give me the tightest squeeze a 3 yr. old could give and just wanted to sit on my lap and never leave. He was my little shadow all day as he would randomly give me a hug and say, “I missed you mommy.”

Then my girls came home from school and I was driving home so my oldest face timed me and demanded, “Mommy! Get over here right now!!!” As soon as I opened the garage my girls walked in the garage and was jumping up and down and waving frantically as I parked the car. Then they ran and opened my door and climbed on my lap right then and there in the drivers seat and we hugged cheek to cheek and I received literally hundreds of kisses.

I’m far from a perfect mom but do my kids focus on my imperfections? No. They’re so quick to forgive and forget, and they only remember and see the best in me. Even if we feel we have messed up 1000 times as a parent, our kids only remember the best moments of our parenthood. In our kids eyes, we are the best mom and dad in the world, as it should be. I believe it’s a tender mercy from God that while parenting brings out the best and the worst in ourselves, our children only see the best in us.

 

 

 

This post is sponsored by Munchkin, to celebrate Breast Feeding Awareness Month.

 

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL!

 

My little boy started Preschool today. It’s only 2 days a week for a couple hours but I thought I was going to cry when dropping him off, since I am such a crybaby. “Mommy, don’t watch me okay? I want you to go.” he said to me as I was driving him to school. Part of me was happy for his excitement and independence but a part of me was sad that he didn’t need me anymore. As I dropped him off in his class and gave him several kisses and hugs, I watched him like a creepy stalker from the outside corner of his classroom door. Then a few minutes later, he ran out of the room and looked around for me but didn’t see me because I was hiding in the corner. The teacher got him then and held his hand and took him back into the classroom. As I peeped through the door window, I saw him almost in the verge of tears sitting on his teacher’s lap while the teacher consoled him. My heart melted and I felt a relief come over me. “He still needs his mommy.” I said to myself as I watched him a few minutes more(okay, fine, I stayed for about 30 mins.). As I got in the car, I didn’t shed a single tear! Instead of the sadness I thought I was sure to feel, I felt nothing but FREEDOM! EXCITEMENT! I felt I could overtake the world!!! I spent my day doing nothing productive, as I had planned and drove around looking for potential land, fixed myself a fancy lunch, and watched Jane the Virgin, my current favorite show. It was glorious.

3 o’ clock came and instead of having my friend pick him up for carpool as planned, I texted her to tell her that I’d pick up my son instead. I missed him. And I thought it would be best for me to pick him up on his first day of school. I went through the pick-up line and watched my boy beaming, waiting for my car to come to a stop. He hopped in the car and told me all about his day. They sang Hop Scotch, he said. His teacher read a book with animals in it, he said. Then that’s when I unexpectedly started to cry. “I missed you so much! How about you don’t go to preschool anymore because I’ll just miss you too much?” My boy smiled at me and said, “But Ms. Teacher will cry if I don’t come to skoooo(school)!” Psh, I guess he’d rather have me cry instead of his teacher! 😉

 

Motherhood hits you with so many unexpected events, doesn’t it? I remember having my first child and naively thinking breastfeeding would be super easy. You know those stock photos you see of mothers breastfeeding their baby? First, the mother looks meticulous, energized, glamorous and not a hint of sleep deprivation under her eyes. Second, she’s sitting on some rocking chair, rocking her baby gently and ever so peacefully while looking down at her baby with a hint of smile on her face. There are no signs of pain, frustrations of lack of milk or difficulty latching. Well, that’s what I believed breastfeeding would be like. BOY, WAS I WRONG!!!

I hated breastfeeding. The first time my baby latched on, I remember my mouth gaping open and my eyes wide in shock. “Wait, this hurts like no other! Oh my gosh, no one told me it would hurt! They don’t even have teeth, how are they clamping down on my nipple so dang hard?” And then the contractions came. No one told me about those either, I thought that was a done deal after the baby came out of you! But my love conquered all and I breastfeed all 3 of my babies. Even when I got mastitis and thrush, I winced in pain and persevered through it even if it took me at least 10 minutes to prepare myself mentally before getting my baby to latch on. I became to appreciate my body more and realized our bodies are really miracles! For my body to produce milk and for my baby to need nothing more than my breast milk, not even water, was amazing to me. That at any given time, my milk would come out in perfect temperature that would nourish my baby to grow healthily and happily.

But for my never-breastfed mommy friends out there, here are some things you should know so that it doesn’t come as a complete shock to you, as it did to me. I wish someone had told me these things, so that I would have been mentally prepared!

 

8 THINGS NO ONE TELLS YOU ABOUT BREASTFEEDING:

READ MORE

 

 

 

I went on a 3-day girls trip to California and just got back yesterday! I got to see my sister and my nieces & nephews and planned on taking a #TyauSunday best photos with them since I wasn’t with my family. Then I get a text from my husband saying, “Did you see my IG post?” So I go on his Instagram and see this photo below with the caption, “#TyauSunday when moms away we all happily take photos 😜 no but for real they all wanted to take a photo… Where’s your Sunday Best @sarahtyau???”

 

 

Uh….yeah, you see Jay GENUINELY SMILING in this photo? Go look at all our past #TyauSunday photos, he doesn’t even make an effort to smile and if he does, it’s this fake forced grin that looks worse than had he not even smiled at all. Psh. Sunday best, Sunday Ssmuspsh.

 

 

This post is in part of the monthly series for #JOHNSONS® for Socialstars™.

 

 

My daughter made it in the soccer team earlier this Summer and has been going to practices several times a week. It was a 3-day try out and Jay and I took her thinking none of the other kids have had much experience with soccer, but oh, was I wrong! My daughter played soccer when she was 4 where there were no try-puts involved and it was basically just watching little kids chase around the ball like a swarm of bees. It was the cutest little sight. So her being only 8, I thought she’d be fine but she was the most inexperienced player there. It intimidated me a lot because the other parents must have put their daughters in soccer for several years prior! I didn’t realize it was so competitive and these parents have been investing in it for years! Nevertheless the coach told us our daughter was aggressive and a fast runner so she made it in the team!

But can I just tell you that whatever my kids’ extracurricular activities are, it basically becomes my extracurricular activities? And her soccer practices are 2 hours a day, 3 days a week! That’s a lot of time! She likes when me and her siblings come watch her practice so I try to go watch once a week instead of just dropping her off. When I do go watch her practice, these items above are the things I bring.

 

• A nice and big diaper backpack with lots of pockets and compartments(mine is from Kiki Lu Designs). I seriously can’t wear normal diaper bags after trying a diaper backpack, I love how easy it is on my shoulders and I have my arms and hands completely free!
• A quietbook or a toy to occupy my 3 year old. My camping quiet book is from My Stitching Corner, it’s the cutest quiet-book.
• Gum because no one likes stinky breathe.
• JOHNSON’S® HEAD-TO-TOE® Baby Cleansing Cloths specifically designed for busy on the go soccer moms like myself! Not only does my daughter get dirty from playing soccer, so do my 2 kids from running around and playing in the field. These baby cleansing cloths are pre-moistened, paraben- and phthalate-free and 2x* bigger than a typical baby wipe so it’s like giving my kids a mini-bath whenever they need it. It also smells so good!
• A book for me with the wishful thinking I’d get to read it. Actual minutes read at the soccer field: ZERO. I still have hopes though.
• Snacks for my kids and a really good insulated water bottle. I got mine from Disney Social Moms this Summer!
• Hand sanitizer for before eating snacks, and after soccer practice is over.
• A pen
• Sunglasses
• My little first-aid kit. I purchased the little white Johnson & Johnson container from the travel dollar-section at Target and add in extra band-aids, disinfecting spray, sanitizing wipes and ointment. I believe the original container just comes with some band-aids.

 

 

 

It’s cute, small enough to fit in any pocket of your bag and very useful! I’ve had a few friends do the same thing after they saw my cute little first-aid kit. 🙂

 

 

 

Find more information on Johnson’s Bath Time Without the Tub.