Lovely Weeds: On the Job Training

I'm Cassie, and I am a mom.

While I hope someday that title will include something along the lines of "successful blogger/small business owner", a homemaker and mom is my current occupation.

The truth is, being a stay at home mom was never something I gave much thought to. I've always worked, I assumed I'd always work, and for a long while after KJ was born I saw not working as temporary. I really didn't even recognize myself as a SAHM until pretty recently.

The truth is it didn't come as easily as I thought it would.

I didn’t have the first clue about cleaning routines or meal plans. Story time and play groups sounded nice, but I didn’t know where to find them. It seemed like all I did was clean, cook, nurse my baby, then clean some more – but my house was a mess, and we always seemed to eat the same thing (though the baby KJ seemed to be ok with the menu). I so wanted to be Suzie-Homemaker, but I felt terrible at it! I had the mom thing down, but I had to learn how to take care of our home. And you know what? Once I did, I learned to appreciate and love my new job and, perhaps most importantly, to be proud of it.

The truth is, the Fly Lady and Clean Mama taught me how to keep my house “clean enough” without slaving over it all day. I Heart Organizing and A Bowl Full of Lemons guided me through organizing our little house to make it work for us, and helped me plan meals so that I could feed my family in a way that made cooking enjoyable again. Pint Sized Treasures helped me calm the heck down and remember what a blessing my family is, and My Life and Kids reminded me that it’s ok to laugh at your kid when he insists on learning that dirt-in-the-diaper isn’t as fun as it sounds. Funky Junk and Knick of Time helped me reclaim my passion for rust and rubbish. Ana White taught me how to make furniture worthy of the showroom floor (that’s what my man and mama tell me anyway), and Young House Love gave me inspiration to fill our home with things that make us happy - whether they make sense to anyone else or not.

I used to feel guilty for taking a few precious minutes of my day to retreat online. Pinterest and blogs were guilty pleasures. But if you are looking for the inspiration to improve your life, your home, your family, and your peace of mind, why feel guilty? Okay, there is a line - and we've all crossed it - but you get my point.

This is not my usual post - I have no junk or antiques or DIYs to share today. And don't worry, I won't make a habit of posting my personal musings without a fun new project to accompany it. I simply felt compelled to say thank you to the community that has welcomed me with such warm and supportive open arms. If you haven't checked out the blogs above, I honestly recommend you give them a try (not that they need my help!). You never know when a simple blog post can tweak your outlook on things, give you the courage to have a new adventure, or simply make you smile.

To ensure there is no mutiny for lack of junk or DIYs, here are a few sneak peaks of what I'm working on these days...