Getting Back To The Basics of Motherhood

I often find myself going through parenting phases. Sometimes I soar with days filled to the last rays of sunlight with games and long talks about Frozen and sometimes I struggle to find that mythical balance between being engaged and being a little checking out. As a mother without many momma friends (something I'm hard at work to rectify), I find that those battles don't get talked about as much as they should.

The last month or so has been a crash course in slow living and I'm pretty grateful for the subtle shock to our systems. I know that I probably have a new lifestyle to thank for all of the quality time Lorelai and I are spending together but I'll take the wins where I can get them these days. It's a luxury that we didn't always get back in the states but our days on the island seem to crawl by at the most leisurely pace (at least until school starts). If we feel like being adventurous, the beach is never more than a 5 minute bike ride away and there's always something new to discover. Aside from the obvious benefits of island time, I've also rediscovered what it means to really be friends with my child. We're connecting better and more deeply, having real conversations (as real as they get when you're six) with eye contact and without the brightness of devices impeding our views and we're even doing that thing my mom always talked about that made me roll my eyes at every turn... bonding. It feels like I'm finally getting back to the basics of being a parent.

We've all been there... the end of Summer parenting slump. As the pages marking the last couple weeks of the season fly off the calendar (school starts on August 24th... it's nuts!) and screen time seems ever-present, it can be genuinely difficult to power through the days leading up to the new school year. I'm challenging myself to stay connected and stay engaged. There's an old adage that goes, "the days are long but the years are short" and it couldn't be more true. I plan on sticking to the basics so that I don't miss a single moment.