I’m currently at the point in my parenting career where the switch has gone off in my head, and I realize that I am no longer merely responsible for their daily things in life, but also understanding my role fully as one of the two most important people that will help mold them into responsible, and hopefully whole, human beings.
This is a huge job.
My talks with Addison recently feel like I’m talking to a friend. She has more advanced questions that need edited, but thoughtful, answers. No lies told here, sis. If she asks, we’re discussing it.
Recently, she asked me if she was “thick.” I thought a minute before responding because I need her to know her body is perfect just how it is. I wasn’t sure if someone said something to her, or she read something about being “thick,” but I just knew my first reaction and answer to the question would be her take-away.
I finally came up with, “If you were, would it make a difference?” Then, I go on a spill about terms not defining us, and how people come in all shapes and sizes. I further explained we need to make sure our bodies are healthy, and she is perfect the way she is. I praised her for her dedication to dance and how proud she must be of her abilities.
See what I did there? I answered her question and laced it with praise and self-love affirmations. I do this every chance I get.
My wish for her is that she learns to understand that all parts of her body are hers, and she should protect them fiercely from a very young age.
She was recently gifted My Wish for You by Kathryn Hahn with illustrations by Brigette Barrager. She has a few favorite pages in the book that she connected to, and they describe her to a tee. I intentionally choose reinforcements that stand behind the things I want her to understand because, if we are being honest, kids don’t always listen to us. This is why positive reinforcements matter.
I try not to overthink this parenting thing, but the pressure is on. We have a huge job, and we need all the help we can get from books to the village. Let’s be intentional about the messages that we are sending to our babies!
Let me start by saying when I was coming up, once school started we didn’t get many breaks. We had a few days for Thanksgiving, like that Thursday and Friday. For Christmas we might have been lucky to get out the day before Christmas and went back right after the new year. At that point, we waited patiently until Spring to get another break, with a few days off here and there.
Fast forward some *cough* 20 plus years and it seems like every time I look up my children are out of school. To be honest, I kind of understand all of these additional days that are built in now, I think it’s good for the teachers to get a little break here and there. My children had a fall break a few weeks ago and since I spent nearly every weekend this summer traveling, I thought this would be a good time for us to hit the beach.
Since my husband couldn’t get the whole week off, we decided to head to Jekyll Island, which is a small island off the coast of Georgia. It wasn’t my first time there, I went a few years ago for a girls trip and thought the calm and quiet of the beach this time of year would be good. Jekyll Island is the perfect quaint little place if you are looking for a little R&R.
We stayed at the recently renovated Holiday Inn Jekyll Island. The hotel was steps away from the beach.
The first night we got there, we just opted to walk along the beach at sunset and grab some dinner and ice cream.
Dinner was at Tortuga Jacks. I promise sitting on their outdoor porch, catching the glimpse of a hanging pinata out of one eye and the ocean out of the other, if someone had blindfolded me and brought me there I would’ve sworn I was on some exotic island. The night breeze, family talk, and the sunsetting on the ocean made for a beautiful dinner.
Oh, and the food was good.
I’m not sure who was more excited about spending a day on the beach. We hurried and ate an okay breakfast at the hotel restaurant, you know the usual hotel breakfast buffet fare before skipping back to the room and getting ready for a quiet day on the beach.
With no real agenda, we played each day by ear. I really wanted us to take a bike ride around the island but I miscalculated off-peak hours for island businesses, and we missed out. We eventually made our way down to Driftwood beach, which was absolutely eerie and beautiful at the same time. You ever look at nature and are completely awed at its beauty? This was one of those times for me.
….and you have to love strangers who see you struggling to set up your camera to do a family selfie and offer to take your picture.
In the vein of forgetting we were visiting during off-peak season, we missed a lot of the fun little gift shops and such. By the time we cleaned up from the beach, it was almost 5p, and everything was closing up for the day. We did manage to find our way into one shop for some souvenirs and a leisurely walk.
When we couldn’t go biking, we went searching for a few things to do off the island and found our way to St. Simons island another barrier island about 20 minutes away.
St. Simons was more of a beach town, with souvenir and ice cream shops on what you would consider a traditional beach strip. It reminded me so much of the summers I spent at a friend’s beach house on Rehobeth beach in Delaware. Nostalgia always wins! We’ll be back St. Simons.
We had dinner at Iguanas, it was the Epitome of beach food. The inside looked like it hadn’t been renovated since the 80s… nostalgia wins again. Took me right back to summers on the beach as a kid. Off-season beach life afforded us the opportunity to sit and eat without a wait. I love a good hush puppy and these might have been some of the best I’ve ever had.
So. Freaking. Good.
If you ever make it to St. Simons, eat there.
We walked the town but were too late to get salt water taffy and tacky souvenirs. The pier more than made up for it as we happened on this dope sunset. Seems like it was the happening spot, folks fishing, families out, couples walking hand in hand. We fit right in and walked a little enjoying the night breeze.
I think we could’ve stayed another day but let’s just say weekend rates on the island are a little steep, so we packed up and headed home. With just four hours from door to door, this was the perfect little getaway. We’re likely going to take another fun weekend excursion in a few weeks back to Asheville with the kids in tow once the leaves change, so stay tuned for more Scarlett family travels!
Here’s a fun little video of our stay on Jekyll Island! Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel, while you’re over there!
Thank you to Always for sponsoring this conversation. Through the changes in my life I’ve always been able to depend on my tight girls and Always.
I can hear the clock ticking, and no, it’s not the biological one. I’m talking about the one that has me bending the corner on a new decade. Forty is less than six months away, and while it seems like just another year, I’ve seen a lot happen in a year, but the mental part of turning 4o probably has me over analyzing a few things and asking way too many questions to the homies that are on the other side of the threshold waiting on me with open arms to the oh so exclusive forty club.
They have champagne and stories by the way.
Stories about how things in our bodies change, and about those aches and the fact that while we think we can still hang out and recover quickly the truth is a night out, now takes about 5 days to recover from.
NEVER ask me about my 39th birthday, just don’t.
Recently I’ve started to notice a few changes in my body, and while I know the number to the doctor, there is a sense of comfort in talking about how I might be starting menopause in one sentence and discussing the PTA in the next with my closest girlfriends. We’re all in a different place, our children are different ages but in our quests to take care of ourselves and each other our conversations are moving towards things we can only giggle at, because they were once only thought to be chatter for women of a certain age.
A certain age will surely catch up with you, and while bladder leaks aren’t something I personally experience I’ve heard enough about them to know this is an issue with women and their post-childbearing bodies. I can relate on the term that Always Discreet Liners and Pads are products that cater to women in all the different stages of their lives.
From bladder leaks to general hygiene, the discreet nature of Always Discreet liners and pads makes it easy to be ready for any day to day changes life may throw at you. Learn more about Always Discreet product solutions at www.alwaysdiscreet.com.
Have these conversations, as I move out of my child-bearing years amongst friends makes me feel vulnerable in a good way. Being woman might be one of the greatest and toughest things at the same time. We do a great job of supporting one another during our child-bearing years and then the conversation starts to fall off. This is the time to keep them going, so we are confident in our next stages in life. You may not be experiencing the same issues as your peers but who’s to say you won’t. The sisterhood and the village is where we talk these things out and learn from one another. Now that the kids are back to school, be sure to make time for that doctors appointment and girl time. Taking care of our bodies isn’t just physical, it comes with connecting to those that genuinely have our best interest at heart.
This post was sponsored by Wendy’s as part of an Ambassador Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own
This weekend over a casual conversation with a friend, we ultimately came to the conclusion that there aren’t enough hours in a day. Not that we didn’t already know this, but we just had to repeat it for good measure.
I don’t even get frustrated any more by the lack of time I have to do everything I want to do. That whole grace thing? I give myself more than a fair share of it, and I make no apologies. Wherever I can cut back to fit in as much as I can, I do.
One of those cut the corner moments for me comes in the form of eating out when I don’t have the time, or energy to cook. With both kids in activities four days out of the week, my husband and I both working full time, in addition to my side hustles, sometimes worrying about dinner comes at the moment someone says they’re hungry.
Judge me.
The 4 for $4 at Wendy’s is always a winner. It’s good on the pockets, and the chicken offerings work well for me because I don’t care for red meat. The crispy spicy chicken sandwich is my new fave, it has just enough kick to speak to my love of spicy food. The Wendy’s in our area recently underwent a renovation so eating in serves as our dinner table on those nights when cooking isn’t an option.
I think changing up your scenery and weekly routine from time to time helps you feel like you’re not actually in a hamster wheel. Little breaks from the monotony, (and french fries) help me push through the week. The chatter around what not to eat, how to do the most with the least, and still manage to look like we walked out of a magazine can easily make you feel like you aren’t doing something right.
I’m a champion for self care and if that means eating fast food, so be it. Daily we can only give what we have, and some days the truth is we have nothing extra to give. On those days, use what you have and supplement wherever necessary, even if that means Wendy’s for dinner!
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