What Makes Me Glow

I am not sure what routine makes me glow. Is it my morning coffee or my shower at night? I enjoy my first cup of coffee in the morning playing my games before my children wake up. I do not get much time before my four-year-old wakes up and starts to cry that he wanted me to stay in bed with him. No, he has not stopped crawling into bed with me and his dad at night. In fact, our current situation means that his bed is in our room still. We have five bedrooms, and they are all occupied.

Maybe, what makes me glow is going out and watering the garden in the summer. This is where I let my thoughts wander and I just think. I think about everything from our finances to how much I hate the color of my kitchen floor. It is a white pine laminate and I hate it. It does not take long before someone is yelling "Mom" or "Tosha". I even get "Auntie". I love reading after I get my youngest into bed and asleep. I will go into my kindle app and find a book. Most nights I fall asleep scrolling through shopping apps like wish. I am usually up around 7 so, my first cup of coffee without interruption. I have tried to do yoga in the evenings after my son has fallen asleep, but I am not someone who is consistent with exercise. Let us face it some nights I am just too tired to exercise even if it is a light yoga work out.

I am Mom, Stepmom, and Auntie. I have two children of my own. My ten-year-old daughter and my four-year-old son. Four stepchildren but not all live with me. Just the boys. Their sisters live with their mom and only the youngest daughter who it fifteen comes to see us. My partners brother and his daughter also live with us, which is why our son is still in our room niece who all live with me. I have three boys and two girls who all range from the ages of four my youngest son to eleven my oldest stepson. I have a teen age girl every second weekend in my care. There was a time in my life when I would just have a soak in the bath for hours and read an enjoyable book. It has been years since I was able to do this.

We all live out on an acreage in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. I love it out here in the quite the kids and I go for walks on trails around where we live. It is one trail really. The trail is short and takes us to a bench that overlooks the Athabasca river. The view from there is spectacular. The mountains in the background to the river. The kids will pick flowers and I will take my camera and take pictures.

I have a busy life and I do not often get a lot of quiet time. Even trying to sit and author this article I have been interrupted many times. I am always refereeing fights, wiping noses or bums, getting food and drinks, cleaning their messes. I get more time when the kids are in school, but I have two four-year old children who demand a lot of attention. I do not even get to go to the bathroom on my own as I am sure many moms can relate. So, what makes me glow are all the small quite moments I routinely steal throughout my day.