Meet the Bloggers: Jessica

December 1st, 2008

Blogging Mommy is… Jessica
Her kiddo(s) is/are…Austin & Ethan
Her location is…Erie, PA

How old are you now and how old is/are your munchkin(s)?

     I turned 23 two weeks ago. Austin turned 2 years old the day before my birthday and Ethan J is 14 months today!

If you could describe your child in 3 words, what would they be?

     Austin: intelligent, active, loving

     Ethan: happy, outgoing…I’ll say loving again 🙂 

What’s an average day like for you these days?

     I’m most likely at home with my boys, just hanging out. I am fortunate to have to go to work very little. I teach two classes at a local school, and am able to do all of my prep/lesson planning/grading/etc. from home, so it only takes me out of the house about 8 hours a week.

     We are involved in a playgroup and regulars at a few toddler activities at our library, but spend most of our time at home sweet home (and the nearby playground!). The boys love being outdoors, and we still try to get outside at least once a day now that winter is here. As they are getting older I am able to try more and more things with them and a new favorite is now playdough. Other than that they tend to just follow me around the house and “help” me cook and clean, or play together with some of their millions of toys. 

If you had a day all to yourself (kid-free & lottery-financed), how would you spend it?

     Honestly? I would probably just sleep and take a bath, order some food in and sleep some more! Stretch out all ALONE in my own bed *sigh* Maybe watch something besides Noggin! Maybe squeeze in some shopping since it’s not my money.

What would you say your parenting style is like?

     Difficult to define! I feel that I borrow a lot from the ideas of attachment parenting, but I can identify with many other ideas as well. I am there for my children whenever possible in every sense. I try to respect them as people. As far as “discipline” I use only positive reinforcements, don’t use time outs, etc. and do my best not to raise my voice.

     Above all I strive every day to be a wonderful mother. I do everything in my power to keep my kids safe, healthy and happy. I make sure they feel loved unconditionally and am teaching them to be loving individuals at the same time.

What do you feel you have enough of in life? What do you want more of? Less of?

    I have enough…bills? LOL. I have enough of everything I suppose. I am truly blessed and very fortunate. I have been working hard to always be content with what I have.

     I would LOVE more children, and less drama so we’ll see what happens!

How “blended” is your family? Are you still with the dad(s) of your kid(s)? Who has whose last name in the family?

     I would say … not very blended. I am married to the father of both of my children. Although things between us are not picture perfect at the moment, we are in a relationship and working hard towards a healthy marriage. We truly love each other and he is a wonderful dad to the boys. Now if only he would grow up and get his shit together. Just kidding. Sort of. We all share the same last name.

What are some of your big pet peeves?

     I have so many many many. I am a (slowly) recovering perfectionist/control freak so everything is a potential annoyance. Seriously, I won’t even start.
What are the most unique things about yourself?

     Umm…nothing. I’m really not a very interesting person at all. The thing that’s most special about me is my children.

And finally, what’s your writing/blogging history and style?

     I love to write. I started writing short stories, poems, etc. in grade school. I wrote for the school newspaper in high school/college and actually (don’t make fun of me!) didn’t mind writing book reports, research papers, essays, etc. It’s a hobby that I pretty much let go after leaving school for lack of time, but I have been blogging occassionally for about a year now. I don’t know that I have a writing “style.” I guess casual…I type as I think and it’s not always organized or logical or punctuated, etc.