Author: Erin Kettle

What is a super mom anyway?

/ Erin Kettle / Leave a comment

If we’re connected on Twitter, you’ll see my description says:

Author of American Honey, PR Strategist…wife, super_mom and always in search of a good book, glass of wine or some sunshine. 

I’ve had friends ask…what is a super mom anyway? Nine times out of ten, they say they are far from anything super.

Here’s the secret, I am too! But we gotta stick together.

I am a mom to two rambunctious and adorable girls, 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 years old, and sometimes, I feel that they are the ones corralling me.

Life gets busy, with work, family, friends and activities, to say the least, but you know what…what makes you a super mom is the fact that you try.

You know what will make you an even better mom?

Showing your daughter what inspires you, excites you and makes you grow. These are all the things we feel bad doing in the moment because they take us away. For example: work, hobbies, exercise, music, etc. But they are watching and they love seeing you accomplish something important too.

I just read something to my older daughter today that said, “I am strong because I’ve been weak. I am fearless because I’ve been foolish…”

Because I want her to know that it’s the mistakes that make us stronger. 

That’s how I feel as a super mom. If you’re making mistakes, you’re learning. And that means you’re trying.

With love,

From one super mom to another!

SuperMom1Dawn_zps890d0a51 copy

 

Irrational Sweet Tooth

/ Erin Kettle / 1 Comment

It’s true. I’ve tried having a talk with it, to tell it that we can’t keep doing this. This, making and eating of desserts all the time.

But I have an irrational sweet tooth.

Yesterday, I gave in. I made Dulce de Leche to put into Dulce de Leche Doughnuts and mini bundt cakes. Yes, you heard me right.

Dulce de Leche

I started brewing the Dulce de Leche and the house started to smell like MmmmmmM. My daughter even said so.

I was tempted to just lick it up right there, and believe me, I “tested” it. But I used that ooey goodness to fold into the doughnut mixture I was creating. Hey, but I baked them, that’s healthy right?

Since I didn’t make enough Dulce (more ended up in our bellies), we had to suffice for a chocolate topping. The sprinkles are courtesy of my girls.

And I always say it was worth the trouble, the mess and the calories. Best part, you know every ingredient that you’ve put into it.

Bon Appetit!

Dulce de Leche Doughnuts

Why is it so hard to ask for help?

/ Erin Kettle / 1 Comment

It was a particularly rainy afternoon and I was waiting for my 2 1/2 year old to get up from her nap.

It was after 4 PM when I was finally able to drag the two kids with me to the grocery store. I put one in the cart seat and one in the actual cart so that they wouldn’t run through the store, in hopes that we could get this done quickly.

Two bathroom trips (yes, that was TWO) and 90 minutes later, we’re finally trying to get out of the store. And I had already forgotten two things. Too bad.

I’m trying to unload and check out and my youngest starts crying because she can’t reach the food to “help me out” and put things on the check out. My older daughter is counting the chocolate bars by touching each one on the side of the aisle.

The cart is overflowing and I’m trying to get the kids jackets on, pay and get out the door, when my youngest falls sideways and of course, hits her head on the cart.

Now she’s really crying.

“Do you need help out?” the store clerk asks.

“No, no,” I say as I’m trying to push the kids forward and out of the way so the next customer could pay. I lean down, trying to console my youngest.

“Does she need an ice pack?” another clerk asks me.

“No, thank you, she’s okay. We’re just trying to get out of here. It’s been a long trip, so to speak,” I said and honestly, I could not get out of the store fast enough.

“Do you want me to help you out?” this store clerk asks.

“No, thank you. We’re just trying to go,” I say as I’m trying to get the girls to follow me, jackets on, etc.

“Here, let me push the cart. You can get the girls,” she said.

And she pushed the cart out for me, while I put my kids’ hoods up, held their hands as we crossed the street to our car. And then she unloaded the cart into my car.

I couldn’t thank her enough.

The lady that stood behind me at the check out line was parked near me and said, “I’ve been there before. I’m so glad that lady helped you out.”

I smiled at her. I was too.

She continued, “I don’t know why the clerk asked you if you needed help. She should know we ALWAYS say no, but we really mean yes.”

I wish I had a donkey…

/ Erin Kettle / Leave a comment

General Electric (GE) took over Twitter today with an new campaign, Invention Donkey. He’s a mini, real tiny donkey, and quite the sarcastic little fellow.

He can grant any invention wish and I can’t help but think of so many things we need to invent…

See the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C0zVXHB9sU or check out GE on Twitter.

What would you invent?

I think I’d start with curing a number of diseases. Cancer, Autism, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral palsy, ALS…basically anything that hurts a child or takes our friends or family away from us.

So how do we find this invention donkey? Remember he’s tiny.

GE Invention donkey

Image via GE

Today is Opposite Day

/ Erin Kettle / 2 Comments

It’s funny how we decide to label ourselves. For the past decade, I’ve called myself a non runner.

But the truth is I HATE RUNNING. It just doesn’t agree with me, my knees, my body, etc.

So for years, I’ve taken up yoga, spinning and other ways to sweat and stay healthy, but I always thought how nice it would be to just go for a run and clear your head.

But that’s not who I am, I tell myself. I need a class for motivation. I need someone to tell me what to do, otherwise I won’t do it.

The thing is, when I start running, my legs itch, tingle and drive me crazy. Does that happen to anyone? It only happens when I run. I was suckered into a half marathon once and that seemed to go away but then my knee cap seemed to wither away with it so I figured that was a sign.

But today, I am a few months out from going on a vacation and it’s time to burn some calories. I double checked my 30 day free gym pass and thought…it’s time.

So I did it. I went to the gym. And that ugly treadmill just stared at me. There weren’t any classes going on, it was just me and the treadmill.

So I ran, without issue, for 25 minutes.

THAT’S HUGE (for me). I could almost hear the Rocky fight song in my head as I stepped off because today, I have defeated whatever barriers stood in the way.

It got me thinking, what else is holding me back?

Click here to hear your fight song: What does Rocky tell you?

Fearless_Crew_2_native_600 copy

Photo courtesy of NIKE, Inc.

Life is Sweet, Make it Sweeter

/ Erin Kettle / 5 Comments

I wanted to say, life is short. Sometimes too short. We never know how long we have on earth and sometimes we’re so sucked into the day-to-day ramblings, that we forget to take a pause, or a time out (as my daughter would say, though her time outs are a little different…).

A neighbor that I met through a writing event last summer was literally blogging  less than a month ago about being thankful, and an hour later, she and her husband were hit by a car while crossing the street.

My daughters and I just so happened to be driving by, what had to be moments after the accident, and saw a fire truck and ambulances. Not much happens in our smaller town that sits adjacent to Portland, so traffic slowed. My girls were peppering me with questions, “what happened? was it a person? will they be okay?”

I could see EMT crouching over someone in the middle of the road/cross walk and all I could think was that hopefully someone just felt faint, nothing more. As we drove on, I told my girls to say a little prayer that they’re okay, and we went on about our evening.

Last weekend, I opened the newspaper and my neighbor is on the front page, telling her story about how an elderly man hit her and her husband with his car, and by the grace of God, they survived.

The feelings are overwhelming…and I couldn’t believe we drove right past her. It seems like we should’ve been able to do something to help. She and her husband have a long recovery ahead of them, but she gets to spend more time with her family and friends.

She will no doubt appreciate life differently. It shouldn’t take something horrific to make the rest of us stop, take a moment and hug those close. Maybe smell the flowers.

corn_field_flower_220138

It was that kind of morning…

/ Erin Kettle / Leave a comment

Isn’t it amazing how much influences us and our day? Every morning it’s usually chaos, getting the kids dressed and off to school/activities in between work and life.

This morning, there was no yelling or “that’s mine!” coming from the family room as I got breakfast ready.

There was no “that’s not fair” or “she pushed me.”

I heard two little girls playing, nicely. One even said, “I love you” to the other.

Wow.

So this morning in the car on the way to school, they continued sharing and the car was filled with giggles, instead of angry words.

“You two really make me happy when you’re smiling and having fun,” I said.

“Are we becoming big girls?” Avery asked.

Maybe they’ll go back to bickering tomorrow, but for today, I’m holding on to this.

As Ice Cube says, “Today was a good day.”

Where will we be in 2015?

/ Erin Kettle / 2 Comments

When I was younger, 2015 seemed so very far away.  Can you believe that Back to the Future 2 had us dreaming about Hover Boards and Flying Cars?

It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come in terms of medicine and smart technology, but then again, some of the most important world issues are still nagging us.

But Great Scott, self lacing shoes? Yes, please!

But when I read things like, “Bill Gates wants to turn poop into drinking water,” I think wow, have we arrived?

Here’s to an interesting year, and possibly some automatic dog walkers, Pepsi Perfect or phone glasses…

Happy New Year, enjoy!

Back to the Future 2 Movie Trailer

hoverborad

The Simple Things

/ Erin Kettle / Leave a comment

I never expected how much I’d enjoy seeing the wonderment in my children’s eyes when they see something they like. These little kiddos are the perfect example (most of the time!!) of pure love and excitement. The thing that’s so amazing about watching through their world, is that they are so excited about the smallest, most simple things.

It makes you take a step back and just enjoy that moment with them.

A few weeks ago we went to visit friends in California and were able to go to Disneyland. While Disneyland is a kid’s dream, these girls got so very excited at the site of a parade or a special wand or a lollypop. Their jaws dropped open with pure awe and excitement.

If I could just channel some of that and just enjoy some of the simple things…

shocked