by Muffy Mendoza
Tags: best you
black single moms
brown mommys
lessons learned from kids
Pittsburgh
scenes from a single mom
single moms
Tiffany Huff
By: Tiffany Huff, Motivational Speaker and Purpose Pusher
My youngest son just turned 8 years old. I am so luck y to be charged with being his Mommy and loving him each and every day of his life. He is full of life, laughter, ideas and possibilities! Everyday he lives life to the fullest and is ready for new challenges and experiences with TONS of energy. As I reflected on my Ziggy, I realized that he has taught me so much, without even knowing it. Many of these lessons, we have all learned at some point in our lives, and in celebration of his I decided to share them with you.
∞Celebrate Yourself
Ziggy is always Ziggy no matter where he goes or who he is with. If he feels strongly about something, he will definitely advocate for it, specifically wearing what he wants to wear. He reminds me constantly that ‘you don’t have to match EVERY DAY Mom’ and he’s right, he has his own style and I let him express it. We need to spend more time celebrating ourselves, those things that make us happy even if they make us different! IF we do not embrace and love who we are, we can’t expect others to do the same.
∞Pursue Your Passions
Anybody who knows my Ziggy knows that football is his passion. He plays, he watches, he reads books and writes poems about it. At practice, he is usually the last kid off the field, and is quite the leader on his pee wee team. He LOVES the game, PERIOD. The same should be said about you. You might not play video games with your kid, but you gotta be passionate about something. What are you passionate about? Do the people who know you well know your passion? Do you spend time to learn more, get better at and consistently pursue your passion? If you haven’t been, now is the time to start!
∞Take a Nap
My Ziggy is a ball of endless energy most of the time. However, when he needs to rest he rests. Many of us are guilty of trying to accomplish so much, or being so busy with our stuff that we neglect to ensure we get adequate rest. While we may not have the luxury of napping the way he does, we have to take care of ourselves and make rest a priority.
∞Use the DVR
After football practice there is usually only time for a shower and reading time so Monday Night Raw is NOT an option before bed. BUT, the DVR is definitely Ziggy’s friend, and he saves his shows for when he has ‘TV Time’. Today we are always looking for ways to do more in less time, and we are all multitasking throughout the day. Take advantage of your resources to ‘save’ things for times when you can fully enjoy them. Maybe it’s not TV time for you, it could be that you just need to save some time for yourself. Don’t put it off any longer. Start today.
∞Keep Your Promises
When he was invited to a last-minute birthday party I was sure he’d be excited, surprisingly he told me he told his friends he would be at the park to play that day. I suggested he go to the park the next day – he said he promised, and they’d be expecting him. No thank you, for the party. WOW! Your word is all you have – keep it, even if you think it’s not a big deal someone else might think its HUGE.
You can visit Tiffany Huff’s website by clicking here.