My Life Re-Created ~ The Beginning

I have always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. My mom stayed home with me and my sisters and I wanted to be able to share that time with my children too. I remember in college when I was interviewing for an internship with a Big Four accounting firm, one of the interview questions was: “Where do you see yourself in ten year?” I assume the answer they were expecting was something along the lines of “Senior Manager in the firm and heading towards being a Partner” or “CEO of my own company” or something else along those lines. My answer was “At home, raising my children.” That was what I truly wanted and truly believed I should do with my life. (P.S. I still got the job.) Random story just to illustrate that even while pursuing the beginning of my first career I was always planning and thinking of the day when I would begin my second, and most important career, as a mom.

Sometime after my second son was born I began to feel that I was not living up to my potential in this second career. I mean, I never thought I would be “that mom” that always did everything perfectly, made crafts with her kids and made special lunches every day! But I felt like I was spending all of my time refereeing the kids instead of enjoying them (and they were only 3 and 1). And I’m pretty sure they weren’t enjoying me much either! I knew I needed to make a change and began looking online for activities to share with them, projects and snacks to make, and ways to get organized and have better stay-at-home times. Of course I found tons of great ideas on the Internet, from activities and projects to meal ideas and recipes. Many of these ideas were simple and easy to implement. Others were more time consuming and involved a higher level of what I’ll call “craftiness.”

Now, I’ve never considered myself a crafty or creative person – I don’t have a lot of “craftiness.” When I was growing up my mom did lots of craft projects, mostly cross-stitch, plastic canvas, etc. I did my fair share of those types of projects too. I even made some things on the sewing machine with my mom. But I’ve never been what I think of as creative – that is someone who can form their own idea, find inspiration in everyday things and then take that inspiration and make it a reality. However I can imitate a picture and follow directions, which are really the main tools you need for craftiness these days! There are so many online tutorials and Do-It-Yourself projects out there with step-by-step directions (including illustrations) that anyone can get discover their inner “craftiness.”

So I began to take on some projects, just a few at first with lots more in my mind. As I began exploring, I came across more and more ideas and types of things I wanted to try. I bought a sewing machine and experimented with making clothes and things for the boys, dabbled in home improvement, organization and decorative projects and spent lots of time in the kitchen trying out new recipes and meal ideas.

As I travelled along this road of “craftiness,” I wanted to keep a record of the projects I attempted, the things I made, even the failures along the way. And so this blog was born. My Life Re-Created chronicles my “re-creative” process of finding ideas (crafts, recipes, activities, etc.) and re-creating them for myself. And along the way I will also re-create the person, the parent, the mother, that I am. I hope that by writing this blog I can inspire someone else to spend a little more time enjoying their children, discovering their “craftiness,” or possibly even finding a little encouragement. Welcome along for the ride!