Return of #ReasonsImAwesome

If you know me, or stalk me on Facebook (which is perfectly acceptable), you probably know that lately I've been struggling. Between the ongoing broken sleep that comes along with the Jiggley Baby, and doing all of the child wrangling/household crapola on my own, I've also been pretty hard on myself. Ok, that's a lie. I've been downright mean to myself.

• You can't keep the house tidy
• Listen to that baby crying at you, you can't even make him happy
• Look at {Jiggley Boy}, he's bouncing off the walls and getting into trouble because YOU aren't paying enough attention to him
• No one really wants to hang out with you because you're such a downer
• You're not good enough
• You can't do it

Just a little snippet of the lovely self-talk that has been going through my head lately. If anyone talked to someone I cared about like that, it would INFURIATE me. If anyone talked to my kids like that I would throat punch them (ok, probably not - but I'd really want to). But why is it ok, acceptable even, to talk to myself like this? I could blame it on my mother never really having anything nice to say about herself. I could blame it on the media and how they have given me a completely skewed perspective on beauty and motherhood and on just being a woman in general. I could blame it on depression or anxiety or OCD. There are any number of things that I *could* blame it on. But placing the blame doesn't really change the fact that I am a bitch to myself. It doesn't really change the fact that MANY women are mean, and hard, and hateful to themselves.
I don't want my boys to grow up thinking that it's just normal to be overly critical of themselves; to hate themselves; to always feel like they don't measure up to a conceived version of themselves that doesn't exist. So it's time to change. It just takes one person, with one idea to start a revolution... now I'm not saying "Hey, friends, let's start a revolution!", but... Hey, friends, do you want to start something amazing? Awesome, even?


These guys are just a part of what makes me awesome <3
{Photo courtesy of Amber Bourret Photography - check her out!}

I'm bringing back #ReasonsImAwesome. 30 days of LOVING yourself. 30 days of finding something, no matter how big or small, that makes you the incredible, amazing, AWESOME person you are. 30 days of acknowledging that even with our flaws and mistakes and imperfections, we are pretty super. So check out the Facebook page and share your #ReasonsImAwesome. You can even use the #ReasonsImAwesome on Twitter if you want to spread the love. Let's start changing the way we think about ourselves. Let's change the way our kids WILL think about themselves in the future.

30 Days of "I'm FRICKEN AWESOME!"

Oct. 14: I have a wicked new tattoo that I can't wait to show off!
Oct. 15: I am a really good snuggler.
Oct. 16: I am sensitive. I wear my feelings on my sleeve so there isn't much guess work on how I'm feeling or what's troubling me.
Oct. 17: I am stronger than I ever thought possible; in body AND in mind.
Oct. 18: I am one of a kind! After years of trying to be like everyone else, of trying to fit in by becoming a clone - I am me! There NO ONE like me anywhere on this planet, and that is TOTALLY AWESOME!
Oct. 19: I sing made-up songs, or use my own lyrics to other people's songs, at least half a dozen times a day! (may not be pretty, but it is pretty FUN!)
Oct. 20: For the very first time, I wore skinny jeans and boots (OUT IN PUBLIC!!). Double awesome.
Oct. 21: I walk almost everywhere. I'm teaching Trent that it's better to walk, too - he made it all the way up to the mall! (proud mommy!)
Oct. 22: I love to 'funktify' (sure, that's a word!) Trent's meals from time to time just to see the look on his face.
Oct. 23: I am going to be in a pin-up calendar!
Oct. 24: One of my favorite things in the whole world is to curl up in bed with a book.
Oct. 25: I am a great friend.
Oct 26: My home might not be spotless and children might act a little wild, but my door is always open and tea is always ready
Oct 27: I dress up for kids Halloween Parties
Oct 28: I started and organized the SCN Drive, gathering donated new gifts for babies and their families spending Christmas in the Special Care Nursery at RD Hospital, for the last 3 years.
Oct 29: I surround myself with genuinely good people. I'm a lot stricter with who I allow in my, and my son's, life.
Oct 30: Even though I was paying for my fun night out (hung over for the first time in a very very veryyyyy long time) I still tackled my mountain of laundry (sorting, folding and putting away laundry is probably my least favorite chore on the planet).
Oct 31: Every day we play "What makes ___ awesome?" to teach my son to look for good in everything. {Today I'm awesome for making yummy oatmeal and S is awesome because she's so kind and likes to hug}
Nov 1: Even though the house is full of Halloween candy, I've only had one (edit, 2) pieces of chocolate!
Nov 2: I was told that I wasn't smart enough and that I would likely fail out of any post secondary school I went to, so I shouldn't bother. Someone actually suggested to me that I should just find a nice rich man to marry and take care of me for the rest of my life. So I graduated college with the second highest grades in my class and made presidents or deans honour roll every term. Take THAT!
Nov 3: Most days I'd rather read a book than watch tv
Nov 4: Every Friday I take my little man out on a date, even if we've just spend the entire week just the two of us. It changes things up and he feels super special picking where we eat (usually the mall food court lol).
Nov 5: I make tutus!
Nov 6: I may totally hate winters in Alberta (mainly because they last like 9 months), but my inner child always gets a little bit excited during the first snow.
Nov 7 9: I am easily amused, that also means I'm easily distracted (oops, missed a couple days!)
Nov 10: I taught conversational English in Taiwan for just over 7 months.
Nov 11: I have never missed (or not cried at) a Remembrance Day ceremony (except this year, because I was too sick to want to drag a squirmy monkey with me)
Nov 12:I have never been in a physical fight (except for sibling skirmishes, which don't count) and the one time I was really willing to throw down was because someone was disrespecting a good friend and causing her great pain.
Nov 13: I have days where I hate being home all day, alone, with a small child. There are days where I would give anything to have a partner come home at 5pm to tag me out and to share the responsibilities. But most of the time I love what I do. I love being the one to teach and mold my son. I love opening up the world for him, crack by crack, and watching him explore it.
Nov 14: I started this #ReasonsImAwesome as a way to start telling myself, on a more consistent basis, that I'm a pretty cool chick, but something unexpected happened along the way. People joined me. People started giving themselves reasons they are awesome. People started to feel better about themselves, even if it was just for a moment in the course of a day. And that is something that is truly AWESOME to me.