When my husband and I moved into our neighborhood in Sonoma, we were immediately drawn to the sweet family down the street. We became fast friends, and when we too became parents, our friendships only grew stronger. I was so thankful to have a confidante whose parenting style I admired deeply, and who was located only a few houses away. This proximity has become even more valuable as our kids have gotten older. The four boys will often spend the afternoons or weekends bouncing from house to house. Sharing snacks, jumping on the trampoline, borrowing toys, and giving the moms a break to make dinner, or accomplish a task uninterrupted. We adore this family, and Joanne has become one of my closest friends. She has a heart of gold, leads and lives with faith, and she serves her community graciously. She is a blessing in my life, and I am so grateful she’s shared her #motherhoodmademe thoughts with us.

Here is Joanne’s Story:

Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy. The noun that encompasses so much and gives meaning to the women who gave us life. My mom is everything that I’ve always wanted to be. She was a teacher (like me) who then stopped her career to be a full time mom. She raised 4 kids, was heavily involved in PTO, bond measures and eventually helped to reopen and be director at a preschool. My mom was always there for us, driving us to endless sports practices and volunteering in the classroom. She read by our door at night when we were too scared to fall asleep on our own. And today, she continues to help give me perspective when I’m at my wits end after a week of no school due to smoke days and power outages. My mom (and Dad) gave us the best childhood (with limits, of course,) showing us the strength in raising kids with traditions, stability, expectations and experiences. All ideals that I am working hard to pass down to my 2 boys. Funny enough, the same ideals that my closest college girlfriends were all raised with. I’ve always found such comfort that we came from commonalities to Cal Poly, each others’ family becoming our own. We could relate to one another, understanding the dynamics of 3 or 4 kids in each family, parents all still married. The comfort of our similar upbringings keeping us close. The eight of us Poly Dollies are still continually on group texts asking parenting questions or laughing with motherhood experiences. Together, we are experiencing our new found titles (and nouns) of MOM.

Mom is also the base of a strong verb. Mommin’ ain’t easy. We moved to Sonoma when I was 8 months pregnant with our first son. My husband and I knew very few people personally in our new hometown. Luckily, a very pregnant woman is (apparently) like a magnet and we found “our people” rather quickly. If my Poly Dollies are my ‘yin’, my Sonoma friends are my ‘yang’. Many of my good friends are moms who had completely opposite upbringings than me, raised with different ideals, faiths, politics and family dynamics. These friends make me a stronger, more open mom and human. To hear and see how they’ve overcome adversity and now raise their children to be strong, independent beings makes my mommin’ game stronger. I value our differences and utilize their experiences (along with mine) to grow my knowledge of raising my 2 very different boys. Together, we’ve helped one another with the ups and downs of life and of mommin’: one of the most difficult verbs around.

I knew motherhood would be my greatest life adventure. No matter your past, it  brings joy and drama, fears and laughs. What I didn’t realize is that motherhood would help me appreciate our similarities and our differences, our strengths and our weaknesses. Mommin’ is difficult and I’ll take all the help I can get.