Parent of the Week: Kim

Today we honor Kim, an artist momma (check out her website) with two blonde cuties! She’s adventurous, fun, and funny- you’ll just love her J

REMEMBER: If you’d like to be a Parent of the Week, or if you’d like to nominate someone, simply email me at deluna.jamie@gmail.com. It’s that easy!

Tell me a little about you- Who are you? What do you do? Hobbies? Do you dance in the car?

My name is Kim and I am a fun-loving, free spirit, active kind of girl. I’m not afraid of having my kids think that I am a little crazy and yes, I absolutely dance in the car! I’m also an artist who recently opened my online boutique called Pretty Keepsakes. I make and design custom accessories for special occasions. I have a really unique and fun product line for Flower Girls, princess parties, birthday gifts, weddings and so forth. It’s my newest adventure and I’m really excited about it!

Tell me about your children

My husband Stefan and I have two crazy-fun kids that we adore. We are one of those families that does everything together. We hike together, bike together, play together and laugh an awful lot together. Jake is our oldest and he just turned 6 ½ last week. We celebrated his half birthday with a gigantic donut. Ava is our youngest and she is 4 ½ . The kids are best friends and they are wonderful influences on each other. Jake is more reserved, athletic and everything that you would expect from a little boy. Ava is gregarious, fearless and all girly girl! Together, they push each other in ways that they both benefit from individually and we grow and learn as a family. Living in the moment and being active in their lives means everything to us and so we try our best to be completely present with them whenever we are together.

What surprised you most about parenting?

Well, I am constantly surprised and amazed by the amount of laundry I do! I am also astonished by how quickly our home can go from clean to totally destroyed and I’m stunned when my kids they look at me as though I have twelve heads simply because I asked them if they want to eat the exact same thing that they have lived off of for the past two weeks. However, although the day-to-day things surprise me, I think that what surprised me the most about being a Mom is the sheer magnitude of how having a child changed every aspect of my life. Having kids was never something that I dreamt about or dwelled upon. I was a 34 year old ski instructor, mountain bike guide and a Realtor who thought that I had it all when I married my husband. We loved our life, decided that it would be fun to have kids. I thought that my life really wouldn’t change that much when we had kids-I just thought that kids would be the “icing on the cake.” Well, almost seven years later, it’s difficult to even recognize the person who I was before I had my kids! I had no idea that becoming a Mom would be so monumental and such an all-encompassing on-going experience. It has changed my priorities, heightened my life’s goals, expanded my ability and desire to love, care and nurture others and the list is never-ending.

How have you had to be Avant Garde as a parent?

I believe that some of my most innovative parenting moments have come out of sheer desperation. For example, last spring break, I took the kids on a hike to a waterfall. The hike ended with a big uphill climb. I knew that I couldn’t carry both of them and my backpack up that hill and I also realized that they would be tired by the end of the hike. It was close to Easter, so before the hike, I covertly packed some plastic Easter eggs into my pack. After a long day of hiking, throwing rocks into the river and playing, it was time to head back to our car. About ½ way up the ascent, I yelled with great enthusiasm “there goes the Easter Bunny!!!” I pointed in one direction and simultaneously placed an egg down on the ground in the opposite direction. After the commotion, the kids found the egg and started looking for more. I continued this all the way up the hill and my kids practically ran up the hill with all of their enthusiasm! They even yelled that they had just seen the Easter Bunny at times! It was so fun! You could call it Avant Garde, innovative or just plain loony parenting, but I feel that a little creativity can go a long way in regard to keeping everyone in the family happy. I realize what my desired goal is and if I can have a little fun reaching that goal instead of a major meltdown along the way, we all win!

Kim and Past Parents of the Week: Feel free to grab the Parent of the Week Badge: