Photo courtesy of FNU.EDU/google images

  As kids we dream of many things.  We have career dreams of being astronauts, lawyers, doctors, or even actresses.   We tend to lose ourselves in our imaginations and dreams as children.  We have plans to attend the best colleges and create memories to last a lifetime.  What happens when our happily ever after doesn’t become reality? When things don’t go as planned, do we give up, do we try harder? I’m not sure what your answers are, but I know that dreams can become a reality and that doesn’t have to stop if your life didn’t’ go according to “plan”. My kids and husband are my world, my life would be incomplete without them and I have no idea how I lived before.  But I still want to have a passion and pursue goals, especially now that they are in my life I have so much to live and work for with them here.  I am a work in progress and proud of myself and what I have to one day offer a company or even my own business.  I’m excited for what the future holds for my family. 

            I really wanted to touch on this subject because I have been talking a lot recently about Back-To-School for toddlers and preschoolers.  However I have completely neglected to talk about all you mamas/daddies heading back to school to pursue your goals.  I commend every parent taking on such an important goal in their lives, from raising families to working full time jobs, school is still a priority and you can do it, I say go for it! I just recently finished a year ago, and although it has given me such a sense of accomplishment at times I must admit that I miss it.

             Although I am a super busy stay-at-home-mom, I also love to learn.  I am constantly researching and “teaching” myself through books and audios that I listen to daily.  However, It’s nothing like being in a classroom, weather that classroom is traditional or online.  It’s a way to communicate with the outside world about something productive.  I love to see that moms today have so many options to educate themselves and that they are taking the stand and doing it.  It’s super easy to talk about it, but to actually do the work while raising a family can be tough.  In my experience I have found that you need to balance out dedicating time for your studies and family life.  It’s not easy.  In today’s world we really need a degree to get by, It’s an imperative piece of paper that will help you find your career path.   I also think that it helps your kids in so many ways, it encourages them I am sure as they grow to know that their parents went to college and had goals and dreams. 

            So you’re thinking, “are you living your dream”?  Well, not yet but I know that I will get there.  Here’s a little bit of my personal story and dream building session.  I started to really sit down and think about what I wanted and what I needed to do to get there.  I always knew since I was younger I wanted to be a teacher (you can ask all my little cousins, when we would play school I was always the teachers).  So I started looking into child development and teaching.  I feel like I am already a teacher because I work so hard teaching my own kids. I am encouraged by kids, they are so full of light and innocence and are so eager to learn.  I love to watch them grow and to see their eyes light up when they learn something new.  It’s such a satisfying experience for me.  While earning my degree I took a class in marketing and business management, our assignment consisted of creating our own business which included a business plan and structure.  I was looking back at some of my material and found that my business was a preschool! WOW! It’s funny that this business plan was created before I really knew I wanted to teach.  Sub-consciously I guess I always knew that I would be working with kids and teaching someday, and the time is finally coming.  Great! I have a plan and goal, and am determined to get it.  Then I realized I needed to find a school with a child development credential/certification program.  The internet became my BFF for two days.  And with the click of my mouse, I found it, it read:  Study child development through the UCLA experience, through the extension program. I was officially sold and stoked.  UCLA always being my favorite college and really an unrealistic goal for many years to me.  Now I can actually attend through their extension classes offered.  After my research and analysis of what would best suite me I talked it over with my husband and he was totally on board for this.  So we are now planning to save up so I can go there for my credentials and certification.  It’s such a rewarding feeling to make your dreams reality.  It’s really exciting to dream and think about what you can do with your life and really the sky is the limit. 

Courtesy of UCLA.edu/extension & google images

            I used to hear and sometimes still do that once your kids come along everything changes and you won’t have time for yourself.  I agree that it’s hard, but it’s not impossible.  Having kids should not stop you.  I believe that you can still feel empowered and motivated with your kids, include them in the process, help them understand why you’re doing it.  I look into my kids eyes and I can only hope that once they grow up they will be proud of the woman/mother I am.  Going back to school as an adult and when having a family does affect everyone, however it is a choice you make for YOU.  Yes you want to succeed and leave a legacy for your kids, but it should be something that you love and are passionate about.  When I finished my bachelors degree I thought, “now what?” I was confused on what I wanted to do.  I knew that being a mother and wife must come first but I still wanted to do something, something I love and enjoy doing for ME. And with this new venture in my life I will see where this takes me, where God will lead me and how far I can go.  It’s going to be an interesting journey and I am super excited. 

             The point of this post is to encourage all you moms (or dads) to remember your dreams (if you haven’t’ already accomplished them) put yourself first and do something for YOU.  I know that I have talked about this before, but it’s something so dear to me, education and setting goals is so important for moms and women in general.  Moms can tend to fall into depressions (especially SAHMs), and feel lost or under-appreciated, doing something positive is so important for YOU. and this doesn’t have to be education, it can be anything! A cooking class, yoga, zumba, knitting, painting, reading, blogging, you name it! The sky is the limit and you can reach it if you believe and trust yourself.  Having a support system is encouraging when taking on decisions like this.   I am blessed enough to say my husband supports me as long as he knows that this is what I really want.  I also wanted to take this opportunity and my blog to share with you what’s going in my life and how things are possible even if you have families and kids.  My life isn’t perfect, nor am I a perfect parent, I am always trying to find ways to be better Daily.  Let’s just call it, “A work in progress”. 

photo courtesy of google images

            That’s what I’ve got for today! Thanks for stopping by Successful mommy advice, I love to hear from you so leave me a comment.  Remember to share my blog with other mommies out there so together we can strive for mommy success! 🙂

XOXO,

Reina