What Fern Wore: Mother/Daughter Date

Sometimes I’m kind of a terrible mom.

Sometimes I snap at my kids and my fuse is ridiculously short. Sometimes I find myself stomping on Fern’s little spirit without even meaning to when I’m feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. And while it’s true that she is three-years-old which means she can be frustrating as hell sometimes, more than anything, it’s me. It’s how I’m handling these situations. Sometimes I get so caught up in the day-to-day and just trying to get through, that I’m not really enjoying my children or these fleeting moments that I have with them. I hate when people say to “cherish every moment” of motherhood, because let’s be real: some moments flat out suck and I don’t want to cherish them. But, I also don’t want to simply be surviving each day. I want to find ways to thrive as a mom and I want to find ways to help my kids thrive too.

And so…I decided that what Fern and I needed was a break from the daily tasks to have some one-on-one time…a mother/daughter date. I had only gone out with just her once since Clive was born 9 months ago, which is really sad. Just like in a marriage, it’s important to find time to connect and nurture our relationship. Sure, I could do it at home during Clive’s naps, but those are few and far between and sometimes you just need completely focused time together without the distractions of home. Sometimes you need something special.

When I asked Fern what she wanted to do for our date she said, “Go see Santa! And eat jellybeans!” But, since seeing Santa in March wasn’t exactly an option, her second choice was to go to the “book shop”. So, we did. We read books together in the kid’s section for two hours and at the end of our date, I let her choose a book and a treat to take home (for the record she chose a Little Golden Book version of “Tangled” and an M&M cookie). After our date it felt like all was right in the world again and I came home appreciating her once more.

Oh! And we also got a little dressed up for our date, because Fern loves a good excuse to wear something special and absolutely adores when I do my hair and makeup and wear something nice too. We planned our outfit around these sweet matching necklaces that my good friend Lacy sent us. Her new shop – Madre Beads – is launching on March 20th and this is one of her designs: “The Minimalist Madre”, which may have been a special request on my part. I love that it’s stylish, but indestructible and perfect for a teething Clive to chew on and pull. And the fact that Fern got a matching version thrilled her little heart. There is nothing that makes her quite as excited as a good matching moment does. I think I’m going to be pretty sad when she outgrows it.

 

What Fern Wore:

Top: c/o Olive & August

Jacket: Old Navy (similar)

Necklaces: c/o Madre Beads

Leggings: Shop Sweet Magnolia

Booties: Old Navy (old)}