Connect What is the most rewarding part of being a mom?

What is most rewarding is what it does to you as a person. The growth I’ve experienced, the healing they have forced me to do, the realization that I can love someone so much more than myself and so willingly. To hear people say I changed when I became a mom is the most beautiful compliment. My kids give me such a purpose to live and grow. They go to sleep happy and know they are loved by their parents. Nothing is better to me than having emotionally healthy kids!

What is the biggest lesson motherhood has taught you?

You cannot ignore the traumas and pain you once lived in but you have to fix them. I grew up with parenting examples that were a far cry from ideal. I let a lot of my childhood affect my life in the ways I behaved and the way I related to people. Once my son started showing behavioral issues associated with his autism I realized I had to change every behavior I had, every parenting style I thought was correct. He needed a different person to be his mom who could give him creative parenting.

What would you do with $20,000?

We would use it towards bills so I can stay home with them a little longer. That would get us by until our youngest went to kindergarten and give us time to figure out what we would do with our son once I start working again. Unfortunately sticking autistic kids in daycare or programs rarely goes well. We would be responsible with it so that the impact it would have on our lives is useful and meaningful in the long run.