What is the most rewarding part of being a mom?

Of course hearing “I love you” is timeless. For me it’s seeing your kid winning a national art competition, publishing a video game, repelling a cliff to save endangered species, going to college while paying off your car, or just being the self sufficient black sheep with adhd (each is a description of all my 5). All my kids make me so proud!

What is the biggest lesson motherhood has taught you?

Patience! Still a work in progress as indicated by the exclamation point. Love is patient and kind. Parenting tests selflessness sometimes but being the best parent is making sure you set aside time to adult and make sure you’re happy too. Motherhood is a balancing act and sometimes the family has to make adjustments as new phases challenge all persons to grow.

What would you do with $20,000?

I would help the adhd kid get a house so I know they’ll always be ok. I would probably help some of the kids get down payments for homes because their natural dad died of cancer and we had to move a lot. I would try to rerelease my book Griefbadge because I’d like to help people going through grief due to loss of a loved one. If possible, I also would like to get a cash barndominium near Nashville to sing.