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

Getting to watch the incredible little humans your kids are becoming day by day. Hearing their sweet “please” and “thank yous”, the sound of their giggles as they play together, it’s the purest kind of joy. The unprompted hugs, the snuggles, the quiet “I love yous”. In those moments, every hard part of parenting just fades away, and your heart fills with a kind of love and joy that’s impossible to truly put into words.

What is the biggest lesson motherhood has taught you?

Both our children and we as parents are all doing life for the first time. Give them grace and patience, but remember to give that same grace to yourself. Let them stop and look at a bug on the sidewalk or an airplane in the sky—slow down and enjoy life with them. Let them have the big emotions so they can learn how to process them. Patience goes a long way, and at the end of the day, what your kids will remember most isn’t what you gave them—it’s the time you gave them.

What would you do with $20,000?

As a single-income family, I would use it to bring stability into our lives, invest in our children’s future, and finally give them experiences we haven’t had the luxury of before. Our kids are five and three, and because their dad has been deployed for most of their lives, we’ve never had the chance to take a family vacation. That would be one of the very first things we’d do—something simple, but meaningful—just being together, making memories we’ve missed out on for so long.