Better Beauty Vermont

I am a semi-exhausted mom of a toddler.

There are days when all I want to do is sweep her up in my arms for a marathon cuddle, and days when I can’t get out of the house fast enough while she sleeps (leaving her with her Dad- don’t call CPS).

I’ll admit, it’s both my biggest struggle and greatest joy.

This motherhood thing is no joke.

I’ve always been drawn to teaching. I’ve worked in the ski industry for my entire career, as an instructor, trainer, mentor, manager and leader. I teach people things all the time, every day. There’s something amazing though about teaching kids, especially your own.

Now, I can’t by any means claim I’ve taught her everything she knows. She has amazing caregivers at daycare that teach her the boring stuff like how to wash her hands (side note- she could use some help with the teeth brushing and potty business…). Her Dad teaches her too. For example, he taught her how to put the keys in the ignition and turn on the car (moms out there- invest in manual transmissions- good life skills and hard for toddlers to reach the clutch to start the car).

In the image above, he’s teaching her that there are baby chickens in the eggs (hopefully) and to be very gentle with them. It might have been the cutest lesson she’s learned yet.

“Baby in the egg?”

“Yes love, be careful, you don’t want to drop the baby”

Followed by snuggling the egg before carefully putting it back on the rack to go in the incubator (to follow our chicken journey, like our business page- Hartsboro Hatchery).

She’s learning new things every day that will shape what kind of human she’ll end up.

Learning shouldn’t stop when childhood stops. Some of the most life changing things I’ve learned happened well into adulthood. The state of the personal care and cosmetics industry (did you see the article about finding the fake makeup full of human feces?), the impact my choices can have on the environment (enough single use plastic already), how little sleep a human can actually survive on- those examples only scratch the surface. I participate in Trish Blackwell’s College of Confidence for the camaraderie and fun book club. I went through a phase of not bothering to actually read real books. No more. The more you learn, the better person you become.

Teaching and learning go hand in hand. The more you teach, the more you learn. Everyone benefits when we share the things we’re passionate about or lessons we’ve learned that helped us in the past. It’s why I write this blog. It’s why I’ve partnered with a company that advocates on your behalf for better more health protective laws. It’s why even on days I can’t wait to get out of the house and to the bookstore for my weekly me time, I’m equally excited to come home at the end of the day and learn all about whatever she learned.

What’s the last thing you taught someone something? When will be the next?