coiped verbatim from: http://www.ausculto.com/about/


I’m Laura. I am a 27 year old stay at home mom of 3 kids. This is a picture of me and my oldest, Parker. Parker is 5, Alayna is 4 and Evelyn is 2. My husband Brady and I have been married for 7 years and he is the light in my life. I adore my family.
This site is a result of a partial mental breakdown. OK, not really a mental breakdown. But I found myself not wanting to be an “active” Mom anymore. I no longer wanted to do activities with my children, play pretend with them, or read them books. I wanted to let them watch TV all afternoon, play as many video or computer games as they wanted, just anything that would allow me to be alone or do what I wanted to do.
This was a dilemma for me. Brady and I had planned our whole lives around the fact I would be a stay at home mom. Not just a body at home, but someone who would interact and help teach, love and support. I was not that person. I was grumpy, short and cross with them when they asked me to do anything. It wasn’t pretty. I was not me.
I’m a quiet person by nature and I keep most of my thoughts and fears to myself. I doubt anyone around me could know how I was feeling.
There was a battle inside that I tried to fight. The more I tried to get myself out of my slump I only fell further into it. I was disappointed in myself for even feeling this way. These children of mine were being shunned by the same woman who wanted them.
Finally one night, I opened up to my husband. I told him “I don’t want to be a mom anymore.” And you know what his response was? “It looks like its time for a vacation!”

How wonderful and freeing his response was! I could further open up as to what I was feeling and he listened! He didn’t nag me about how we had a deal that I’d stay at home with the kids, and how putting them in front of the TV wasn’t part of that plan. There was no guilt for feeling that way (I felt enough guilt myself anyway), just love and an ear. He simply listened, and I felt better.
Suddenly my mega problem was not so huge. I felt I could deal with it, and I knew I had someone in my corner who would go to bat for me. I felt better than I had for a while. Not only did I feel better, I knew I could come back and be a better mother.
Then I started thinking, what if we took Brady’s approach, to me and my motherly crisis, to the world around us?
What if we listened a little more to the world and did a little less talking, judging, and criticizing to those who are closest? How would our relationships change? How could our trust in each other grow?
Sure, listening is something we do every day. But how well do we do it and what information are we still missing?
My blog is about listening and how actually stopping and taking a moment to hear what others around me are saying, will change my life, and the life of those around me by simply knowing that I care.
Hopefully you will take the challenge to stop and listen.