by Cherylyn Feierabend

It was just over four years ago that I was sitting in a coffee shop with Mignon, you know her as Grammar Girl, talking about the possibility of joining her growing network of podcasters. I had joked around with her saying the only thing I knew anything about was parenting. She asked me to send her a couple of scripts and I was kind of surprised at myself when I did. Now, here we are four years after my first episode and you are all still listening.

Thank you for your support, emails, comments, and appreciation. It’s been an amazing learning and growing experience.  I’ve been working full-time now for over a year and this has left less time for me to spend with my own children, so as you’ve probably guessed by now, I am saying my final goodbye in this episode of the Mighty Mommy. I certainly won’t go, however, without sharing some of the wonderful things I’ve learned during the last few years. I’ll probably come back here often to remind myself of these things, both big and small.

• Just breathe: Breathe in and breathe out. Take a deep breath whenever you are about to explode. Drop those shoulders, count to ten and breathe before you make your next move.

• Practice, practice, practice: Practice being patient with your spouse, your children, your friends, your parents and the other mommies who think they know everything.

• Be prepared for potty training: Potty training is dirty business. It may not be fun, but you’ll definitely want to throw a party when you are done with it, and you should!

• Realize you’re a role model: Be a good role model. Your children look up to you and they often see you better than you see yourself. If you act as though they are always watching, you’ll probably be a better person.

• Have fun: Play games, laugh, cook together, exercise together snuggle and hug often and then do it all some more. Dance, laugh, play, run, and jump with your children.

• Listen to your gut: Remember that if your gut tells you that someone shouldn’t be around your child, you should listen to your gut. Always.

• Keep ‘em clean: Make sure kids brush their teeth twice a day and wash under their armpits when they bathe.

• Know your car seats: Learn how to install your car seats correctly. If you still aren’t sure, go to the local fire station and ask for assistance.

• Have a schedule: Create and stick to schedules. Children thrive best on routine, but it’s ok to toss some extra fun in here and there. We all thrive on that!

• Choose your battles: Remember that deep breath you took earlier, do it again before you decide if a battle warrants fighting or if you are just being petty. It’s ok to admit it. We are all petty at times.

• Read every day: Read to your kids and when your kids are old enough, have them read to you. Never ever stop reading.

• Work with teachers: Work with your children’s teachers, not against them. They really do want your child to succeed.

• Enjoy them: Truly enjoy the amazing gift you have in your kids. Appreciate them every day and remind them how wonderful they are every day.

• Teach them: We teach our kids a lot; two of the most important ones are teaching your kids about stranger danger and teaching them to swim.

I could go on and on, but there’s an entire archive of content on the webpage that you will be able to access anytime. Also, I won’t be far and I encourage you to keep in touch with me through Twitter or Facebook. I’m MightyMommy on both of those sites. I will continue to post funny little conversations I have with my own children and any new tips I come across that I’ve found helpful. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you again for sharing these last four years with me.

I also want to thank Audible for continually sponsoring the show and for providing entertainment on my drives to and from work. I drive almost an hour each way, so it’s great when I can listen to a book that I probably wouldn’t have time to read otherwise. I’m still looking for more books narrated by Jim Dale. I just love the way he sounds and am completely drawn to him. It’s great that Audible allows me to search by narrator so that I can find all of the books narrated by Jim Dale. I’m looking forward to listening to Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. That’s a classic to share with the kids for sure!! Remember, you can get your free trial at Audiblepodcast.com/mightymommy today!

As always, thank you for listening. You are an amazing, wonderful parent! Keep up the good work!

If you would like to email me, I can be reached at mommy@quickanddirtytips.com and I encourage you to follow me on both Twitter and Facebook.

This is your friend the Mighty Mommy wishing you happy and fun parenting!