What is a Suburban Chic Mom?
Whew, Chile! When I performed a google search for the definition of the word “suburban” I was shocked and appalled, to say the least. Per Google, part b of the definition is contemptibly dull and ordinary. I don’t agree, but I digress. Chic [pronounced SHēk] means elegantly and stylishly fashionable. And mom, of course, is being one’s mother.
It was important for me to identify the idea behind my blog and to further explain what it means to be a suburban chic mom! Ultimately, I feel like my life can be broken down into two distinct phases: BC (Before Children) and AC (After Children).
Before I was a married mother of two, I had a very active social life. I spent my evenings and weekends going to clubs, concerts, sporting events and of course, happy hour and brunch. My twenties were spent traveling the world, living it up with my girlfriends and establishing some very solid friendships. I was constantly on the move and kept my ear to the streets. Hence, my Instagram handle was previously @urbanchic_27.
While dating my husband, my social life still didn’t miss a beat! We made it a point to try all of the new restaurants in town and spent many nights at some of our favorite hole in the wall clubs. We were adventurous and left no rock unturned. So fast forward a little bit… Alright, so boom… we got married, built a house and had a baby all before our first wedding anniversary. It took me quite some time to adjust to my new roles as wife and mom. Ok, so boom boom, I was just starting to feel like myself, again, when I got pregnant a quick two years later. I am blessed that I was able to have two healthy children so easily, but adding an additional child changed the entire dynamic of our family. Transitioning from a single socialite to a suburban mom was less of a transition and more of a complete overhaul. I dove straight in leaving so much of my former self behind.
I’ll admit that I have become guilty of falling into the suburban mom traps. You know the one where your concern about self-care and your appearance begins to fade because you’ve shifted all of your time and attention to everyone else in your family, including the dog. Then there is the trap where you spend much of your time in yoga pants not because you’re actually working out, but just because it’s easy. Oh and let’s not forget the messy bun trap that your hair stays in because who has time to do their own after tackling everyone else’s. Lastly, the trap where you’re so focused on giving your best to this mommin’ thing that you no longer make time for spending time with your husband, girlfriends or other things that you enjoyed BC (Before Children). The list could potentially go on, but I’ll stop here. I find myself going back and forth into these traps because caring for everyone else is just what we are naturally drawn to do. It takes a great deal of effort to focus enough ourselves and what brings pleasure to us, on a somewhat consistent basis.
However, moving forward, I want to encourage all of us to become what I originally envisioned a Suburban Chic Mom to be. She is a mom that happens to live in the suburbs in an effort to provide her children with a stable, secure childhood. More importantly, she is a woman that demonstrates self-love and self-care to herself because she knows the impact that it has on her mental health as well as the overall state of her family. She is a woman who has positive interactions with other women where they’re supportive and encouraging to one another.
In 2019, I want to call and challenge all Suburban Chic Moms to display some form of self-care and self-love to yourselves. Whether it is giving yourself some leniency, starting a new fitness program, getting your nails or hair done, shopping for you or simply reading a book… do something that brings you joy, takes away a little of the stress and gives you a sense of being the “IT” girl that you were BC (Before Children). She is still there, honey, waiting to SLAAYYYYYY! I don’t care what google says. We are far from dull and ordinary. We breathe life into everyone and everything around us. We just have to remember not to completely lose our own breath, in the process. Can’t wait to hear about all of the things you decide to do for yourselves. There is life, for you, AC (After Children) even more abundantly than before.