I want to be the kind of mom who . . .

I want to be the kind of mom who creates magical moments kids will remember for a lifetime.  I keep thinking about the book When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt.  Every summer, the main character's best friend Cal's family holds a Ladybug Waltz.  They have a small farm and the order ladybugs as a form of natural pest control.  The whole family gathers in the field when the ladybugs arrive and they bring out an old record player and play classical music and dance in the fields as they let the ladybugs loose.  Ever since I read that I've wanted to have a ladybug waltz and it's not even very expensive to order live ladybugs!

I want to be the kind of mom who makes eating fun.  I love this idea from Family Fun to make mini carmel apples.  They bought normal apples and used a melon baller to make small apples and coated them with melted peanut butter or carmel chips.  Photo and more directions found here.  I've also been reading some books by Annabel Karmel for more ideas to get Creed to enjoys his meals and I highly recommend her books.

And speaking of making eating fun, this dad decorates bag for home lunch everyday, and I'm in love with them.  Wouldn't that be a fun thing to do for your kids or spouse?  He mostly paints robots and he calls them lunchbots.  Creed would go crazy for one of these.
I want to be the kind of mom who teaches kids about art in a non-judgmental sort of way and lets them decided what is or is not art and which art they like.  My this is on my mind because I reread Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller the other day (which is fantastic and I think everyone should read it if they are looking for a fun, crazy adventure that will make them see the world in a different way), which got me thinking about the real graffiti artist Banksy.  Just in case you haven't herd of Banksy, you can read about him here or see his website here.  He's an English graffiti artist that causes all sorts of controversy.  His art is worth a fortune, but since most of it is illegal it often gets painted over.  His real identity is unknown but his work can be seen all over the world.  When I first heard about him, he was known for his paintings of rats like this one.

and this one.

And I really love this scene by him

He has snuck in and hung his own work in the Louvre, The Tate Britain, the Met, Moma and the American Museum of natural history and in some spots it is said the have hung for days before it was noticed (although his painting of the Mona Lisa with a huge yellow smiley face hanging in the Lovre was noticed and removed almost immediately).  I wouldn't say that I agree with everything that he does, but he fascinates me.

I want to be the kind of mom who plays with my kids instead of always watching them play, even if I make a fool of myself.  I love this mother daughter dance, although I have no idea what movie it's from!

I want to be the kind of mom who creates the room of my child's dreams that adults would also love to spend time in.  Which reminds me that I want to move into this nursery that I spotted on Ohdeedoh. I think yellow and aqua is my current favorite color combination.

And I dream of having a room like this one spotted on Ohdeedoh someday.
I want to be the kind of mom who creates a home with quirky character.  Someday we will be settled somewhere and I will not have to worry about a landlord or the immediate resale value of my home and I can do whatever I want with it.  I would have loved having this cool hole in the wall when I was little.

I want to be the kind of mom who helps her kids be organized.  I love this idea from blogger Stephmodo to use a sweater organizer hanging in the closet to set out outfits for the week, then the kids get to pick which outfits they want to wear each day so mom will be happy, but they still feel like they are choosing what they wear.