Mothering Artist Paula
Mothering Arts seeks to uplift and inspire parents to celebrate their unique art of mothering. When we can share and witness one of a kind gifts true community and connection blossoms. Through our daily lives, we express a shared experience, the dynamic experience of mothering. Each mother is an artist and life itself is her canvas. If you are interested in sharing your unique art of mothering, please send us a note through our contact page.
Paula Garay
How do you practice your art of mothering?
I practice mothering by the seat of my pants and with all of my heart!
I would love to say that I have some trick or go-to method and I know there are A LOT of helpful resources out there and I'm fortunate to have an amazing mama community. I’ve read a bunch of books, I listen to parenting podcasts almost daily, peruse blogs and Facebook parenting group advice, but I never seem to be fully prepared, and so ultimately I wing it! Most of the hard times (which aren’t seldom) I take a deep breath, cringe a little, and think I could of done better... but then there are so many small victories, little joys, my daughter’s request for kale not candy, her unprompted packing up of a box of her own things to give to a friend, the sweetest most nurturing full body hug from my one year old, or simply, all and each and every one of the smiles.
What are the simple things in life that fill your heart?
There are so many simple things in life that fill my heart! I love to stare at early morning dew on the blades of grass. I enjoy a warm kitty snuggle, a warm cup of something yummy, picking ripe delicious fruit off the tree, saying scrumptious! But I forget. It is so easy to forget! Thank you for the reminder!
What is one quality your child loves about you?
This is a hard one! I honestly don’t know. The first thing that came to mind was “milky time,” our term for nursing. I have two girls, one is 16 months, the other 3 years old. The younger one, Leila is too young to verbalize her whys, so I only asked Eva. “What do you like about me?” Her response, “Daddy.” I asked on two different occasions and got the same response. Hmmm... I suppose I did choose a good father for them, so maybe I can say she appreciates my taste. 😉
The first year of being a mother was exciting and challenging and lonely... It was such an amazing comfort to have a weekly space to share with other mothers. There is so much I gained from Mothering Arts. It was more than the support I needed my first year as a brand new mother.-- It brought me into a warm sisterhood of mothers, games to play with my baby, easy tips for health and nutrition, ways to instill rhythm into my daily life. I knew that I would want to experience the Mothering Arts circle with all my children, but I think the most important thing I gained was the ability to be vulnerable and gentle with myself on this journey as a mother, knowing there are many ways to practice this art and that there is space to find my own way.
Paula is a mother to two healthy amazing daughters (1 and 3 years old) and wife to her fabulous hardworking husband. They have a small farmstead with a few goats, chickens, ducks, bees, a large vegetable garden and a some young fruit trees. She loves learning and teaching, She teaches biology part time at the community college.
"Before having my babies, I thought raising children was about teaching, but now I would say it's so much more about learning. My girls are my gurus. I love the fresh perspective of life through their eyes."
