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 Member » jenlemen » Blog » UPDATED: Featured Member: je...
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- Location, kids, etc. My name is Jen Lemen. I live in Silver Spring, Maryland--but my area is considered MetroDC. You can walk to Washington DC from my house. I have two children, Madeleine(8) and Carter(5). Right now, I'm also a primary caregiver for two little boys in my neighborhood--Osman(8) and Fatih(4). Their mom is from Turkey and works 70 hours a week at a hair salon, so I take care of her boys about 40 hours a week. You could say I'm raising two sets of twins.
- How did you find Minti? I attended a conference for women bloggers called Blogher, this past summer. There I met Tracey Clark. My sister Kris met Rachel Cook at the same event and between these two amazing women, I got the scoop about Minti.
- What's your favorite thing or feature at Minti? I really love writing articles. I'm a freelance writer and a zinemaker (sometimes) so this kind of writing keeps me fresh. I also like the community nature of Minti--especially the Q&A. It's really nice to know that if I have a question, all I have to do is put it in the Q&A and in no time, my Minti sisters will be to the rescue!
- What's your favorite thing about being a parent? I like growing along with my children. I really enjoy getting to know my kids as they develop and grow, and I especially value all the opportunities I get to learn from them. I think kids can be little sages uncovering life's very important questions and wisdom. It's also fun to be on this parenting adventure with my husband Dave. He's a really amazing parent.
- What has been your biggest parenting challenge? Noise! I am particularly sensitive to noise, so a houseful of kids in an echo-ey old house is very difficult for me. For whatever reason, it's hard for me to tune out sounds or to focus on one sound above another, so most of the time I hear all conversations/activities/commotion at equal volume. It's nerve-wracking! I also struggle with not having enough alone time. As a writer and artist, I desperately crave solitude.
- What worries you most about parenting? I think hands down my greatest concern is that I'm not giving my kids the skills they need to succeed in life. So far, I think I'm doing okay in the emotional development department, but I seriously struggle with the humdrum everyday skills--like keeping your room clean, being on time and brushing your teeth! I hope I can instill in my children enough discipline so they can follow their dreams as they get older.
- What's the best parenting advice you've ever gotten from someone? Hands down, I would say, "The baby will teach you how to be a mother." I'm not sure if this advice works for everyone, but it was the right advice for me. By learning how to deeply listen and pay attention to my kids, I've been able to learn how to meet their needs, set limits and maybe most importantly, tend to their souls.
- What were your baby's first words? I'm sure it's in a baby book in the attic somewhere all written down, so I'm not positive, but I do remember Madeleine as a very little baby (well under a year) saying "Ma-da" and pointing to herself. She was this amazing wonder-kid when it came to her verbal development. We were in awe of her.
- What is your favorite song? Hmmm....that's a hard one! I think it constantly changes depending on my mood, but right now I've been listening to "River" by Joni Mitchell on repeat. It's a good Christmas song, and both Sarah MacLachlan and Sally Dworsky have excellent covers out right now.
- What is the funniest thing you or your child or significant other has done or said?
- Using just one word sum up Minti. Aw, just one? That's a hard one--the first thing that comes to mind is "Mintilicious" but that probably doesn't count.
 How about "Engaging"?
- What is the best piece of advice you have got from Minti? I think Minti really saved me from making a big mistake a few weeks ago when I was trying to figure out how to talk to my husband about an upcoming trip that we had planned. I really wanted him to join me, and I was having a hard time navigating the space between giving him time to decide and needing a decision. My Minti sisters (in the Q&A) advised me to be more decisive myself, ask for a straightforward answer and forget about hassling my husband to get the matter solved. I was really ready to flip out at the time, so I know their involvement and caring helped me calm down and avoid a total disaster on the homefront.
- How do you deal with your Minti addiction? Oh, are we supposed to be doing something about our Minti addictions? lol. As someone who has a long standing addiction of being in front of the computer in general, I've learned the hard way that it's totally not worth it if you are the most popular, beloved girl online but your husband and kids want to kill you at home!
 I try to be available to my family during high traffic times--before/after school, bedtime, dinnertime--and save the serious posting for when I'm either alone or everyone else is otherwise occupied. Right now, Minti is a serious respite for me as I have a houseful of kids (mine and the latchkey neighborhood children), so I see my Minti time as more re-charge than a addiction that needs to be scaled back!
- How does your family deal with your Minti addiction? Right now, I'm lucky because my family knows that Minti is very important to me, so I'm not getting too much interference, thank God! I think my husband and kids are proud of the articles I write, and they are very funny about the ranking system. They think Mom should be Number One! So in a way they are cheering me on to be even more involved. But still, I know that the truth is they really need me to not have my face in front of the computer screen all the time, so I really do try to keep things in balance. It's a constant battle.
Thanks, Clay for making me a featured member! I'm honored and very happy to be part of the Minti community! |
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Comments
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16:44
346 Visits
. You must have a special solitude place, while the noise itself has being one of your inspiration). Thanks for let us know more about you as a parent.
