Meet the Team: Greg

Well, I'm definitely not a mom.

But I know I didn't hesitate to say yes to adding my paternal perspective. Dads don't have it easy. My kids often drive me bat sh!t crazy.

But at the end of the day, they are my kids, and I love them dearly. I watch them sleep in their beds and there really isn't any other feeling that can replace the knowledge that they are mine. I made them. 

Ok I helped. 

Plus, we lost the receipt and it's too late to return them...

First name: Greg. Daddy. Eggs.
Kids: Pickle (4) and Burrito (almost 2).
Five random things you like: Sunday morning newspaper and coffee. DIY renovations. Acoustic guitar. The 30 quiet minutes after the kids go to bed. Barbeque.
City: Cincinnati
Jobs: Kid herder by morning. Nerdy mechanical engineer by day. Exhausted by night.
Vices: A good IPA. Peanut butter m&ms. Power tools.
Your Superhero power, if you could have one: The ability to always say the right thing at the right time.

Look for Greg's posts the third week of every month!

Meet the Team: Elizabeth

Two years ago my greatest wish was to stay at home with my kids.

Now I am living the dream...most days.

I believe there is no one right way to be a mom, and we need to appreciate the differences instead of judging them.

There's a fine line between mothering with a smirk and mothering with a sense of humor. Struggling to do things the "right" way means missing the fantastic, heartbreaking, hysterical and surreal things that make being a mom the best and craziest job.

First name: Elizabeth. Mom. Whatever relative's name my own mother remembers at the moment.
Kids: Monkey (3) and Sassafras (1).
Five random things you like: The uproarious chuckles of my kids. A full DVR. The crinkle of a library book cover. Coffee coffee coffee Starbucks coffee. Office supplies (I may stay at home, but I love a label maker).
City: Cincinnati
Jobs: Mom. Cruise director. Chief Organizing Officer.
Vices: Television without any redeeming qualities. Target. Anything with whipped cream.
Your Superhero power, if you could have one: A rewind button. Want to take back that nasty comment? Unsend that email? Catch that kid before they land face-first? I could rewind you back to that spot in time.

Look for Elizabeth's posts the third week of every month!

Meet the Team: Amber

Soon after our first daughter arrived prematurely via a terrifying delivery, I quickly realized that my perfectionist nature and motherhood could not coexist. And that's okay!

I don't have all the answers, but having the ability to positively connect with other parents has been so meaningful and helpful.

We aren't superheroes, but we try. Every day.

First name: Amber. Mommy. Madame.
Kids: Madelyn (5 1/2), Olivia (2 1/2). Murphy & Milo.
Five random things you like: Coffee. Soccer. Reading crime novels. Red wine. Cleaning and organizing.
City: Dayton
Jobs: French teacher. Mom. Wife. Builder of enthusiasm (just ask my first period class!). Referee to daughter drama and squabbles. Hug giver.
Vices: Cheese. Lip gloss. Flats.
Your Superhero power, if you could have one: The ability to always be on time for any and everything.

Look for Amber's posts the second week of every month!

Meet the Team: Julia

It takes a village.

And maybe today's village is a little different from the village of our mothers, grandmothers, and beyond. We have to work together and find our own village in a new way.

This project is my village. Let's navigate the roller coaster of parenting together. I promise to not brag about my Pinterest wins (because I don't have any) or gloat about my perfect children (because I don't have those either), but I'll do my best to make you laugh and raise your spirits. 

That's an honest mom's job. 

First name: Julia. Mama. Babe.

Kids: L (4) and A (almost 2).
Five random things you like: Coffee with cream and sugar. Yoga pants. Rainy days. Young adult novels. 90s movies.
City: Columbus.
Jobs: Pediatric ER Doctor. Mother. Wife. Launderess.
Vices: Baked goods. Red wine.
Your Superhero power, if you could have one: Create a place where people treat others as they themselves would like to be treated. And to conjure red wine out of thin air.

Look for Julia's posts the second week of each month! 

Meet the Team: Melissa

Humor keeps me sane. If I weren't able to make fun of myself or make light of how crazy my kids are acting, I would not be able to fully enjoy parenting. I might be a little Type A, but I strive to find a light-hearted work/life balance with two young kids.

First name: Melissa. Mel. Mom. Sissa.
Kids: Mac (3), Graham (1). And Roxy.
Five random things you like: Iced Tea. The Today Show. St. Patrick's Day. Las Vegas. Glittery nail polish (I'd make it rain glitter if I could; too bad I only have boys!).
City: Dublin
Jobs: Legal Marketer. Mac & G's mom. Writer & Grammar Aficionado (but I still make plenty of mistakes).
Vices: Target. Designer jeans. Malbec.
Your Superhero power, if you could have one: Obliterate childhood hunger.

Look for Melissa's posts the first week of every month!

Meet the Team: Laura

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. 

In photographs, I strive to capture moments, instances, and memories... big, small, candid, monumental, forgettable, simple, and most importantly, honest. 

First name: Laura
Kids: Colin Patrick (3) and Jack Rowan (almost 2, although if you ask, he'll say 3)
Five random things you like: Spell check. Diet Coke. Being on time. Flats. Reading books that don't require animal noises.
City: Avon Lake (just west of Cleveland)
Jobs: Financial planner for a software company. Family photographer. Shadow-puppet expert. Chauffeur. Self-declared Elf on the Shelf over-achiever.
Vices: Frozen peanut butter cups. Amazon Prime. Brunch.
Your Superhero power, if you could have one: The ability to freeze--or speed up--time.

Look for Laura's posts the first week of every month! 

Meet the Team: Kristin

We feel better as parents when we know we aren't alone; we are all awesome, but sometimes we need a connection to a larger group of people to remind us that we are. 

First name: Kristin. Mom. Madame Kauffman. Keek.

Kids: Will (4), Reid (almost 2). Fisher & Lulu. Kitty.

Five random things you like: Coffee with cream and sugar. Yoga. Morning kid snuggles. Leggings. Changing a room's paint color. 

City: Cincinnati

Jobs: French teacher. Mom. Self-esteem builder. Nose wiper. Hug giver. Killer mac-n-cheese chef.

Vices: Cheese pizza. Birthday cake frosting. Fantastic heels.

Your Superhero Power, if you could have one: The ability to show every person they are loved and needed. And awesome.

Look for Kristin's posts every Monday morning.

Welcome, friends.

Welcome.

Not just any kind of welcome, but one that invites you to have this glass of wine, or cup of (really strong) coffee, or maybe just a mug of tea or cocoa.

The kind of welcome that encourages you to sit and converse, or simply listen (although if you're having the wine, and you're like me, you're gonna get chatty).

The kind of welcome that lets you know it's okay to be YOU, in whatever shape you're in on this particular day; that what you are experiencing is being experienced by hundreds of other parents across the globe.

We are here to be honest, because we had a need for someone to give us a little bit of honesty.

Parenting is hard. We are all on very different journeys to the same destination.

It's nice to find some common ground.

Here, let me get you another cup...glass...bottle. Whatever.

Welcome.

To get to know us (and us, you), we'll be posting our first in a series of four contests on December 2nd. In the meantime, follow us on Instagram (thehonestmomproject), Pinterest (thehonestmomproject) and Facebook (The Honest Mom Project).

Ready to jump right into a contest now? Simply email us (honestmomproject@gmail.com) and introduce yourself. What do YOU need to hear from us. We'll be pulling winners from our emails received, too.

What?! A chance to win cool stuff five times?! It's like Christmas or something!

Indeed.

Our first fantastic--and honest, and real, and truthful, and everything celebrated and commiserated in parenting--post will be on January 1, 2014.