In their eyes, we are brilliant.

All day long, I have two little “mini me’s” following me around the house. Madilyn pushes her little toy Dyson vacuum cleaner as I push mine around. She has a little ironing board and iron where she “irons” her Cinderella dress and even her pajamas. She has a changing table for her favorite baby, Danielle. She pretends to nurse Danielle when I nurse Juliana. She talks to Danielle as she nurses the same way I talk to Juliana. We sing our babies the same songs as we rock in our chairs and nurse our babies to bed.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We need to be flattered, mamas. In their eyes, we are brilliant. 
Our kids look up to us. Mine are still little. They are 4 and 1. I am sure things may change when they are teenagers. I hope and pray they still think I am pretty cool when they are grown up.
Enjoy this time. Enjoy being admired. Enjoy being looked up to. Sure, it may be intense at times. Sure, you may cry and want to run away. However, remember that they want to be just like you when they grow up.
They think you are brilliant. No, they know you are brilliant.
That’s right. We are brilliant. It’s time to realize this. It’s time for us mamas to own how amazing we really are. Here’s why I think so:
1. I mean, we wear high heels for goodness sake. We wear high heels carrying our babies in 30 pound car seats. We wear high heels chasing our toddlers around.
2. We take care of real babies. We are raising humans. This is freakin huge. Take a minute to think about that.
3. We put on fancy lipstick. My Madilyn is obsessed with it. She loves when I “put on my lips.” She says I look fancy. It’s amazing how much better putting “on my lips” each day makes me feel.
4. We cry. A lot. We cry when we see sad stories on the news. We cry when we watch Ellen give things away on her show. We cry when our babies first learn to walk. We cry just thinking about our kids growing up and going to school. We cry when they write their name for the first time. We show our emotions and our kids love to see it.
5. We go on dates with daddy. Madilyn says she wants to marry daddy. She says he is a prince. She plays wedding all the time and her “husband” does exactly what my husband does. Wow.
6. We make time for ourselves. We find time to exercise. We drop the kiddos off at the gym daycare and take an hour to decompress. We need this and we sure as heck deserve it.
7. We cook yummy food for ourselves and for them. Make the pancakes I show below. Your kids will really think you are brilliant.
We do it all.
In their eyes, we are brilliant. Mamas, you ARE brilliant. Realize it.

Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Pancakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup quinoa (buy here)
1 cup buckwheat groats (buy here) 
1/2 cup oats
1 cup full-fat yogurt
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon coconut oil
3 eggs
3 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons flaxseed
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 apples, cored and chopped
shake or two of cinnamin
1/8 cup of water or so
Directions:
The night before, mix together the quinoa, buckwheat, oats and yogurt. Cover and let sit on the counter overnight. The next morning, put this mixture in a blender. Add eggs, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, flaxseed and baking soda. Blend until smooth. Heat the oil in frying pan. Use 1/4 cup of the batter at a time to make the pancakes.
In a small saucepan, mix together the apples, cinnamon, vanilla and water. Cook down until apples are soft. Pour over pancakes and serve. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Nourishing Meals by Alissa Seqersten and Tom Malterre. Click on the picture of the cookbook and check it out on Amazon. It’s a great cookbook.
Health tip: Grains contain phytic acid. Not only are they hard to digest this way, they prevent the absorption of important vitamins and minerals. Therefore, soaking grains overnight is the solution. Soaking helps release the phytic acid. Adding yogurt helps break down the acid as well. Use warm water.