In case you missed last week’s Meet the Mommy post, you can read it here.

I met this week’s featured mommy blogger last year at a Prima Toys event, and we’ve been following each other online since. I’m so happy to be introducing Lisa from Forts & Fairies to you today.

1. Please tell us a little – or a lot (we like details) – about yourself? 

I’ve been married to my husband Wayne for 6 years now; we actually met in high school so we’ve been friends for many years now! The things I love most about my hubby are that he can make me smile, we share the same interests, and he takes care of our family so well. We have two children, Amy who is 4 and Ethan who is 1. Amy loves singing, animals, reading, dancing, and anything crafty. She does not like peas, or the fact that I try to hide peas on her plate as often as I can. Ethan loves cars, reading, music, riding on his bike and above all else he loves to hug! He does not like it when I tell him no more books now, it’s bedtime!

As a family we enjoy spending time outdoors, walks in gardens, trips to the beach, and we love going on holiday to the Berg. Most weekends you will find us having a braai together and enjoying a special bowl of ice-cream with sprinkles on. We have two beautiful Labradors Becca and Roxy, who we all adore and love to snuggle.

I’m not new to the world of blogging; before Forts and Fairies, I was the owner and Editor of El33tonline, a videogame website. When I fell pregnant with Amy I started to write down all of my feelings, which I felt I just couldn’t keep bottled up inside, and I’ve been writing about my experiences on this journey of motherhood ever since. I love to read, hang out with my friends, and I also try to organise as many girls’ nights out as I can!

2. What’s the one thing you find most challenging about being a stay at home mom? 

Looking after my four year old and my one year old, I find it hard to entertain both of them together when they are at different skill levels. Painting and doing Play-Doh with Amy is very different to doing it with Ethan! Teaching them both to be patient with one another is key to this, and I try to help them manage their big emotions the best way I can.

3. We all know there are challenging moments – moments which call for chocolate, or wine (or both), to soothe those mommy nerves… Forgetting all that though, what is your absolute favourite thing about being a mom? 

I love watching them learn new things every day and grow into their own little people. They develop so much each day and it’s a privilege to be able to share in these moments with them. Being able to snuggle up with them at the end of the day and they give me a tight squeeze around the neck, with Amy whispering ‘love you’ and Ethan just saying ‘Mama’ is my absolute best. It really makes me realise how blessed I am to be a mom.

4. From the experience you’ve gained since becoming a parent, what is a pretty cool piece of advice you would give to other moms? 

Children can be challenging, and I’ve been faced with many situations when I’ve wondered what the big deal is about a different colour cup, or the way the sandwiches are cut (the struggle is real!). It’s been hard some days to swallow this impatience and realise that to these little people these problems are very real and very big. I’ve tried to learn to be patient to things that seem insignificant to me, but obviously mean a whole lot more to my children. This saying still rings true to me today: “listen earnestly to anything your children tell you, no matter what, because if you don’t listen to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them it’s always been big stuff.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Forts & Fairies Parenting Blog (@lisatrollip)

5. Share with us one of the funniest moments you’ve had since becoming a mom.

Once your child hits the toddler years and starts to talk more there are so many wonderful moments that you will find yourself giggling at. We used to go searching for “caterpillows” (caterpillars) in the garden with Amy and were always on the lookout for “waterhogs” (warthogs) and “raff” (giraffe) at the game reserve. It’s hard to choose just one moment, but the day she told me a joke last month (why did Father Christmas cross the road? Because he was tied to a chicken) really made me laugh out loud! I look forward to teaching her more knock, knock jokes and hearing more jokes from her in the coming months.

6. Please tell us where we can find you online.

You can pop over to www.fortsandfairies.com to read my blog. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and would love it if you stopped by to say hi sometime!

Thank you Lisa for giving us a glimpse into your life as a mom. ?

How this little series was born… A while back I was thinking about how all the moms I know are different in many ways – be it their parenting style, or whether they go to work, stay at home, or work from home. Some have one little person, while others have three or four. Some of our babies began their journey inside us learning the sound of our heartbeat, whilst some began in another only to meet us later and hold our hearts forever. Whatever the differences in how we became moms, how we parent… Being a mom, plus ALL that comes with it, is what we all have in common.

And that’s how I came up with the Meet the Mommy series – an interview with regular moms like you and I, where we get to “meet” mommies who are different in many ways, yet have so much in common too.

———————————————