I have been asked why I chose the name lifeofTHEmom. The title 
“THEmom” began many years ago when my boys would introduce me to their friends. I would often hear “this is THE mom” and I was so honored by the title. Kids have always been an incredibly important part of my world. From babysitting to teaching to directing to becoming a mom, kids have given my life meaning. I look at all of my students, past and present, as being partially mine and I care for each and every one of them.
My own boys are my world and I had to make conscious decisions about how I was going to raise them and what their home life was going to look like. From the time they were small and invited their friends over I always treated their friends as family. That meant while they were at our house they needed to follow our family rules. Over the years those rules evolved but have always included things such as putting away their toys, putting their dishes in the sink, no cursing, drinking, drugs, and most importantly they had to treat everyone with respect. The boundaries and expectations were set and very clear, I was kind but firm and something surprising happened. The “kids” kept coming back. As a matter of fact, as the years went on, sometimes I wondered if they were ever going to leave!!
Some mix of “kids” (and those kids changed over the years yet some have remained the same) have celebrated birthdays, come for holiday dinners, joined us on vacation, helped us move, cooked dinner, dyed each other’s hair, prepared for prom, been there for us when we experienced a death, stayed over when they had a problem at home, helped to build a wall and so much more. When one of my boys’ car broke down I knew it was just a matter of time before the “kids” would be over with tools, grease and lots of opinions and it was just a couple of years ago a tree came down on our house in a huge storm and before I knew it the “kids” were back and up on our roof in that storm cutting back branches to relieve the weight of the tree and save our roof.
Our house has never been the house with the coolest toys, big screen tv or fancy food, actually, there was a 5 year period where we didn’t even have heat and everyone bundled up before they came in the house. But our house has always been filled with love and clear boundaries and I think that that has been the key. The kids see me as “THE mom”, not replacing their own, just one more in most likely a long line of people who care enough to expect more of them.