Mom of the Moment: Jennifer Smith

Mom of the Moment

- Jennifer Smith - Registered Nurse, Co-owner of Bristols Hearing Solutions

Age: 47

Children: Ashley 26, Joshua 24, Katelyn 21, Benjamin 18, Amanda 15, and Nathan 13

What is the hardest part about being a mother? Realizing that being a mom isn’t a "one size fits all" kind of job. Each child is a unique individual who needs and desires different things from you.

What is the best part about being a mother? The love! When they're little, it’s kisses and snuggles at bedtime. When they’re older, it’s a text, a post on social media, or a quick hug as they’re out the door, but the reward is still the love.

Tell us your favorite story about one of your kids. When my daughter, Amanda, was 5 years old, she worried that dinosaurs were still around. Her brother, Benjamin, at 8 years old, said, “Don’t worry. If they were alive now, they would’ve eaten us by now!”

What is your favorite time-saver? Choosing complete outfits for the kids (even the shoes) and setting them out the night before school, church, etc. No more running around in the morning or trying to make sure you have what you need.

What is your philosophy on discipline? The Bible tells us that if we spare the rod, we spoil the child. Eric and I have always believed that we should discipline our kids because we love them and it’s better to receive loving correction than consequences from an unloving world.

What is your favorite parenting must-have? An age-appropriate chore chart. It instills responsibility

and training from a young age. A chart that appropriatelydistributes house chores alleviates sibling fights as well.

If you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently? I wouldn’t be so hard on my oldest kids. As a new parent, I saw everything as black and white, “my way or the highway.” I’m much more laid back with the younger kids because I’ve learned what’s important and what’s not.

What advice do you have for new parents? Don’t sweat the small stuff. It's okay to sleep when the baby sleeps, to have a dirty house and to eat take out and ramen noodles. Just love them and love each other; everything else will work out in the end.

Name a time when you felt like a parenting genius. When we were potty-training our first child. The minute we started potty-training her, she took to it right away; we even achieved bowel control in one stringent day. It wasn’t until subsequent kids that we realized how it was really all her.

I could have won the worst mother award when: I had to fess up to the kids that there was no tooth fairy because I kept forgetting to put money under their pillows. At first, I made excuses for the tooth fairy, like she was too busy, etc, but I forgot so often that I finally had to come clean.