Spotlight on a Mean Mom –Mary Hampton

 

Welcome to our weekly “Spotlight on a Mean Mom”!

Has your child ever said you were mean? If this is your first time here you need to know something–what a child defines as mean… a mom defines a little differently. Moms instill loving boundaries and need a tough outer shell to stay the course. 

The Mean Mom’s Guide to Raising Kids will be available March 2015.

I had some help from some very special ladies while working on this book over the summer. LOTS of mean moms and marshmallow moms raised their hand to be a part of The Mean Mom Team, a focus group I pulled together on Facebook. (If you’d like to join or want to be interviewed yourself just click on “The Mean Mom Team“. We’d LOVE to have you!)

Would you please say howdy to our Mean Mama — Mary Hampton!

Make sure to read to the end. Mary has something special to announce.

 

Mary, so great to have you. Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Let’s see, our family is originally from California. We moved to Bozeman, MT 2 years ago. I’ve been married to Dean for 20 years; we have two boys, Kyle, 11 and Bryce, 9. I’m known around the web as RefreshMom

             I’m a marshmallow mom with a tough shell (like a MalloMar!). Because I was “older” when the boys were born, I think I tend toward marshmallow-ness. Our boys are (mostly) good-natured, so they haven’t needed a lot of “mean.” As my oldest is starting middle-school though, I can see where it’s time to put on my Mean Mom panties and toughen up for his sake. (Homework battles, anyone?)

             My toughest mean mom decisions began when my oldest hit middle school. Withholding privileges, missing outings and having to check and work with him on homework has been a challenge for me.

I tried letting my middle-schooler be responsible for his own workload, but after the first couple weeks I found that his “I don’t have any homework” answers weren’t truthful and he had gone 2 weeks without turning in anything! For the next two weeks he lost computer use (except for schoolwork) and spent every day making up the missing work as well as keeping up with the current work. It took two weekends of being mostly housebound to get caught up. It was as hard on me as it was on him!

            As a marshmallow mom, I have to keep in mind that “mean mom” decisions are for my kids long-term good, while the marshmallow mom makes decisions that are convenient in the moment.

Mary- I know you have something really neat to share with our readers. I’m not sure they know you’re a published author and creator of something I know they’ll want to get for their families. 

          Yes, I do. It has to do with my legacy as a mom.  The legacy I want to leave my boys is that they know I not only love them, but I like them. I want to show them the importance of letting God be part of every moment. It was the latter that led me to create our Advent NativiTree tradition when they were under 6. During the Christmas season I wanted them to focus on the coming of Jesus, not the presents under the tree. So I broke the Christmas story into 24 small bits and found or made an ornament to represent each. I put the ornaments into a special Advent calendar. Each day they take an ornament out, hang it on a mini tree and read the corresponding portion of the Christmas story. 7 years later it’s become our most treasured tradition. I’m excited to be able to share the tradition with other families now.

SPECIAL OFFER: For the rest of this week Mean Moms can order from Mary’s Etsy shop for $5 off the regular price by entering “Mean Mom” into the code.

Don’t forget to share this offer with your friends and family! And, if you’d like to get to know Mary even better…you can connect with her below. 

Etsy– http://goo.gl/njKvBu

Pinterest   http://goo.gl/9ryJRd

Advent NativiTree Facebook page   http://goo.gl/FLqyVY

RefreshMoments  http://goo.gl/cOQvQc