in {her} shoes...laura

today's guest poster is Laura and i'm so happy to have her here.  aside from being an amazing blogger, she's also a mother and a professional that helps children.  she is an inspiration.  i hope that you enjoy learning more about her.  i encourage you to visit her blog afterwards, she has some amazing posts!

Hi!  I'm Laura Hutchison from PlayDrMom.  I LOVE this series and I'm so excited to be a part of it.

I am a mother of two amazing kids.  Henry is 6 … he's crazy smart, competitive, and quite the negotiator.  Honor is 3 … she's super loving, creative, and can be quite headstrong.  I'm married to amazing hard-working, extremely intelligent, very loving man, who has also become a fantastic father. I'm also super lucky to live close to my parents and only sister.  They are a huge part of our life.  My wonderful parents are my child-care providers … and tremendously good ones at that!

I am also a fully licensed psychologist that specializing in working with children. I have obtained a Doctorate in Psychology (PsyD) and additional training in Play Therapy. I have a small private practice … which is wonderful because I'm my own boss and can set my schedule to work around my full-time job of being a mom.

I'm the type of momthat focuses more on increasing communication and understanding than enforcing rules and discipline. I'm horrible at maintaining a firm schedule … because we're more focused on creating and exploring together. At our house playing together, laughter, tickles, and having fun is more important than cleaning up or finishing up ALL the home improvement projects that need to be completed.

My biggest challenge as a parent is finding balance.  It's my nature to go full throttle in every direction … giving a 110% in everything I do.  After having kids, I've found I needed slow down a bit and pace myself more.  I try to make sure I take better care of myself, so that I CAN give 110%+ to my kids. Finding balance is also important so that I don't wear the kids out too fast as well … tired, cranky kids are no fun at all!

The thing I find most rewarding as a parent is seeing my children's individual preferences and personalities unfold.  I LOVE and value their uniqueness … and find comfort in helping them find their own place in the world.

I think that the most important value I can teach my children is to care for others.  I can't think of anything more important than sharing this simple and HUGE concept.  If a person's heart can open up to another, there's nothing they can't accomplish.

I asked each of my kids to use 3 words to describe me … Henry said, “Loving, fun, perfect” (talk about BIG shoes fill, huh?)  and Honor said, “Plays with bubbles”  (this amazing me that she didn't use 3 adjectives, but made up a sentence with 3 words!  And, yes, I do play quite often with bubbles!)