Cincinnati family

Grace Girls | Building & Cooking Over Fire

homeschool, Motherhood, Uncategorized

This week we had our second Grace Girls meeting of the new school year. Our last meeting was learning how to properly set a table.

We started our night out with the devotion reading and a light discussion about what we read in our Bright Lights curriculum.

The meeting was hosted again by Ms. Darla and she taught the girls a lot about Fire Safety.

We learned what to wear and not wear around a fire. You want to wear jeans and short sleeves preferably. No flowy tops, dresses, or skirts. Hair must be secured back safely away from your face or cut short so it doesn’t catch on fire.

The most important question to always ask before building a fire is if it is legal to for a fire to be built there. Certain states have different regulations & seasons when fires are permitted, while other states ban fires all together due to high risk of forest fires.

When choosing a location to build your fire you want to look for:

  • No overhanging branches
  • Nothing flammable within 10 feet
  • The amount of wind the location gets
  • Is a pit provided? If not, dig one before building a fire to keep it safely secured in one location. It is best to line your pit with rocks.

Next Ms. Darla explained that we only burn wood for fuel. However for tinder & kindling you can use small branches or twigs, pinecone, evergreen branches and needles, pet fur, dryer lint, sawdust, or paper.

The girls worked together to group the wood in piles of large & small, and tinder/kindling in a bucket. She had bags of pinecone she had already collected over time.

Ms. Darla taught the girls different ways to build a fire, and what each kind is called. I had absolutely no idea there were so many different ways to make a fire. I thought it was just one way: build it 😂. The visual designs were really neat & helpful.

The girls then got into groups to pick a type of fire to build. Each group did a really good job!

We then went back around the fire to learn a bit more fire safety before we could get started.

We learned that you NEVER leave a fire unattended, and that you NEVER build a fire without adult permission & supervision.

If you do need to leave your fire for any reason: put it out first using water, covering with dirt or sand, or by spreading it out to reduce the heat.

Next, it was time to build the fire. Sasha really enjoyed this part. She was so adorable carrying the biggest log she could hold over for fuel.

The girls did a really good job building the fire. They even decorated it with pinecone and evergreen, draping kindling along the top and sides to make it pretty. It definitely was the prettiest fire I’ve ever seen!

Ms. Darla taught the girls about different tools needed to start a fire. She taught them about using fire starters and how they are important tools to pack when camping. She also taught things we could use if we don’t have Firestarter handy. She taught about the different size lighters and what each is good for. She also taught that when handling fire, we always use leather gloves to protect our hands.

For liability reasons, Ms. Darla lit the fire for the girls. They did such a great job building it! It burned really, really well and evenly. It was so beautiful and cozy – a perfect way to welcome in the start of cold nights here in Ohio.

The girls hung out for awhile, running around playing Ghost in the Graveyard together – another fun & spooky way to welcome in the season changing to Fall. They swung in the tree-swing and caught up with friends, while Mom’s got a chance to catch up with each other too.

Once the embers were hot enough, Ms. Darla began getting the fire ready for cooking while the girls went to the table under the light to start making their campfire Pizzas.

Once they were finished assembling their campfire Pizzas, Ms. Darla put them carefully on her makeshift oven set up.

She used fire grates, with racks on top of those. She then placed a baking sheet on top of the racks, and used a disposable baking pan lid as a cover to trap heat. Once the lid was on, she placed a smaller secondary disposable lid on top and filled it with hot embers to add heat coming from under, around, and above.

Once the Pizzas were finished cooking, she carefully removed them from heat and transferred to each girls paper plate. Ella said it was the best pizza she’d ever had, and that’s a big compliment coming from someone who doesn’t typically enjoy pizza.

This was such an awesome experience for the girls! I really wish I had a group like this when I was little – it really would have set me up for homemaking success later in life and taught me really necessary skills for living as an adult. I’m grateful to have it now with my own girls though – it’s even better together than it would have been on my own as a child. I’m grateful for the strong mother & daughter relationship foundation we are building. I really appreciate these classes and feel like I learn so much with them! The girls are always very excited to go.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Our First Cultural Family Photos 📷

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The last time we had family photos taken was when Moses was brand new to this world, so we have been way past due for a more recent update.

We were asked to “model” for a local photographer who is looking to get his business growing – to shoot promotional photos for the Cincinnati Ukrainian Festival and I immediately said yes! Updated family photos AND in Ukrainian style?! Say no more.

I was not given much notice, so most of our attire was borrowed from our friend & Ukrainian Teacher, Ms. Anna. My new goal is to get matching outfits for our entire family, but TRUE Vyshyvanka from Ukraine are very expensive, so it will take me some time, but I want nothing less than authenic for our family set. I wore my necklace that I bought from an artist in Ukraine through Etsy.

I absolutely love the way these photos turned out so much, but I wish Kaden {my oldest} was in them 😥! I struggle very deeply with his absence in our home. It always hurts my heart to feel that one of my children is “missing.” I won’t let my sadness take away from the beauty of these photos though.

The Morozov {Морозов} Family🥰

Our Family | Наши сім’я

Mom and Dad | мама і тато

Dad and Daughters | батько і дочки

Mom and Son | мама і син

Our children | наши діти

Plus one extra one of me at the Cincinnati Ukrainian Festival this year:

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Grace Girls | Table Setting

homeschool, Motherhood, Uncategorized

Grace Girls is back in session for the new academic year! This makes our third year attending Grace Girls! Our first meeting was last night & the girls learned How to Set a Table.

Grace Girls is sort of like an etiquette class where homeschooled girls get together to both socialize and learn how to grow up to be Proverbs 31 Women (aka homemakers). They have so far learned knife cutting & Kitchen safety skills, how to preserve fresh vegetables from the garden, how to plan meals, how to host a fall feast, how & when to start a meal train cooking for someone in need (elderly or sick neighbor, a family who welcomed a new baby, new family moved in, a death in the family, etc.), how to make corn husk dolls, and how to hand sew, mend, & embroider clothes. My girls have mentioned to me how grateful they are to learn these skills & how useful the classes have been for them. 

Homemaking is something I had to teach myself starting from the very, very basics. I did not have a homemaking mother growing up. I am very grateful to be able to pass these skills on to my children while also still constantly learning new things myself.

Ms. Darla hosted our meeting. She taught the girls different ways to properly set a table. She worked on a tray, placing different styles, layers, & color schemes together.

She taught us that the most important parts to setting a table are consistency & making our guests feel welcome & wanted, rather than overwhelmed & intimidated.

She had different learning stations set up for the girls to take turns at so that no one space was too overcrowded.

Ella really enjoyed learning how to fold napkins at the first station. I particularly liked her napkin with the flower pocket. I would like to start setting our own table napkins that way for fancy meals & gatherings. It is so beautiful & will be an interesting way to use our flowers from our garden.

Mia loved picking flowers & putting together mini bouquets for table settings. I have never thought to do miniature personal bouquets for each guest, but I love that idea for future gatherings too. It especially sounds nice for a breakfast or brunch gathering.

At the second station, the girls each took turns setting their own place settings using fancy dishes. They enjoyed creating color schemes with the dishes, napkins, & placemats. Sasha had a lovely time arranging her favorite dishes – they were so much fancier than ours at home.

The third station was to set a Christmas themed table. I love the use of real pine needles & pinecones. That is so beautiful & festive. I’ll have to remember that for our own Christmas dinner!

Ms. Darla rented every book her library currently had on table setting, napkin folding, and hosting for the girls to look through to pick their favorite tables. She asked the girls what meals & what seasons the tables were set for. I took some photos from different books that I plan to use at my own home!

Of course we had to check our her beehives while we were there because we have plans to add our own to our home next year! Luckily, Ms. Darla also teaches homeschool families about beekeeping & honey extraction, so I’ll be able to get off to a good start!

We had a really fun time at last night’s meeting & we left feeling like we learned a lot. I love that each of my girls who attended found their own special talent to bring to homemaking & future gatherings. Ella found a way to make her love for origami useful at the table using napkins, Mia’s love for plants & nature brings creativity + beauty to the table’s decor and ambiance, & Sasha’s love for creating a beautiful space for each person she loves will be useful for setting each place at the table. Each person’s talents come together to create a magical gathering & after all, the most important part of the table is togetherness.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Our Favorite Places | Mason Cottage Day

Crafts & DIY, homeschool, Motherhood, Uncategorized

We are beginning our second year taking homeschool classes at Mason Cottage Day! It’s hard to believe it’s only been that long! I feel like Ms. Natalie is one of my dear lifelong friends who I’ve known forever.

So naturally, I wanted my first post of my new Series: Our Favorite Places, to be about her studio – Mason Cottage Day! In this series, I’ll be sharing about our very favorite places & what makes them our favorite.

Welcome to Mason Cottage Day

From the moment you arrive, her studio is so welcoming! She has a board outside her door with important information & business cards, as well as which classes she is currently offering.

We personally have taken Sewing, Embroidery, Baking, and Reading/Writing classes in our time at Mason Cottage Day. I think science would be a really fun class to take too!

One of Ms. Natalie’s former students made her this adorable giant wooden pencil & another student made her this name plaque. I love that she continues to display their artwork that they took the time to create for her even after they have moved on. It shows how much she truly cares about each and every one of her students.

Each month, Ms. Natalie changes the artwork on display. It’s so fun to see the different projects & types of art the students are learning, as well as what students have come up with on their own in the art room.

This is such a cozy reading corner for students learning to read, and I love the giant embroidery hoops on display. I had never seen them that large before!

She has a ton of books & learning games for all different ages. She has been working with Sasha on her reading, & it has been so impressive to see how fast Sasha has been making noticeable progress in her reading abilities.

One of my favorite things about Mason Cottage Day is that it is really geared toward homeschooling families. Siblings are welcome to come play for free during lessons! That’s incredibly helpful, especially for low-or-one-income large families who otherwise have to miss out due to pricing or scheduling conflicts.

There are plenty of interactive areas to play such as a kitchen/nursery/home play area, a doctor or veterinarian area, a building area, and a doll house area for children to use their imagination.

There is the cutest little hand-washing station for baking students, along with plenty of child-size aprons to choose from.

All of her baking is taught through these conventional ovens. They are the perfect child-size, beginner ovens to learn on.

Sasha has loved taking baking classes at Mason Cottage Day. She had learned how to make a good variety of different items. Her confidence in the kitchen is going up after each class & just like at our home, Ms. Natalie incorporates reading & math into her baking lessons, so those skills are also improving while she bakes. Sasha of course looks adorable in her little aprons & she’s always quick to let her siblings take turns helping her bake.

The art room gives students free-range to create to their hearts content. There is a painting table, all the coloring utensils you need, stencils, & tons of other various art supplies & tools. Anything out is able to be used, and if you see something in her art storage area that you want to use that isn’t out – just ask! She’s more than happy to accommodate little minds.

You can always count on seeing fun science projects or experiments going on from her science students – like this potato clock.

She even has a beautiful planter that is Ukrainian Petrykivka style, which makes my Ukrainian 💙💛 heart so happy to see.

Ella loves learning sewing & embroidery from Ms. Natalie. I have loved every single project that Ella has created for me. Ms. Natalie comes up with super cute, child-friendly projects. One of my favorite projects she has made for me was the peekaboo picture frame with the cutest photo of our kids at the park.

Another thing you can always expect to find at Mason Cottage Day is plants! Ms. Natalie loves plants & nature. She teaches about Monarch Butterflies in season & grows her own pollinator garden outside.

Because of our mutual love of plants & Pollination, we made her a bouquet from our own pollinator garden to bring to her as a gift. We love creating bouquets for people we love!

She has been such a great teacher and role model in our children’s lives. She is helping them learn lifelong skills that they can & will regularly use. She has the kindest & understanding soul. I look forward to our visits with Ms. Natalie as much as the kids do!

“I want children to feel comfortable in the studio. Everything is set up so that they automatically know what to do. It’s a great joy to see children of every age play, pretend, and learn while using all the different materials! Children always have very good ideas about what should be included, and I always take their suggestions seriously. A simple thing such as including little squeeze ketchup and mustard containers made one young person so happy…he had noticed that the play kitchen did not have them, and he suggested adding them. Playing and learning are very definite collaborative communication pathways. I hope the studio allows children to learn in their best ways!” – Ms. Natalie

Classes are an affordable $20 each, which includes all necessary materials! *Beginning October 1, 2024 classes will be raised to $30 each*

Mason Cottage Day is located at 105 E. Main Street, Mason, Ohio 45040. The free parking lot is located behind the Pop Revolution Gallery Building off of Mason-Montgomery Road.

It is right along the cutest little shopping Street – while you are there check out the Mason Whippy Dip for a yummy ice cream treat, or the attached Thai Terrace for a delicious dinner!

You can contact Ms. Natalie to visit her studio or schedule classes at nataliebaxter@yahoo.com

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Homeschool Field Trip | Krohn Conservatory

homeschool, Motherhood, Uncategorized

We have been studying Botany this spring, so we took a field trip today to Krohn Conservatory to see all of the really neat plants & the Butterflies in Space exhibit. 🦋

The Butterflies really liked Ella & kept landing all over her. She thinks they were attracted to the other butterflies on her dress. 🦋

Mia did a good job with getting butterflies to land on her card. She had to give most of her butterflies 🦋 to Athena, though.

Sasha was the first to “catch” a butterfly 🦋  & she was very proud of that. I am pretty sure that she also caught the most butterflies out of all of us.

Athena had a bit of difficult time catching the Butterflies, but she was quick to take all of the ones her bigger sisters caught. 🦋

Moses loved chasing the Butterflies as they flew around the greenhouse. He had to keep being reminded not to touch the Butterflies, and to leave them alone while they were on their fruit feeding trays. 🦋 He still had a great time, nonetheless.

Mia wanted to take a photo of me with my butterfly too 🦋.

From now on, I am going to place orange slices that my kids don’t finish into my garden for Butterflies to feed on. I’ll have to come up with some sort of feeding station for them, but I have a few ideas in mind!

I loved the way this butterfly spread its beautiful wings out on this flower. I can only hope that one day our butterfly garden brings us this many different Butterflies to visit us!!

After the butterfly exhibit, the kids colored space themed pictures, made butterfly wand crafts, & took a photo in the “photo booth” in the Krohn Discovery Space.

We went on the Butterfly Scavenger Hunt. The Butterflies were hidden around the Botanical Gardens and we had to find them. We loved walking around and taking photos in the Picture This app of different plants we loved and wanted to add to our gardens while looking for the hidden butterflies.

It was a really great way to get the kids involved in looking at plants and making something kids would usually find “boring” to look at into something really fun & exciting for them.

My father in law got these really great shots of the girls running through the waterfall. It loops around to a cave behind it which was lit up with lights & more space decor. It was the kids favorite spot at the conservatory.

I especially love the photo of Mia. She looks like a beautiful fairy in it.

He also got this great shot of what looks like a mama butterfly with her baby butterfly under her 🦋. I thought that was really cute!! I love how similar the spots are on both butterflies. Moses is currently really into grouping things by mama & baby, so it was a cute little sign from the universe & natural world for us to get to see.

Even though we’ve been there before, we had a really great field trip today! The kids were all really well behaved & engaged. It was short enough where the kids never got to the point of being overdone, but wasn’t short enough that we felt that we wasted our time or money.

I loved that they pointed out things that we have been learning in our botany unit study!! That gives me so much reassurance that they are truly learning & taking in so much information and most importantly, actually applying it in real life! That makes me feel like a successful homeschool mama and I’ll take any win I can right now!!!

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Botany 🌱

homeschool, Motherhood, Uncategorized

The weather has been so beautiful lately, we have been trying to do as much of our Botany classes outside as we can! We have put a ton of work into our back yard as a family, so it has been a really peaceful atmosphere to do our classes in.

Sati & Rocco decided that they wanted to take the class with us today as well.

The first thing we did today was learn the parts of a plant, and what each part is meant to do. For example, the stem sucks up the water for the plant and keeps it upright so that it can grow big & strong to support the weight of the plant. Sometimes a little man-made help is needed by using cages or trellises.

Then each girl picked a live plant with roots to examine & draw in their Botany workbooks. Mia worked with a Blueberry Bush that was purchased. Ella worked with a tomato plant that was propagated when a piece fell off of my tomato plants while planting.

When we were finished examining, drawing, & labeling our plants, the girls planted them. Ella added her to our tomato patch (and thought it was funny how small it was compared to the rest of them, *pictured below*) & Mia added hers along the fence next to my root vegetable garden.

Speaking of root vegetables, we also discussed them in our lesson today!

When we were finished we prepared our green bean seeds in a jar of water for next week’s lesson & checked back on our seeds from last week’s lesson in their ziploc bag “greenhouses.” The girls observed what has happened to the seeds over the last week, and what they think will happen over another week. Next week, we can check on our little pots from our Art, Play, Hike day & see how our wildflowers are doing also.

Botany has definitely been our favorite science unit so far!! It’s been so much fun to do as a whole family together & very hands on in every unit. I also love how many beautiful plants that we will get out of this unit! I’m excited to start incorporating some Botanical field trips into our classes also! We have a few fun ones picked out!

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Some Homeschool Happenings This Week

homeschool, Motherhood, Uncategorized

We are really enjoying homeschool so far. We are still figuring out what works for us and what doesn’t, but the nice thing is we are allowed to adjust our days for what works best for our family.

Ella really enjoys insects a lot. She found a dead bumblebee and was asking lots of questions about them & inspecting it.

I scored this awesome poster that really adds to our Living Education Atmosphere.

Typically we just do school on the weekdays, but honestly education never ends & sometimes events are limited to the weekends. This Sunday, we went to the Ukrainian Festival & watched Ukrainian dancing, listened to Ukrainian music, planned on eating (pierogies sold out FAST & only meat options were left), & shopped for some items. I signed up to join the Ukrainian Women’s League of America.

We were supposed to see Shakespeare in the Park this Saturday, but we were rained out. We still had our picnic at the park, checked out the nature center (sad to learn it is still mostly shut down since covid with no plans to re-open at this time, and played on the outdoor playground.

Ella found a cicada which made her very happy. Cicadas are her favorite insect.

We went to the library for Family Storytime. It’s mostly geared toward the three younger kids, but the older kids still enjoy it too. They mostly go for the tech time after crafting & to pick out new books though. I enjoy picking up new cookbooks to try new recipes.

For math one day we made a “Hungry Adding Robot” that Mia picked from a math book we picked out at the library this week. We love our library trips. The kids had a lot of fun picking out projects for us to do over the course of this “term.” We also had a lot of fun making this.

I really love that we are able to do the activities together as a family, but the big girls still have their own individual work to do too.

For science one day we made Nature Journals to collect various nature the girls find. Each “journal” has 4 paper bags to fill with things they find interesting on our nature walks. We can use our Nature Anatomy books to identify new nature we haven’t seen before.

Today we took a field trip to Highfield Discovery Garden. The story in the garden today was Dragons Love Tacos & they got to pick Taco Topping Veggies from the garden. They got tomatoes, peppers, and radishes. They remembered that radishes were mentioned last week in The Tail of Peter Rabbit.

They played on the tree house playground & in the garden, spent time exploring in the nature center, picked a book each in the little library, and put on a puppet show. We also packed a picnic lunch to share in the garden Cafe. Moses really liked watching the trains go around the tree house tracks.

Overall we had a really good week. We completed all our group & individual work we had planned. Time to make dinner & get ready for Ella’s first volleyball game!

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Raising Hippies | Our New Journey

homeschool, Motherhood, Uncategorized

We made a BIG decision to take a giant leap of faith & begin homeschooling our children this upcoming year! I am feeling very excited for this new journey, as well at very nervous.

Each day as I am learning more, gathering my resources, and seeing my vision coming together, my confidence is building & the nervousness is quickly fading away.

Although I do not owe a single person an explaination; my biggest factoring decision was the way the world is going. Honestly, I don’t feel safe sending my children out into society anymore. I should not have to worry if they will make it home when they leave for school each morning. I should not have to worry what my children are being influenced of by others at their most vulnerable and moldable stages. I believe homeschooling with allow my children to maintain their innocence, something I was robbed of from a very early age, each year only getting worse.

It may sound counter-productive to some, but I hope to eliminate stress from our lives. Getting five kids of five different ages up early in the morning to get a few of them ready for school is a miserable process that starts our day with negativity, lots of tears; both mine & theirs, the daily struggle to get kids who aren’t ready to wake up yet out of bed, fighting & yelling at each other, fighting the time to make sure my kids bellies are full; the slower eaters crying because they weren’t finished yet, rushing out the door in chaos every morning…. not a healthy way to start our day.

When you begin your day in a state of chaos, every single day, you really begin to lack joy & forget how incredibly blessed you are. You live in a constant state of fight or flight, just trying to make it through an hour at a time. Weekday mornings have been a MAJOR stressor since we first began school.

Then repeat the process halfway through the day for school pick up, only to go backwards in time until bedtime. Rush in the door, fight about homework, fight about clean up, fight about routines, and why my kids can’t have phones like the other kids, rush the clock to get them in bed, only to start over in the morning. I can’t live that way anymore, & we shouldn’t have to. We weren’t meant to.

I also am excited to teach my children other subjects. I will teach Ukrainian language to my children. I will teach them home economics & handicrafts. I will teach them gardening & sustainability. I will teach them important life skills that the schools today do not offer our children. They will take piano lessons from their older brother, Kaden. We will learn character building.

We will practice slow living. We will learn at our own pace, together. We will enjoy the process. We will enjoy life & all it has to offer. I’ll share our journey in the process.

Methods

1. Charlotte Mason

This method, known as “the feast of homeschooling, focuses on shorter lessons and lots of outside time. It is nature/art based, but includes an endless amount of education & resources.

Charlotte lived & taught by 20 principles:

  • Children are born with personalities
  • Children have a will to be good or bad
  • Teach children to respect authority
  • Use daily tools to teach children
  • Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life
  • Environmental education provides natural surroundings
  • Disciplinary education forms good habits
  • Provide life skills education to cultivate ideas
  • Build upon a childs natural curiosity
  • Build learning skills to gain knowledge
  • Feeding a child’s mind with a generous curriculum
  • Relations education builds connections
  • Provide a feast of knowledge for growth & stimulation
  • Narration is a key tool for learning
  • One narration reading is sufficient
  • Use the right way to guide moral and mind growth
  • Occupy a child’s time with positive conditions
  • Use reasoning skills only for mathematical truth
  • Moral principles will lead children to make the right decision
  • A child’s spiritual & mental life are intertwined.

To me, it is a better option than Unschooling. I enjoy the concept of Unschooling, but I cannot live in such a state. I thrive on structure, planners, visual charts, routines, complete organization….. I can’t live my day spontaneously. I would wander around aimlessly, accomplishing nothing. We still get the freedom & best parts of Unschooling, but in a more structured/guided way. It feels safer to me, especially as a new homeschooling mother.

I highly recommend these books if you are interested in learning more about the Charlotte Mason Method:

2. Montessori

This method looks at the child as a whole person through child-led learning with real life tools in a safe setting.

I have already been using this method for all of my children for their entire lives. We do not allow many plastic toys in our home, we strive for wooden, educational, & gender neutral. We are learning to adjust that though as the kids grow and find their own interests. We also focus on having interactive toys for them: a child-size grocery store, kitchen, flower shoppe, doctor office, etc so they are able to role-play & learn life skills on their own through play.

In the homeschool world, I would be considered an “Eclectic,” because I am using 2 or more different teaching methods to focus on the individual needs of each of my children.

Since I have all different ages, it just makes sense to all work together but dive deeper in independent work at their appropriate ages. Charlotte Mason & Montessori make that work for ALL of my childrens ages.

At the end of the year, we meet with a certified teacher for our end of year review to present our curriculum for the year & all that we have learned in order to “pass” the year in place of standardized testing. I am SUPER proud of my curriculum!!

They are still allowed to participate in sports & extra curricular through the school which is a great way to socialize & stay in contact with their school friends. Mia is currently a cheerleader & Ella begins volleyball next week!

I am incredibly excited for this new journey for us & documenting it all here along the way.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

A Humbling Experience

Uncategorized

Good morning world 🌎

I’m going to get really vulnerable here for a change. It’s scary & embarrassing, but it’s real life, and it’s why I made this blog in the first place.

Every once in awhile I notice the lessons that the universe gives me in order to make me a stronger person. It’s honestly really cool and eye-opening. Sometimes we all need to be broken down in some way in order to build us back up, but since beginning my spiritual journey I’ve seen time & time again that you will not be left broken if you have faith.

My husband works a full time career. I am a stay at home mom/homemaker. Our family of 7 receives snap benefits and I’m not going to lie; we rely pretty heavily on that for a big chunk of our monthly groceries. Especially since March 2020, we have been receiving a second payment (called an “emergency allotment”) which has really been extremely appreciated by our family.

It’s an impossible cycle they set in place to ensure reliance on the government. The ultimate goal is to be self-reliant and not need snap benefits, but as soon as you make enough to be comfortable for a split second, they cut you off from benefits and you’re immediately back to struggling. I’ve known people to quit their jobs just to not lose their food or medical benefits for their child.

Anyway, the day it has been scheduled (from 3/20-present) to hit our account arrives and I could not be more thrilled to place our Drive Up order at Kroger. Before I place the order, I habitually check the balance, only to see $7.74. I call to hear our next scheduled payment date: nearly a month away. I panicked.

I did some research online. I saw that only some states renewed the EA payments through the end of April, and Ohio wasn’t on the list. I panicked even more. I have 5 little mouths to feed, plus my husband & I, but their little bellies are our first priority. $7 wasn’t going to work. My first instinct was to find a food bank to stock up on as many groceries as I could to supplement that payment until at least payday, then figure out an entire new budget. I was embarrassed to share my current situation with anyone. I was scared if anyone knew I was struggling with food, I would lose my kids.

I headed to The Healing Place. It was very nice, everyone was super friendly. They offer free onsite childcare with background-checked volunteers while you are there so you can focus on the task(s) at hand, a free clothing/home needs store, a free grocery store with food items donated by local grocery stores such as Kroger & Costco, as well as free bicycles and/or bus tokens, free medical attention (well checks, addiction specialists, mental health services, eye health, etc.) by UC students, and so much more. It really is such a beautiful mission.

I came home feeling a mix of grateful, like a total failure, and very humbled. I hadn’t been in a place like that for myself in a long time. It’s a very humbling experience and definitely knocked my ass down a few notches, but my pride & snobbish attitude obviously needed to be put in check and I needed to be reminded that EVERYONE needs help sometimes. Getting help does not mean that you are a failure or a bad mom, it means you are human.

The next day I went to Kroger to buy a head of lettuce. Before going in I checked the balance, out of habit, knowing that it was still going to say $7.74. But it didn’t. The payment had been deposited a few hours earlier.

It was a miracle. I was seriously shocked. A total wave of relief washed over me. As well as a sobering realization that at any moment our food supply can be cut off- the government has us right where they want us- relient on them.

I now see the importance of having a bulk food & water supply in case of emergencies that our family can survive on, instead of just a fully stocked pantry that I’ve been focusing on in my homemaking.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please do not be ashamed to ask for help. With the intense inflation, many people are struggling more than they care to admit. You aren’t alone. There is plenty of help out there available to families (and single people as well), and that is exactly what it is intended for- to help in your time of need. You are worthy of help.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Parenthood Perspectives

Motherhood, Uncategorized

I may never be the type of mom that knows how to get stains out of clothes, but I am the kind of mom that throws our stained items in a bin + throws a random “tie dye party” with the kids in the back yard every now & then.

Knowing what to use to get stains out doesn’t make you a better mother. You don’t have to be Pinterest perfect to be a good mom. Life is not one size fits all. Live outside the box & find the solution that works best for you. You are already enough ♡ & so am I.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov