This week, we had a small women’s breakfast time at a friend’s house. This friend recently adopted a toddler, and as is the case with most toddlers, the new life as a mom had quickly taken over her days.

One of the first topics we talked about was toddler discipline, followed by our children’s eating habits and antics, different diaper and formula brands, and giving advice to a younger pregnant woman in the group, not just in the area of providing the baby’s basic needs, such as breastfeeding and proper care, but also advice on getting our finances in order. All in all, it was a fruitful day for all of us.

One of the last things we talked about was that new adoptive mom’s plans in the near future. Pre-adoption, she had been a busy career woman, looked up to by her subordinates, sought after by her peers. And she admitted that she longed to find some kind of preoccupation other than her new son.

Now, many years ago, I might’ve turned my nose up at the thought: after all, isn’t a mom’s primary role being a mom, and all else should be secondary to it?

But the more I learn about mother culture, an important part of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, and match it with the truth that just as all children are born persons, so are mothers (!), I’m slowly rethinking my convictions.

In fact, one of my parting comments as we packed up to leave was that, yes, as moms, we are meant to keep growing.

I love how this principle, I feel, gives me permission to keep reading! (As a book-lover, I love any reason to keep reading amid busy schedules!) And, I also apply CM’s principle for slow-reading several books. For example, at this moment, I’m reading through the following books:

• Emma by Jane Austen
• Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers
• Further Adventures of Lad by Albert Payne Terhune
• E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
• Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason (reading through the hard copy journaling edition. I first read this on Kindle)
• Kangkong 1896 (in Filipino) by Ceres S.C. Alabado

And I’m not sharing this to boast. I don’t get to read from every book everyday. Instead I read from one or two each day, and rotate through them, applying the CM philosophy of having a rich “curriculum” even for myself.

How about you? What are you currently doing to keep growing as an individual? Share them in the comments below! 🙂