Episode 64: Nomadic adventuring with two kids under four & setting boundaries as moms, with Anelise Salvo
Episode Description
I had the pleasure of working with today’s guest, Anelise Salvo, a self taught graphic designer and owner of Anelise Salvo design Co. on my website a few years ago.
What stood out to me was how intuitive, empathetic, creative and willing to give her all to every client was. As a mama of two under four, and after the birth of her second child, Anelise decided that she needed to stay home with her little ones in order to emulate the power of presence. And let’s face it, she also wanted to take her family adventuring.
So what did she do?
She decided to take off on a nomadic adventure with her husband. As world travelers they decided to take their camper trailer and set off on a nomadic adventure for six months. Anelise believes that being a soul mamma is “everything.” It’s the way we conduct our daily lives that our children observe and will eventually start to form habits around. Having left a cubical job to follow her dreams, this mama is anything but a conformist.
Anelise and her husband are passionate about pausing before reacting to a situation so they can teach their children the tools to handle conflict, & defeat.
Instead of feeling bogged down by wishing they could be their former selves, these two feel that their dreams have only gotten bigger since becoming parents. She says every day, even when riddled with working around sleep schedules and nuancing mom breaks, is her chance to be the BEST version of herself possible. She says it’s not without challenge and the ultimate exercise in patience, but that she wouldn’t change it for the world.
Anelise, a self professed minimalist. Today she is going to share with us how she nuances mom life, travel, work and following her dreams and how it is far from EASY!
Take Aways
13:57
Discussing setting boundaries and saying yes to one thing instead of ALL things.
14:59:
Anelise found so much more enjoyment in work and presence with her kids when she stopped taking on all projects.
16:26
The constant play and pull of taking care of everyone else and practicing self care as moms.
25:01
Parenthood is an experiment. No one has the “right” answer. That’s why we can’t judge one another.
31:38
How curated images of parenthood online is never the whole story. For instance, sometimes we have to give our kids carb-ey snacks or media, while traveling for instance, even though we promised ourselves we would not.
34:53:
How self care and wellness as moms, leads to self care and wellness for our kids. Having a healthy physical and mental space is reciprocated by our families.
38:05
Identity shifts as mamas-how some stages require our entire identities to be about our children and in some stages we find our own again. It’s a constant ebb and flow.
Memorable Quotes
“So instead of just being the person that would say yes to everything, I had to be the person that would only say yes to one thing.”
“I’ve just had to accept it, because the act of traveling is more important to me than me getting my eight to ten hours of sleep.”
“I think what’s helped me- to be super gentle on myself when things didn’t work out the way I planned them in my head”.
“All of the meltdowns that happen with our kids (while traveling), they 1000% are happening to these beautifully curated families just as much.”
“In the last year the light bulb clicked and I was like, man, if I’m not healthy physically and mentally, then my kids aren’t healthy physically, mentally.”
” If I can’t show up for my kids in a healthy way, then you know, what is the point of all of this?”
“My kids are my identity right now because I’m still emerging, I’m still coming out. Now I’m feeling like, oh wait, I’m a human too.”