The Cure for Mom-Brain

​By Laura Breksa, Personal Pursuits CouncilMom

NOTE: This is the third in a series of related blog posts -- as we post them, we will link them together. 
The first one is about the first S in the S.P.I.C.E.S. acronym and can be found here.
The second one is about the P in the S.P.I.C.E.S. acronym and can be found here.

Mom-Brain gets a bad reputation -- we've all experienced it: the fog, the stupor, the yearning for more than Sesame Street-level learning! Here at Momivate, we believe in your Mom-Brain -- that motherhood can actually cause you to spark new dendrites by the second, as you look for ways to solve the many mysteries and conundrums inherent in raising children! Here are some ways to set Intellectual goals (that's the 'I' in our S.P.I.C.E.S. acronym) and feed your brain!

INTELLECTUAL

Long car trips and your kids are itty-bitties? Listen to an audio book or podcast on a subject you want to learn about.
 
Learn along with your children at science museums! The hands-on displays aren’t always for little hands. And your enthusiasm for the exhibits will be contagious -- your children will soon catch on that learning is exciting, not a chore!
 
Take an online class. There are many free classes, it will be a great example for your kids to see you taking time to learn, and they can sit on your lap, sit next to you while you are learning, and you can even teach them what you are learning.
 
SEE  https://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses
 
Do you have a friend with children with a skill you want to learn, and she wants to learn something you can do?  Sounds like an excellent skills-swap playdate!
 
If you don’t know how to play an instrument, think outside the box here, I’m not talking about an instrument that you find in an orchestra, or that you must master. Be average on an unusual instrument! The power is in the practice! Learning to play an instrument, "may be one of the best ways to help keep the brain healthy. ‘It engages every major part of the entire nervous system,’ said John Dani, PhD, chair of Neuroscience at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.” (Penn Medicine News, pennmedicine.org/news).
           
Consider:                      Steel Tongue Drum
                                    Musical Spoons
                                    Wish Well Tibetan Singing Bowl
                                    Gecko Travel Cajon
                                    Deekec Zelda Ocarina
                                    Newlam Kalima Thumb Piano
                                    Cuecutie Lyre Harp
                                    LP Vibra-Slap
 
Learn a vocabulary word each day about a subject you are interested in, not something you think you should care about, but what you want to learn. You could even choose to learn a vocabulary word in another language!

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