Welcome to Coffee Talk with the Cajun Mamas . You have been with us for quite a while , or maybe this is your first episode and you are just tuning in .
Speaker 2We are glad to have you . Thank you so much . If you're on our YouTube stream video , whatnot ? Please leave us a comment and let us know where are you watching from ? Oh I love that .
Speaker 1I love to see where everybody's listening from .
Speaker 2Me too , and make sure you tell all your friends about it .
Speaker 1Tell all your friends .
Speaker 2Because we have things to talk about .
Speaker 1This is a good one .
Speaker 2This is a good one . I feel like it's going to strike a nerve with people , maybe , or it's going to be relatable , it's going to be triggering , it's going to be I don't know all the things .
Speaker 1I feel like people's gonna be like yes , yeah , yeah that's me . Yes , yes , um , we're gonna talk about what does it mean to us to be a , to be a successful mom , and we actually , yeah , we got this from a friend I don't a follower , a follower and she said I think maybe y'all should do an episode on that and I I was like you know what that's so good ?
Speaker 2Because it's going to be , like , very unique to each person . Like , what does it mean to be successful as a mother to you ? So we're going to just dive into that a little bit , but first we are going to talk about how the Cajun lady accent . Hal is a friend of ours . She's also from Church Point , louisiana , like we are , and she has a whole line of cajun seasonings , dips , mixes like uh , spaghetti mixes , okay , chili mixes , like , if you want a real authentic taste of cajun food . And , and please go follow her on social media because she does all these cooking videos to go along with her seasonings and mixes and stuff . You just have to check how out y'all . Oh , yeah , she is a treat , she's a treat . And , uh , you can find her on all the social media platforms , y'all , even snapchat . This lady has facebook , snapchat , youtube , tiktok and instagram . Search how h-a-l . The cajun lady accent . Okay , and thank you , how for being our friend and our sponsor for February . Yes , thank you , hal .
Speaker 1All right , being a successful mama . What does that look like ?
Speaker 2What does it even look like ? This topic made me have to really think , because I feel like there are many days where I feel anything but successful .
Speaker 1Oh listen , we are thick in party training right now . And my husband ? He just walked into the bathroom the other day where I had the thing on the toilet and she was . I said I couldn't catch her , I didn't get it . I'm a failure . I'm a failure because I can't get hurt I felt like everything I had done that day was a complete and utter failure .
Speaker 2I started crying and it's like it's hard you know , sometimes the feelings are so overwhelming , like we want in our mind . I mean in a perfect world . You know your kids wake up , you give them a kiss breakfast , you know off to school , or even on a weekend okay , playing outside or whatever . Come inside , like who lives like that in real life . It's not a show , it's not a tv , a movie , it's not . I always felt that reminds me specifically of bedtime routines . Okay , before you have kids , you think you see all these shows where they like kneeling next to the bed or they sitting in bed with their kids and they reading a book reading a book , a bedtime story , kiss the little one , good night , pull up the covers , good night , sweet dreams , and off to bed we go .
Speaker 2My bedtime routine with my kids both my girls was anything but that , and I felt so cheated , let me tell you , I felt like my whole life had been a lie . I'm like this is not how it's supposed to be . These kids don't want to sleep , and if I read them a book , they just get wilder . You know , like just opposite of what you think , the perfect bedtime routine would look like . Just slowly .
Speaker 1Oh , they're so peaceful . That has never happened . Never my kids start wiling out at bedtime . Let me just tell you they are absolutely . I don't know what happens .
Speaker 2That wave of energy . Whenever , I say let's pray .
Speaker 1It's like something triggers their bodies to wake up and run around the house and aggravate the crap out of it , adrenaline rush . I just don't know the prayers , so maybe being a successful mama in that instant is you getting them to bed .
Speaker 2Without losing your SHIT .
Speaker 1Yes , and you're just stepping out and breathing because that first breath whenever you everybody's laying down and you can just kind of sink into the mattress a rare feeling , a rare but peacefulest ever feeling that could be a success .
Speaker 2I feel like success is a momentary like , like situational . Oh , it's so situational , it's so not like the overall picture , although there are a few things that came to my mind when I think of being like overall , being a successful mom , and I'm not going to say that right now .
Speaker 1Yeah , let's table that . Okay , Overall success , because I have things to say about that , okay , okay , that okay , overall success , because I have things to say about that , okay , okay , um so , but you know , those are the situational things . That could be getting them to bed , that could be getting a meal on the table , a home-cooked meal and having them eat it and actually like , like it .
Speaker 2Yeah , that is , but you see how many things are out of our control . So when it all goes our way , you like , you feel like I am the best mama . This is . I'm successful right now as a mama because I cooked a meal and they liked it and they ate it and nobody fussed nobody .
Speaker 1You know what I'm saying I'm looking at you like this because I never have a day where I'm like I rocked .
Speaker 2this day I didn't say day , I said moment . Okay , this is an interesting thought I had too . Like what ? What did it look like in your mind ? What do you think of when you think of a successful mom back in the day , like and I'm talking maybe our mamas , when I'm maybe beyond our mamas , like our mamas and stuff like what did our mamas do that made them like the epitome of , oh , my mama is the woman , she is a , she is the mama , she's the matriarch . You know , like it was a different time then , yes , and I'm not using that as an excuse for the world we live in now , but it was different . So what does successful mothering look like to you ? Thinking in the past ?
Speaker 1um , you know people get upset about the fact that women didn't work . But I love being a home mama . I love taking care of my home . I love taking care of my children at home . I love taking care of my husband , you know , when he's out at work . I love that . So being a successful mama you know to me was you know like , and my grandma did it . She had nine kids . So like that is a success . You mothered all these children and I'm not saying it wasn't rough .
Speaker 2Okay .
Speaker 1Surely not , Because let me tell you what it was . Not a walk in the park , okay , at all times with my mama and all those kids . But you raised up these children to be , you know , upstanding citizens and you grew a family in Jesus . What could be more successful than that To me ? You know , yeah .
Speaker 2And what do you feel like makes it so much harder to do that today ? Like we are the exception . We work from home . Um , we are not out in the workforce like other , you know , have to be , some want to be , some don't want to be . They there because they have to be . But regardless like where we , I feel like we are more of the exception than the rule . So what do you think ? Is it just like the economy ? Or like the pressure ? Like when did it become ? Like ? No , that's really not cool that my mom had to stay home ?
Speaker 1like you know what I mean oh , I don't know , this is touch touchy , yeah , so I did that , though , but we did that . You know , we worked in the workforce and we worked for our families and we went out to work .
Speaker 1All over the country for me All over , yeah , you were all over Multiple states and I just I couldn't see myself doing that now . Um , now I did work right down the road , easy breezy , brought my kids to school with me , whatever , um , but you know , I just think that we want more stuff . We want more stuff because there's more .
Speaker 2There's more stuff available yes , there's more stuff in our face are distracting us all the time . It makes it hard to be content with what you have and not want more you think , I think that , and and then the economy is a big , it's very hard to . How are you on income ?
Speaker 1it's very hard income with kids and you got to put food on the table . That's expensive as it is , you know you have to . You have to have two incomes and we are working on multiple , you know , because we have more than one job , you and I , we are still working from home . We still have to have those extra incomes to make it work . Yeah , so we just don't go out . We do actually Now . We do actually now .
Speaker 2We do so uh by the way , if your local business would like to sponsor Cajun Mamas on the road , you can reach us at the Cajun Mamas . Uh , wait , what is it ? The Cajun Mamas at gmailcom ?
Speaker 1yeah we'll set something up with you , uh . But yeah , I mean like we have to work multiple jobs and we have to have more than one income in this life . Yeah , you know , in this way of life , I think , what do you think ? I mean , I wish I could just tell you , yeah you know I live off of one income .
Speaker 2I mean unless your spouse , um , you know , makes enough for two . It's hard , um , but then you have people that you know they have what they need and they are happy and , like their , their kids are seen about and they eat , and you know they , they do things when they can and that's just the life that god has called them to .
Speaker 2You know , and I love watching people be simple simple living right and I love that yeah , um , sometime we just think we need things you know and and but going back to like the past , what always comes to my mind as like she was a that was a good mama , a , a good wife , a good housekeeper , a good , just that was the woman . Okay , nathan always told me about his mama , virgie , and how like they had a dairy farm and they would do like they would do crops too , like soybeans and hay farming and all this stuff . They had a farm , okay , and all the workers , ms Virgie was cooking meals breakfast , lunch and dinner every single day , every day , sarah breakfast , lunch and dinner , and not just for her and her four kids and her husband , but for the dairy workers and the the farm workers too . And I'm like I can only cook one or two meals a week and she's cooking breakfast , lunch and dinner every day and how many kids she had .
Speaker 1Four , four kids .
Speaker 2Yeah , that ain't no dang walking the park and then cooking that many times , yeah it's like that was a woman you hear me and made , sewed , made all the clothes , like , did every everything that you could do and not have to go buy something . You know they did all that and my mother-in-law has a little bit of that in her too . Like she makes soap , she sews , she will make , she made all the girls dresses when they were little and just that type of living is dying out . And I , me , as an almost 40 year old woman , I'm like I need to know how to sew , like I need to know how to make my own soap . What's going to happen when she's gone and I'm not going to know how to do nothing and my girls aren't going to know how to do nothing . So I'm like this is pressure you put on yourself , okay , but you know , let's take a second to talk about
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Speaker 2Cajun .
Speaker 1Harvest Country . Acadia Parish is Cajun Harvest Country . Yes , it is Okay . Let's take a second to talk about , uh , cajun harvest country . Acadia parish is cajun harvest country .
Speaker 2Yes , okay , let's do that first okay , so we are y'all in the thick of mardi gras season .
Speaker 2It's a party over here in south louisiana let me tell you , to be alive in south louisiana time okay , if you have always been wanting to experience an authentic cajun style Gras , you need to head over to AcadiaTourismcom slash Mardi Gras to find the list of events going on this month . Like on February 15th , in rain , there's a Mardi Gras parade and an after party . February 22nd is the Carrere de Mardi Gras de Lens , that's Mermontal Cove , okay . And then March 2nd , right here in Church , church Point , the best of the best , if you ask me , uh , is our career .
Speaker 2The Mardi Gras , the , the Mardi Gras run in Church Point , where you're going to see all the chicken chasings , the costumes , the food , the drinks , the fun , the music , all of it . Um , you can plan your whole visit to Acadia Parish by going to AcadiaTourismcom . Um , if you want specific mardi gras content , you put the slash mardi gras at the end . If you want to see all the things on their website , just acadiatourismcom , okay , you won't be sorry . Plan your visit to acadia parish today . All right , we're talking about the past and like that's what I think of as like a successful mama and but they didn't have all the distractions that we do now .
Speaker 1Okay , they didn't . And so my , my general wonderment is we became very , a very anxious society . You know , um , I think maybe I might have started in the late 90s . Okay , I want to say people started becoming more distracted , distractions , distractions . We have social media as a distraction , we have TV as a distraction , yeah , you know . So that kind of takes you away from the present . Being able to cook a meal for all of the people who work for you .
Speaker 1Or you know work with you , or you know like , don't you think like there wasn't that much stuff back then to be distracted with ?
Speaker 2That's part of it , yeah , yeah , yeah . And like that was your daily routine , like I would imagine waking up , making breakfast , going to the grocery store to get stuff to cook , because I mean I just don't see like how we make bulk trips , like we'll go to Sam's and we'll get bulk of everything , so we don't grocery shop every day . You think you ?
Speaker 1think she went to the grocery store . Every day I do . That sounds miserable .
Speaker 2No , I absolutely do . I really feel like that generation would go to the store , if not every day , every other day , because think about , too , how small the refrigerators used to be and now we got big , grand refrigerators . I have two refrigerators in my house , I know , you know , and two freezers in my house . It's like we have how they got by with so little because they would replenish faster than us .
Speaker 1I feel like you know what I mean . I'm horrified by that .
Speaker 2But I mean you , that's also how they socialized , though , sarah , you think about it Like yeah , that's how they would . So they go to the grocery store , you know , or go to the salon , you know they they would get their hair done all the time .
Speaker 1Um , it was just a different way of being .
Speaker 2Oh , if I could just one day no , one day be cool like and and go and visit at this at their houses and stuff . Like , oh , I have to go to the store , I'm gonna pass by so-and-so's house on the way or on the way back or whatever , and that that was the visiting . That would go on like we like to . I'll take any excuse to go have coffee at your house . I'm like , oh yeah , I have to go to the pig , I'm going to stop by . Yeah , you know .
Speaker 1Yeah , except for back then they didn't have to worry about how many courses they had in the car , so like you could just pile them up .
Speaker 2Pile them up , all your kids .
Speaker 1No seatbelt , no , sit down , y'all just get in , we're gone . You know , uh , I don't know . So that was I don't know . I just think it was yeah a nice time . Yeah , very nice as I look off into the distance and I know , wonder and wonder so we have to remember to you know we're talking about .
Speaker 2How success can be is very situational oh yeah , it's not just saying like overall I'm a great mom , like I hope we can feel that , but at the same time being realistic , we feel like failures often and wish we would do things differently or that the situations were different . That's just life . But we have to remember to celebrate the small wins , like for you right now , potty training , like when she makes it to the potty baby . We do the potty dance and we celebrate .
Speaker 1She pees in the potty .
Speaker 2It's a party so that those moments make it , make it make you feel successful you know , know , make mothering feel just joyful .
Speaker 1You know , Like you said when everybody eats what you cooked or you cooked or you just got to cook a meal , you put a lasagna in the oven . How wonderful a lasagna you popped , and that's not even a fresh one . I don't even care , if it's stofas , don't matter , put that in the oven and that's a oven and that's a win .
Speaker 2The other day we passed the frozen foods and my one of my girls was like they have macaroni and cheese in the oven and I was like , oh , I came so close to grabbing that like I shoulda , because what a meal . Just like a big plate of mac and cheese and bacon .
Speaker 1Put some little chicken bacon or something yeah , you would have dressed it up real nice . I'll bet you would have dressed it up real nice . I'll bet , yeah , you would have dressed it up real nice .
Speaker 2I don't know I mean . It looked good enough on its own honestly .
Speaker 1But yeah , I mean the small things . You know . You fed your kids Sometimes . It's just like sometimes you got to sit down and just make sure they are right during the day , yeah . And seen about . All right , let's take a second to talk about 87 Washes and we're going to visit that earlier thing that we talked about .
Speaker 2Yes , Okay , 87 Washes mobile detailing . Why is it 87 ? Exit 87 . Exit 87 off of I-10 in Rain , Louisiana . That's where they from , Jorge and his wife Ashley Y'all they met as missionaries in
South America . How , how just God led is that relationship ? You know they love to serve their community and make others day brighter . And I know when you get your car spick and span clean , when you have a clean car , you just feel better about yourself .
Speaker 1You is sassy , your sunglasses are on , you're like my car smells good and it doesn't smell like feet , yeah , like and no crumbs anywhere like what a great feeling .
Speaker 2So they not just bringing clean cars to the world , they bring in that good feeling they are to the world bringing a successful mama , yeah , that day you rocking , you feel successful .
Speaker 1Whenever jorge came and cleaned my vehicle , I'm gonna tell you right now we , we riding , because , like it's been clean ever since I've been keeping up with it now you've been doing a great job , so , um , it makes me feel good to sit in a vehicle that that smells good . He put me even a little , um , a little , air freshener . Yes , that says 87 washes with the phone number , so I know where to go get in touch with them again .
Speaker 2Yes , y'all , if you are in this area , please give them , uh , your attention . Please give them your , your support . They are a small , family-owned business . You can look them up at 87washesmobildetailingcom or find them on Facebook , instagram , all the socials . Just search 87washes and thank y'all for being a sponsor .
Speaker 1Thank y'all very much . All right , now let's talk about how do you know , as a parent , that overall you are growing up a good child . What are some things that your kids do that you notice ? I did something right .
Speaker 2I must be doing something right when they immediately like , if there's a problem or an issue or something , when they immediately say let's pray , let's , let's say a prayer , or we need to pray for that person or whatever , and we were just talking about that with . Jojo . Um , that right there I'm like , yes , cause you are teaching them the like spiritual warfare , like that goes on , and that is their first line of defense is prayer and that's what really can change things . So that right there teaching them to pray , that's huge in my book .
Speaker 1So a little background on what we're talking about . There was something that was going on . Somebody was picking on one of our girls and JoJo said you know what we're going to tell them ? We're going to pray for you . And it was like that was her that is her comeback ?
Speaker 2her trash talk . Was we gonna pray for you ?
Speaker 1we're gonna pray for you you know , like that was just so innocent . But then also you're like profound yeah we , we , uh , we doing , we doing something right you know that's a successful feeling as a mama . Now , my daughter , one of my , the oldest one , isla she . The other day we were at the dollar store and something so simple she opened the door for somebody to come out .
Speaker 1And I was like yeah , I walked right in that door . I never opened the door for the person coming out Right , but we walked in and she stayed and held the door open . I love it . That is a success .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1That made me feel happy , even though my little janky self didn't keep the door open , I know .
Speaker 2Sometimes it's like if you see your kids being a little more like praying a little more than you or like very faithful . That is , yes , I will humble you . And that's like , oh , okay , I need to get myself in check , yeah . Or like the other day , bren was like mama , I haven't seen you read your devotional and in a few days . And I'm like , okay , yeah , you're right , I haven't and I need to do that we can learn a lot from our kids .
Speaker 2They see it all . Yeah , they don't say sometimes but they see it and they know , they notice and that's like a . It makes you realize that , like you're , that's a constant in her mind . And if mama's not , if she don't wake up in the morning and see mama doing that and she doesn't always like sometimes I finish it before she gets up or whatever , but like she realized , haven't seen that in a while , but anyway that's a constant for them and like , what a great . That's the kind of things you want them to be built up on and grow up seeing and yeah , because you hope one day they'll .
Speaker 2You're a model for them . They'll turn that into habits and they'll do . That leads me into what I feel like overall being a successful mom in my eyes , and this is is knowing that your kids have faith in Jesus and God and a relationship with him and a devotion and like , at the end of the day , you did everything you could to ensure that they go to heaven . You know , and that's go to heaven . You know , and that's the ultimate success is just knowing you did everything you could , because you know , when they get to be a certain age , you don't have you really don't have control anymore , and that's a hard thing for us to think of . You know , but at the same time you have to know you did everything that you could .
Speaker 1I just that that that is that's the ultimate , that's . The ultimate success is if you can , if you can instill in your children , um , just where to go , you know where to go , uh , if you're feeling a certain way .
Speaker 2How to deal with life situations .
Speaker 1Yeah , and that only God can help you with , you know , and God will set you on the path to righteousness . Yeah , yeah , that's interesting , I know .
Speaker 2It's very , I mean . I feel like we just scratching the surface of how deep that really is , but I can't fathom .
Speaker 1We're becoming very speechless in this .
Speaker 2Because it's humbling we're having some speechless moments here because we're like oh , Because it's humbling when you think about it and makes you wonder am I doing enough ? Am I doing everything that I can ?
Speaker 1Because most of the time I'm like , you know , like negative things . You focus on the negative . You know , you're like , oh well , I didn't get this done and I didn't get this done and I didn't , but what did you do , you know ? Did you ? You know , wake up this morning with a smile and greet your children and I fall short . I'm like sometimes they'll just be passing me and I'm like , good morning .
Speaker 1You know good morning , I see you , you know Right . Just , I don't know . Being a successful mom is hard to think every day and every situation that you being successful . But I think it is situational and then when you see your kids do something , uh run to jesus first um we need to do this , we need to pray for somebody . I know that this person is sick , so let's pray for them , you know um , we're just life skills .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , yeah , life skills . Yeah , yeah , yeah , then that's , that's little moments of success . Yeah , okay , y'all . Mardi Gras season let's just talk about that real quick . Mardi Gras season is upon us , and if you never experienced a true Cajun Mardi Gras , you can , if you decide to make a trip and come to Acadia Parish . There's plenty to do and see this time of year .
Speaker 1And there's plenty to do and see this time of year , and there's plenty for your kids to do too , because there's plenty of children's runs too .
Speaker 2Yes , that's something that takes place in Acadia Parish , in our town church point yeah , so our big Mardi Gras is March the 2nd , but on March 1st , the day before , we have a children's career . So the kids get to dress up in costumes and chase the chickens too , and it's so stinking cute y'all and it's so well organized , don't you find like ?
Speaker 2they yeah you know that this age goes to this flag and yeah , they put them in age groups and kind of keep everything organized so nobody gets hurt and it's it's a great time and it's very family friendly . Um , you know , for that particular parade on the flows there's no alcohol allowed it and it's very family-friendly . For that particular parade on the flows there's no alcohol allowed .
Speaker 2It's very family-oriented . So that would be March 1st and then March 2nd in Church Point . You can check out the Rain Mardi Gras Parade on February 15th , and then February 22nd is the career in Mermontaw Cove . So if you want all these details , head on over to AcadiaTourismcom . Slash Mardi Gras . Thank y'all for being a sponsor for the Cajun Mamas podcast .
Speaker 1That's another successful parenting moment is bringing your culture to your kids . Culture , yeah .
Speaker 2And it's thick , thick with culture down here . It's thick From the food to the Mardi Gras , to the way we speak and the music , all the music you know , yeah , oh yeah , and all them little babies love to ding-a-ding to that Cajun music , it's true .
Speaker 1So , yeah , I mean , and also , if you're listening right now and you have a topic that you would like to hear us , that would like I said earlier , we got this topic from um , from one of our listeners , one of our friends . Um , if you have a topic that you'd like us to to weigh in on , I like that idea . Y'all let us know in the comments of uh , wherever you're listening , we'd like to hear . We're always open to new ideas .
Speaker 2Yeah , absolutely . This was a great topic and I hope that it just resonated with someone out there that can see themselves in these conversations that we have . And it's like you know , I'm not alone . I feel like a failure too sometimes , or some days are great and I feel like a success , and I need to acknowledge that and validate myself a little bit more . So , we feel you , we understand , we're here for you , give yourself some grace , Grace upon grace upon grace .
Speaker 2So let's wrap it up by mentioning Howe Cajun Lady Accent . Go to HoweTheCajunLadyaccentcom and you're going to see all the products that Hal has to offer . She got some delicious all-purpose Cajun seasonings fish fry , seafood bowl , the dip mixes .
Speaker 1The dips are my favorite . We love the dips , the Cajun Firecracker mix , if you have any , especially for the Mardi . Gras , she has a Mardi gras um dip she does mix . So , um , like parties that you go to , I always go straight to that because it's so easy to make and it's a crowd pleaser . Yeah , if I bring a how dip like you , will see everybody at it it's no big and and and crackers too even if I make some fire crackers .
Speaker 2Those crackers , yeah . And she said , you could put that on Chex Mix too . The cracker seasoning , or pretzels , yeah , let's get creative with our house . I'm so hungry right now , I know .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh . Her seasonings are low in sodium and MSG free .
Speaker 2Yes , go to howthecajunladyaccentcom and get yourself some . And follow her on all the social media platforms . Just search how the Cajun lady accent . What a great episode . I enjoyed this .
Speaker 1Thank y'all for visiting with us today , um , and we'll see y'all again soon . Yep , see y'all next time .