Meet Brittney Lytvyniuk!

Q: What town/city do you live in?
A: Mishicot, a modern day Mayberry!

Q: How many kids do you have?
A: I have one son, Mykola (it’s Ukrainian). My miracle boy! But if you count my husband, Zahar, then 2.5 kids. 😉

Q: What are their ages?
A: Mykola turns ONE in July…seems like just yesterday I had no idea what I was doing, what day it was, how incredibly long some days felt, and seriously, where can I get more of those mesh underwear from the hospital?! The days are long but the years short! And I still have no idea what I’m doing or what day it is…

Q: Do you work outside the home? If so, where & what do you do?
A: The best decision we’ve ever made was for me to stay home and I’m fortunate enough that my husband works very hard to enable me to do that! Work will always be there if I want but I did not want to skip a beat of his childhood!

Q: What is your favorite at-home activity to do with your kids?
A: Play, play, play! Exploring the backyard, mini blanket forts, reading, dance parties *this kid has some serious moves*, eating crumbs he found from yesterday’s lunch off the floor, or going to Grandma’s out in the country…but currently he just likes to sit in a cardboard box with his foam nunchucks. We play hard and nap harder.

Q: Where is your favorite place around Green Bay to take your kids?
A: Looking forward to the beach/pools soon, Mykola loves to play in water. We like going to the zoo to practice our animal noises, story times at the libraries, any playground and flirting with all the grandmas at JoAnn’s fabrics.

Q: If you had one parenting tip to share that has worked for you/helped you, what would it be?
A: Let them be kids. I feel their childhood gets shortened too soon and life’s pressures and expectations/standards are put on them way too early, so I try to let him be a kid and enjoy all these new exiting things to the fullest. Get dirty, be silly everywhere and anywhere, touch/feel (or lick…he licks everything) things, go barefoot, let your belly hang out of your shirt, eat that whip cream from a can, drink from the hose…

Q: What do you like to do when you have time for yourself?
A: See above–eating whip cream from the can with my belly hanging out. I also like to create, whether it’s painting my kitchen, making party invitations or a fun DIY game for us. Oh, and online shopping. Yes, that.

Q: Are you a night owl or an early bird (despite what you have to be as a mom)?
A: Both. Even though I am exhausted sometimes and should sleep when he goes down at night I can’t help but want to work on a project that I can’t complete with little curious hands around…

Q: What is your most embarrassing moment or the funniest thing that has every happened to you?
A: So, my son loves to swing. A few nights ago I was letting our dog go out before I jumped into bed, so naturally I was standing there next to him watching him poop. We live on a corner and I saw the kitty-corner neighbors had their “mini” swing set on the corner… Hmm, are they giving it away? Is it broken? I race over there and see a “free” sign taped to it!

Holy Moly, I need this!

I lift one side and see it’s fairly light but really awkward and long so this might be a problem. (I should tell you my husband travels often so I’m super woman.) After 10 min of just staring at it and formulating my plan – mind you at 12:30am – I am able to stand under it in the middle and just barely lift it 2 inches off the ground.

Ok, I’m off and running! Not really, more like slow inebriated turtle crawling across the street by lamplight, praying to the rummage gods no one drives by. Here comes a set of headlights. Perfect. I am barefoot, appear homeless, on my tiptoes while lifting this swing set that is tittering not only up and down but side to side…while a swing chain is hitting me in the face. This car slows down and just creeps on by as if inside they are questioning, “Omg is she stealing that? Is it a prank? Where are her shoes? I should give her a dollar. Why is she laughing? Should we get involved? No. Definitely not.”

I barely make it up my curb and into my backyard with out sweating or cursing.

I’m sure the neighbors saw it in the morning and thought, “Wow, we just put that out there a few hours ago!” But I am just really happy that my son loves it, the cops weren’t called and now I know more than ever I really can do anything! (But mainly just happy the cops weren’t called.)

Thanks for sharing with us (and cracking me up), Brittney! Check back next week to meet another area mom.

(P.S. Let’s go mommy is always in need of more submissions from moms or dads, so please contact me if you are interested and willing to be featured at lindy@letsgomommy.com. It’s super easy!)