Do What You Love - Tristan Prettyman

Singer, Songwriter Mama Health Nut Bumbleride Adventurer, Tristan Prettyman   Your life motto is “WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY, DO THAT!”  Tell us a little more about how this has evolved since becoming a parent?  This became especially true when I became a parent. Having a child changes your whole world. Everyone tells you how fast it goes by. One minute they’re born, the next they’re turning 2. I felt a lot of pressure (from myself) to go back to music, and then also to spend as much time with my son, and to cook, and clean, and run errands and workout, be a wife and to hold it all together. I think most moms feel that pressure to do it all. It just got the point, I finally realized. Whatever makes you happy in any given moment, do that. You can do whatever you want. For me, that's be a mom, be a musician (maybe not today or right now, but in the future, it’s always there as an option if that is what brings me happiness. I can also try out a new career (health coaching) and see where that goes and what that is like. Or, I can spend my day cooking, sleeping, taking 30 min to go sit outside and read my Kindle, go for a long beach walk with Kylo. My motto is really a constant reminder for myself, that I always have a choice to choose what makes me happy and it doesn’t matter what anyone else is saying or doing. You always have that choice to change and create your ideal reality, to make the most of a situation, or see things from a different point of view. You might have a whole list of errands to do, and then be like, “You know what? That's not really what I’m feeling today.” You can put yourself and your family first, you can say no, you can cancel plans, you can stop saying yes to things/people that aren’t serving or adding to your life. And when you start doing that you free up time for things like hanging out with your kid, your husband, having a quiet night at home. I know I am never going to look back and regret we ate frozen waffles and berries for dinner, because I didn’t make it to the super market. Our lives move at a lightning pace these days. It’s becoming hard to slow down. We get so caught up in doing all these things, but are they really bringing us happiness? Are they really a higher priority than our families? I want to get back to prioritizing that sacred time with my family, so I am always trying to find the balance. By remembering what is important and reminding myself that I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do, I can create happiness in each moment. How do you see music and song writing play a role in your life now as a mom? Right now, I am learning just about every lullaby and kids song. We sing every night before bed. I have a song that I sing to him that I made up when he was about 6 months old and now it’s our song. It's called "Every day I love you.” I actually just learned to play my first song on the ukulele: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! Ha. I’ve always wanted to learn how to play ukulele. My mom comes over and plays ukulele and sings Hawaiian songs to Kylo.  He loves it. So now I know one song on the uke, and you know how kids are with repetition…it’s perfect, he always requests that one and sings along with me.  As far as getting back to my music, I’ve been building a home studio. It should be done in a couple months, so I am stoked to have my own space to create. Right now our house is too little. I need complete alone time when I’m creating, otherwise I get super self-conscious. You’re a Health Coach too?  How do you juggle all of your passions and integrate them into Kylo’s life while also finding time for yourself? I honestly have no idea. I feel like I am constantly over-booked and overwhelmed. Ha. It’s not as pretty, easy and effortless as it seems! By nature I am super creative and fly by the seat of my pants. I’m a totally procrastinator and I like to live in the moment. So it’s not in my nature to be really organized. Health coaching has been challenging in that way, figuring out my schedule, and when to book clients. and then how to fill in the blanks around that, and make sure I prioritize my family. I just try to stay in the flow and go with the flow and be flexible. I think that is the key to parenting and life in general. Expectations can lead to feeling let down, or overwhelmed. So I try to just have zero expectations, and yoga. I try to get to yoga 3 times a week, which definitely helps with all of the above. When I was pregnant I became really conscious of what I was eating and nourishing my body with. I knew I couldn't control much: my pregnancy, delivery, sleepless nights, etc. but I could control what I was eating. Being conscious of what I was eating, and giving my body the cleanest, healthiest, most nutrient dense building materials for the growing baby inside me seemed like a no brainer! I ended up making all of Kylo's baby food and make all his food (with the help of meal prepping) to this day. I posted a lot of what I was making and had a lot of moms asking me to share my tips and tricks, so that's kind of when I realized there was an opportunity to help other moms cut down on cooking time, and find healthier options that their kids would still eat. “I love this company, their mission, their standards, their values & all their eco friendliness. Baby gear don't get more sustainable than this.” Learn more about Tristan in her Adventurer Profile. Learn more about Indie.