About
I have an idea…
Mommy Fuel. Giving and Living with Intention. A website dedicated to energizing a Mommy’s body and brain with useful family and home product reviews plus earth-friendly, affordable and high-quality products and services designed to enhance and ease a Mom’s demanding day. We are partners with our readers, our community and our environment. Our motto is “Enriching Mom’s Life Benefits Everyone.”
About Me.
My name is Kim Novak Proctor and welcome to my life. I am a Mommy of three (Charlie is 6, Mary is 4 and Lucy is 2) who is entering my fourth decade and living in weather-fickle Cleveland, Ohio with my charming (oh, yes…charming…he got me at “I like your look”) husband of eight years, Les Proctor, who spends his days (and sometimes nights and weekends) as a marketing consultant. Les is also known as Papa – let me explain the nickname – my husband is 6 years old than me, and although he looks much younger than his years, he can act quite geriatric at times, so one day BC (before children), as he was ineffectively trying to get his mass up from the couch, the melodic sounds of his creaking and popping bones catching my ear from across the room, I said, “You okay, Papa?” I called him Papa now and again, AC (after children) not thinking too much about my expression. One day, out of the blue, when my son was first beginning to talk, instead of saying, “Dada,” he uttered “Papa.” And the nickname, it stuck.
I was born and raised in a suburb of Cleveland (my parents still live in the house I grew up in), was educated for 12 years in parochial schools, hold a degree in English from Ohio University, worked several “non-degree” jobs along the way in several states after graduation (translates to all those English majors out there as NANNY and SALES PERSON), and ended up back in Cleveland working in the most difficult but rewarding occupation in my opinion – Mommy.
One day in early summer 2008, my husband asked me to come up with an e-commerce idea. “Think of something to sell on-line,” his entrepreneurial spirit, said. He had an extra e-commerce website that was wasting away, and he thought I could put it to good use. Right. In between feeding my voracious baby, getting my son prepared in advance by practicing sight words for Kindergarten which started in just two short months, making sure the other one wasn’t running around sans clothing like she likes to do (”I’m a boy, Mommy!”), doing limitless loads of laundry, figuring out what to have for dinner that didn’t require another trip to the grocery store for a forgotten item, scuttling the kids to swimming lessons, blah, blah, blah…you get the picture. Sure. I’ll have time to manage and maintain a website. Yep. Get right on that.
I have never been able to fall right asleep or sleep through the night, for that matter, since I was pregnant with my first (so, what are we going on, like over 6 years now?), so nights for me are spent laying in bed, listening to my husband’s earsplitting snoring, and trying my hardest to figure out how to make sleep come without downing a bottle of Lunesta…that’s when “I have an idea” came to me.
If I remember one thing well, it’s how I felt being a first-time Mommy. I’ll never forget. Being a first-time Mommy is the hardest job in the world. I felt isolated and lonely. I was perpetually exhausted (by the way, for our newbies out there, in case you don’t know this already, the being exhausted part doesn’t change. Go ahead and get used to it.) I didn’t have any close friends who traversed into Motherhood before me that I could use to answer my countless questions (I seriously thought that if my newborn went longer than three hours without nursing, my milk would dry up. Seriously. I would even sleep with the light on in my room at night – ha, I said sleep, it was more like a constant state of drifting in the white light with my eyes partially closed…to make sure I could see the clock to make sure I woke up the baby every three hours to make sure my milk wouldn’t dry up).
I was suffering from “advice overload” from the countless websites and books on parenting. I had my pediatrician’s office on speed dial. I swear they knew it was me as soon as I said, “Hello,” that’s how often I called. There were days I wished I could talk to someone, without leaving my home and not having to think about what I looked like (there were days I didn’t take a shower until my husband came home from work which meant I didn’t get out of my “comfy clothes” all day – ooh, those were some ripe days.) I think the only way you get through with your sanity intact is to have others in the same boat.
By no means am I an expert on parenthood. I’ve just had a little more practice. Three time’s the charm. Just kidding. And, after time, you start to realize, “I am getting the hang of this. I can do this.”
To You.
So, to you, dear sister in Motherhood, this website is for you…to ease your pressure, not add to it. Read our helpful product reviews, leave a daily intention (we might even give you a goodies box for your efforts), stimulate your mind with a good book, listen to some really cool music, enter our monthly subscriber giveaway, check out what’s for sale and how your purchase can better a child’s day, or simply click on one of our affiliates in our ”Break Time” section – you can treat yourself to a delicious, affordable meal-delivery service right to your home, stock up on tasty gourmet coffee or tea for your daily fix, or find a local, highly screened babysitter (or tutor, or dog walker) for a few hours reprieve. Try it. You’re worth it. Really, really worth it.
For Us.
Better, brighter, and bolder. Oh, and bringing back our brain cells AC (after children). Enjoy the ride. It goes by fast.
And A Little for Him.
My husband, a.k.a. Papa, asked for a small space of his own on this site, which I agreed to willingly since he was so instrumental in the creation and design of my website. And, because he loves me so much. Take a look at Papa’s Place to hear his voice.
PLEASE NOTE: I do not directly endorse products for money in posts. There is a considerable difference between an endorsement and a review. I write reviews on quality products my family uses (some products are new, some we’ve used for years) and pass along my opinions of those products to my readers. I do not accept samples to test products.
Posts featuring “Showcased Site” contain information submitted to me by the company whose product, service or website I have written about on this site and will always be disclosed to my readers. I receive compensation for including any remarks and links or logos in the posts from these companies.
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