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Growing up in a single-mother household, we didn’t really get to experience family vacations or any fun unless we went with a friend’s family. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I realised that my mother had never taken a vacation until I was able to take her in 2020—just before coronavirus—to the Bahamas.

She made every effort to do the best in raising four children on her own, based on her conditioning, so I respect her as any child should, but I have always wanted more. I wanted more for myself even before I had children, which only intensified after I had my sons. I ended up in a similar situation of raising them without either of their fathers in the home, but because I wanted to give them more, there were times that I found myself working three or four jobs at a time.

Can you imagine working 40+ hours a week, and still only being able to provide an okay lifestyle for your babies?

That’s exactly where I was.

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It wasn’t until I was aligned with a mentor that I realised I was in this place because of what I didn’t know about my own money . My mentor) has a saying: “The person that knows your money, owns your money, and that person should be you.”

After hearing her say this on several occasions, I finally realised that in order to provide my sons with the life I so eagerly desired to, I had to implement a family budget , which has not been easy.

But once I saw where the majority of my money was going, and where I could cut back on expenses, we were finally able to start enjoying our time with one another. After all , splurges and fun are actually recommended for a family budget.

As I mentioned earlier, last year, I was able to take my mom on her first vacation, and that was after swimming with the dolphins for my son’s fifth birthday—which I actually lied and said it was his sixth birthday at the time, but shhh, don’t tell anyone. For my older son's tenth birthday, we were able to visit Legoland Park.

We’ve been able to visit a few different places in the U.S., but I still desire more. I want to be able to expose them to other cultures by visiting other countries and sharing those experiences with them.

"We’ve been able to visit a few different places in the U.S., but I still desire more. "

Honestly, I think I’ve enjoyed experiencing these trips with them more than they have because I didn’t get to do things like this when I was their age. After all, who said that being a mommy couldn't be fun for you as the parent as well? No, seriously, who said?

Because of my mom's conditioning being the guide for how she raised us, my siblings haven’t travelled much or been able to expose their children to travel, so the chances are that that same conditioning will be passed on to the next generations and so on and so on.

"It wasn’t until I became an adult that I realised that my mother had never taken a vacation..."

Sadly, some people aspire to only do the following: raise a family, earn a living, and then die because of their conditioning.

What could your family’s life look like if you were to implement a family budget?

I should mention here that families can also have fun in several other ways. Please see a beautiful article on “Fun activities that families can enjoy together”. Let’s dazzle together even as we create time to have fun with our families.

Let’s dazzle together as we enjoy family vacation time.

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Asha Gilliam is a mompreneur, author, educator, and oatmeal raisin cookie lover dedicated to helping mothers become the mom they once dreamed they’d be to their children. After a near-death experience, she was forced to relocate and rebuild her family’s life. It was during that time that she was aligned with a mentor that helped her understand the importance of valuing herself, her time and the significance of setting higher standards for her family than what she had come to settle for.

Asha’s goal is to inspire moms to become the victor of their life's story instead of continuing to be the victim of their circumstances. She created a unique concept of M.E.O (Mommy Executive Officer). In addition to being the MEO of her family, Asha is also the CEO of the Expanding with Asha, LLC. Expanding with Asha, LLC was built to serve Moms by showing them what’s possible by taking back control of their lives.

To learn more about Asha Gilliam’s works and interests, visit www.ashagilliam.com.

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