Hi there! My name is Tiffeny Wilbourn!
I am a newer member of the Alamo City Moms team, and I’m so excited to participate as a contributing writer. Read my 20 questions below to find out a little more about me, my family, and our love for San Antonio.
How do you like to start and end your day?
Coffee! For the love of all that is good in the world, I must start my day with coffee! It’s beyond a “like” at this point. It is for the safety and well-being of others. At the end of my day, I like to put everyone to bed and sit quietly to decompress. As a neurodivergent mom, I am overstimulated easily, so I need about an hour of wind-down time to process the day. After that hour, I will connect with the hubs and start to function again.
What part of parenting drains you? What part of parenting energizes you?
Since our children are at two different stages, the older two being school age and the baby almost one-year-old, I’m drained with each of them differently. For my older children, it has to be running on their schedules—specifically, getting everyone up and out the door for school (hence the coffee must). With my baby, it’s nap time. She is great most days, but the whole house is exhausted when she fights naps! As for the part of parenting that energizes me, it is the same across all fronts. I LOVE watching each child grow and become their own person. Before my babies were even born, I would daydream about every little feature they would have, how their voices would sound over the years, and even which quirks they would pick up from my husband and me. As they get older, I try to take mental notes of every little thing because I know I will inevitably forget. Thank goodness for Facebook and Instagram memories! Even when parenting is at its most difficult, I remember that the days are long, but the years, at least for me, are painfully short.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
I hide in my car. I’ve always been that way. I just about lived in my car the minute I could drive. Now, as an adult, it’s become even more of a sanctuary. I will run an errand, and when I get home, I will sit quietly in the driveway for about 30 minutes of extra time before I’m prepared to reengage in the world… Did I mention I need lots of wind-down time, lol?!
What’s your favorite game to play?
Usually, I don’t have the attention span to play games, but when I do, Pokémon GO is where it’s at, y’all! In fact, my first article for ACM was about POKÉMON GO FEST.
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
What you feel is dire now will not matter in the future. You will grow, and life won’t be like this forever because the best is yet to come!
Is there any experience you think everyone should be required to have? What is it?
Oh my goodness, I have a laundry list of these. I almost don’t know where to begin. I think everyone should be required to take old school Home Ec, bike riding safety courses, and learn how to take care of the elderly or a person with disabilities… and therapy, 1,000% go to therapy for sure! Everyone can use a little time on the couch.
What’s one of your favorite memories from the past year?
All of the firsts with our soon-to-be one-year-old! She is our last kid and only girl, and it took some time to be blessed with her existence, so I cherish every second of her.
What’s the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?
As a college student prone to making impulsive decisions, my Uncle Jimmy gave me some of the most impactful advice that I now pass along to my children: “If it’s a good idea right now, it will be a good idea later.”
What’s one item you can’t leave home without or is always in your bag?
HAHAHA, a shirt, pants, and my car key. Everything else I have forgotten at some point and usually don’t carry a bag unless it’s already in the car.
What’s one thing you wish you’d known when becoming a mom or what advice would you give to a new mom?
This is another bit of best advice. Our mentors have four (almost grown now) awesome kids. I often sat like a deer in the headlights trying to figure out how they manage life, mentoring, children, and their active schedule. I tried to envision my future as a mom when I did this and was quickly overwhelmed. Then, my mentor told me, “Tiff, they start out small for a reason. You grow as they grow.” This is part of what got me through the little years with my boys only 20 months apart.
What’s one hobby you’d love to get into?
So, before the pandemic hit, I spent my afternoons in the gym weightlifting. I have an autoimmune disease, and that was when I felt my best—mentally, emotionally, and physically. It was very cathartic for me, and I have yet to pick it back up. I know picking it back up will do wonders for my everything!
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? How’d that work out? What do you do now that fills your days with ‘work’?
HA, a swan princess! I didn’t quite make it there. However, now I play in a virtual world made up of the electromagnetic waves around us, so that’s not too far from a make-believe princess that transforms into a swan. In short, I am a UX/UI Designer, and my work is only limited to my imagination. You can check out some of my work on my PORTFOLIO.
What one ‘life hack’ changed how you do something?
Online shopping for everything. I spent so much time making lists and spending too much money if I didn’t make a list. I get distracted by everything in the stores, surprised by the total of my shopping trip, and of course, get tired of dealing with traffic. Now my different stores have a log of my past purchases that I use as a list, I know what I ordered, and I can have it sent straight to my house. Such a time saver!!
What’s your ideal way to spend your weekends?
I would love to sleep in and wake up at a property on the Rhode Island coast, specifically Watch Hill. I would spend my whole weekend at the beach, enjoying our favorite places with my family.
What is something you’re doing as a mom/parent you never anticipated doing?
MOM GUILT! I didn’t think I would feel awful when I give my kids consequences or tell them no. My most recent experience with this was when my baby bit me hard and I reacted with a yelp and said, “OUCH, NO, Stop! That hurts!” She started bawling. Then I was the one apologizing, and I felt like a horrible human for the rest of the day. Oh, and all the things I thought I was an authority on, pre-kid. I’ve eaten a lot of humble pie!
If you grew up in San Antonio, what’s one thing that you loved about your childhood here? One thing you love that your children are getting to know? If you didn’t, tell me where you grew up, how you got to SAT, and one thing you love that your children get to do/see/experience here.
I grew up in Arlington, TX. My family made their way here because my mom relocated to SATX. After our first year here, my husband’s work took us to Rhode Island, but the pandemic brought us back. Over those six years that we lived in the Northeast, we had family from both sides relocate to San Antonio. Now I am so grateful that our children get to experience having so much family so close.
What is your favorite place in San Antonio?
La Cantera Resort & Spa—we have so many amazing memories of our time spent there from spa visits to bump pics and family celebrations. In fact, it’s one of my SIX KID-FRIENDLY HOTELS that I wrote about in my last article.
What is your favorite restaurant?
Signature, also located at La Cantera Resort & Spa! During our first stay at the resort, my husband planned a special dinner for just the two of us. The dinner was amazing, but OH MY, the dessert was almost better! Just go look at their INSTAGRAM for yourself!!
Another thing I love about San Antonio is…
The laid-back culture. I tend to be a little more rigid and fast-paced, but being in San Antonio constantly reminds me to slow down.
What is something near San Antonio, but technically out of the city limits, that you love being close to or enjoy going to or WANT to go explore?
All of the natural areas. In Rhode Island, we spent so much time exploring the outdoors. Now that our youngest is almost one and we aren’t as bound by pandemic restrictions, I would love to explore all the natural beauty of TX. More importantly, I want to experience our children exploring their new home!
If you’d like to read more of my articles or find me on the web, check out my ACM BIO for links.
