Thirty three year old Julia Rosien was a regular Earth Mother--or, at least "Mother Earth," according to the teachers at her oldest son's school. "I looked like it too," says Rosien. "Nice and round!"

But those dreams weren't the only ones Rosien possessed. Before she married, a nearby school for journalism accepted her. She'd also applied to and been accepted for work in the wilds of Africa. But Rosien had just become engaged. She did what a lot of women do--postponed her dreams for more immediate happiness (in the "wilds" of domestic bliss).

Did she always possess such wisdom? Maybe deep down, but after the birth of her last child, it took some serious soul searching to find that well of serenity.

Rosien suffered a deep depression and couldn't understand why. "What could I possibly be depressed about?" she asks. "I had four beautiful children, a loving husband and we had just bought our first home. What more could I want?" She answers now with a resounding, "Me!"

Rosien set out to reclaim herself. Unfortunately the old Julia wasn't hanging from a shopping rack or waiting in a coffee shop on one of those rare mom's afternoons out. She was no longer at home in that next sweater she wanted to knit either.

At that point, her children didn't need her as much. "They came home from school and wanted to play with friends," she says.

Now that "Mother Earth" is getting paid for doing what she always knew she loved, is she still cooking seven nights a week and hanging clothes out on the line? Her kids may not do all the chores, but Rosien does less around the house.

"I went on strike," she says, relating how the kids rebelled about a year ago when her time spent writing required they do more chores. One day when the kids' attitudes had taken a nosedive, they came home for lunch to discover mom hadn't made them anything. Rosien told them they could have whatever they wanted as long as they cleaned up afterward. She’d purposely made her kitchen spotless so they could see what a mess even fixing lunch produced. "They of course chose cookies," she jokes. "But they went back to school unhappy and smarter!"

Rosien's "strike" only lasted a day or so before the kids wised up. "Now, they're self-sufficient and helpful," she says. "And we're all happier knowing that not one person has to do it all."

Rosien believes her kids are stronger now that she can't be relied on for every little thing. And like all Mothers Who Dream, she realizes her example encourages the hopes and desires her children each possess.

"I think anytime a child sees a parent doing something for him or herself that they learn from it," Rosien says. "They learn that the world doesn't revolve around them, and other people have goals, dreams and disappointments that are equally as important as theirs."

Julia writes regularly for iParenting and has contributed to Moondance, Familyclick, Writer's Ezine.com and the Family Room. Her work has also appeared in various parenting print publications in the US and Canada. She writes a regular column for a community newspaper and her opinion pieces have been accepted in her regional newspaper. She dreams to expand her writing to other areas of writing in both print and on-line media.