Welcome back to the Meet a Mama Monday series! On periodic Mondays we’ll introduce you to a mama from our village. This week we’re featuring our newest instructor, Casey Rhoads.

Meet Casey! Casey is a long time Strider and brand new Stroller Strides instructor for FIT4MOM Downingtown! She earned the title of Mom in 2015 and is mom to three kids spanning from 4.5 years to 2 months old.

While she is a self proclaimed Jersey girl, Casey found her way here when she followed her college sweetheart back to his hometown after they got married. Before kids, Casey was a certified holistic nutritionist and jack-of-all-trades at an after school program for children with special needs.

Casey joined FIT4MOM Downingtown when her oldest was 16 months old. A former instructor approached her after a library class and told her all about this amazing group. She was apprehensive and dragged her feet to join, but after her first class she never looked back. She still remembers how much that instructor inspired her to be a confident mom, and now she is excited to be an instructor and help new moms on their journey too!

Check the schedule here and register for your next class with Casey!

What’s your favorite thing about being a mom?

Watching them grow and get older. Everyone always says "stay little", but I love watching them learn, explore and grow into who they are going to be.

What's the hardest thing for you about being a mom?

Remembering how I used to have SO much more patience

What advice do you have for new moms?

Trust your gut. And don't beat yourself up over the could-have, would-have, should-have. We are all figuring this out as we go. Remember that!

What do you wish you would have known before your first child came to be?

How inconsistent all children's clothing sizes are! Give a girl a break and let me easily shop for my kid!

What’s your best mom hack?

An onion! When ever my kiddos are getting snotty, I cut an onion in half, peel it and leave it in their room. Their room smells like a chicken parm, but the onion sucks all the germs out of the air and makes them less snotty!

Oh, and always have chocolate in the house.

Fun facts about you?

I don't drink coffee

My birthday is Valentine's Day

I have a 60 acre beet farm

"You are a *bad* cook, but a great baker.” - My Husband

I will do anything for ice cream