MADISON- As with most mothers, Elizabeth Neal has a deep yearning to constantly live experiences with her two children and husband and loves to collect those experiences into everlasting memories. Tracking her children’s every move through pictures and videos has been her passionate hobby since her son, Owen, was born four years ago. Add her youngest child, Hazel, 2, to the mix along with her husband, Todd, and you have the making of The Madison Mom.

The 31-year old Neal began “The Madison Mom” on Instagram and Facebook earlier in the spring of 2022 and has now added a website of www.themadisonmom.com to the venture she said came about after COVID as she mostly stayed home with her children and did not see anyone. She added, “I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to keep Owen busy. When the world finally opened up, I wanted to get out and do things and share with others how they can make a great day with their children.”

Hazel was born during the initial part of the COVID 19 epidemic in 2020 and since that time Neal has had a whirlwind ride of providing rich experiences for her children and documenting those experiences for her children’s future. Madison and the surrounding areas have an abundant, rich opportunities with an array of things to do. For Neal, those experiences range from strawberry picking, farmers markets, tulip fields, trampoline parks, baseball games, festivals or just a simple trip to the local grocery store. Neal shares these experiences on the three social media outlets.

“I read the book The Power Of Fun: How To Feel Alive Again and that changed my life as it inspired me to try new things and more experiences,” said Neal. “I have taken what I learned and incorporated into what I’m doing with The Madison Mom. Todd is very supportive of my venture and we literally share our experiences with everyone else. I plot out an entire month and publish those events through a calendar of events.”

The calendar is provided as a digital or printable calendar option. That way every mom knows what’s going on each day in the area. Neal’s currently even posting a “Peek at the Parks” series where one park is highlighted each week and those viewing the posts can see how each park is laid out and how others can enjoy a park near where they live.

An additional resource Neal recently created was a “Vacation Bible School Round Up.” She researched each church in Madison and compiled each vacation bible school into a clickable calendar for families to visiting the church site and register their children. Each Friday, she rounds up a list of her personal top picks for fun and new events into one post for easy access.

Neal said she never explored many of the places she finally experienced and having Madison Mom is a hobby and is very rewarding. The items on Instagram she handles herself and her friend and fellow teacher, Jessica Cantrell, who works at the Central Office of Madison County Schools, helps by bouncing ideas off one another and sharing experiences each have with their families.

Neal’s mother, Pat Posey, who died 10-years ago, is a sentimental force behind what she does as Neal indicated she has very few photos of or with her mother. “She is the main reason I long for collecting memories,” said Neal.

“I’ve always taken pictures and videos of my kids as this is nothing new for me,” stated Neal who will celebrate her sixth wedding anniversary with Todd in August. “The sharing is new for me as I think it’s very important for moms to get out with their kids and embrace the chaos of having children. For me personally, having children sparked the idea of attending church more regularly with my kids.”

“I grew up in Madison, attended elementary, middle and high schools here and I have seen how fast our community has grown and continues to grow,” said Neal. “With the influx of people coming to our area I love being able to show newcomers how to ‘live like a local’ and enjoy what we have.”

Contacts for the outlets are as follows: Instagram (@themadisonmoms); Facebook (The Madison Mom); Website: www.themadisonmom.com.

Neal also writes a weekly column for The Madison Record titled The Madison Mom.