Saturday, September 22, 2007

Pictures

I took some pictures of Aaliyah the other day. The dress she is wearing is one of the last things (maybe the last thing) my great grandmother made before she passed away almost 8 years ago. Even while she was nearing the end of her life, she still continued to think of her family and those great-great grandchildren she would never meet. She was an amazingly strong women and I only wish I had gotten to know her a little better before she died.









Here she is looking like a porcelain doll.




I swear she was screaming "Give me my BMW!!!!"

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Renewed Passion

These are two words we often associate with a husband and wife who have rediscovered each other after a while. Perhaps it is after just a few years of marriage and they realize they have fallen into a rut or maybe they are new empty-nesters who have the opportunity to remember what life was like before kids but now with the years of experience and work they have put into their marriage. I hope that I can use those two words at some point in my marriage. That is not to what I am referring today.
I sell Pampered Chef products. Now some of you might say "whoopitydooda" and some may think "how good for you" but I am beginning to think of it as my career now. One of the reasons I am able to stay home now is because I know I can make up some of that income with this job. I really enjoy it. I love to cook (although you'd never know it to talk to my husband) and I love being social. This is perfect for me. However, the last 6 months or so have been really slow. Like, I haven't had a real show since February about 6 days before my daughter was born, slow. We had our monthly training meeting today and it was great, as ususal. After these meetings, I always have a renewed energy to get back to it, forget the past and move on. Then, by Tuesday or Wednesday, I am back to the same old routine of putting things off until it's almost too late. Thursday night I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep (which has been hard lately) and really psyched myself up to get back to it. I am supposed to be making up part of the lost income and I am not carrying my weight. Friday, these wonderful children of mine decided to throw all schedules out the window so I was not able to do anything with my business like I had planned on Thursday night in my head. Now comes today and the meeting.
I have heard it a million times at meetings, in emails, in newletters...If it is to be, it is up to me. Today it really hit me. I really have to pick up my lazy @$$ and get to work. Will it be hard, yes. Will I want to put it off, yes. Will my family suffer, not really. Will I be rewarded in the long run, definitely. I have found that when I am acutally accomplishing something that can be measured, I feel so much better about myself. Almost to the point that I get a little bold. So...after today's meeting, I have a renewed passion for my business. I am ready to call people, get shows booked and start building my team. I also have a renewed passion for myself. I am a woman. Not just a mom and wife. I am my own person and have every right to have a job that I love that actually pays money (for some reason, the government doesn't recognize "mom" as a paying position). I am a Pampered Chef consultant and proud of it!
P.S. if you have my number, call me to book a show and I'll tell you what my goals are! :)

Saturday, September 1, 2007

I am "that" mom

Do you remember life without kids? Do you remember saying, “I will never let my kids…..” or “my child will not….”? Do you remember the first time you caught yourself doing the exact thing you swore you never would with your kids? I don’t remember the first time, but every now and then it comes back to me that there are dozens of things that my kids do that I just knew would never happen.
1. Happy Meals – I swore that I would break the junk food cycle with my kids and I would raise healthy eaters. If they got a Happy Meal, it would be with milk and apples. My kids were very rarely going to have candy or cookies and coke was out of the question. Reality – when you are stuck with a two year old (or three year old or 30 year old) you will do whatever it takes to shut them up or bribe them. “K, you can have the cookie when you eat three bites of your dinner.” “K, you can have daddy’s coke but you have to use your inside voice.” “R, you can get ice cream on your way home from the dump.” I also had a help in breaking this one because grandparents just think it’s absolutely adorable to give your children all the things they didn’t give you when your were a baby (ie: chocolate pudding at 7 months old, ice cream at 6 months old).
2. My children will never scream and yell at me in Wal-Mart. What kind of parent lets their child do that?? Answer – me. When you are not a parent you do not understand. Once you have a toddler you become deaf to many things including full out screaming in Wal-Mart. I truly believe that is why the store is so big and loud anyway, to drown out all the kids who are having meltdowns in the toy aisle (or candy aisle). On more than one occasion, K has decided that he now has the right to talk back to me or let me know (at about 120 dB) that he needs something. Now, usually this takes place at home and I can discipline him appropriately and immediately, but when you are out of the house you must be careful. There are people out there who think that even scolding your child is a form of abuse (and I am not exaggerating). That is a totally different post. So, when at Wal-Mart, I do what I swore I would never do. I ignore my child’s screaming fit, to a point, and keep going. I can feel the eyes watching, but hope that most of them are mothers who are looking at me and remembering when they last had a screaming 2 year old in their shopping cart.

These are just my top two. My question to you is, what are the things you swore you would never do, but did? Also, what do you catch yourself saying that made you realize that you had turned into your mom or dad? Mine is, “what is your major malfunction??” (love you mom!)