Well Said

I am hoping you all can read this article.  I saw it in a post from a friend of mine on Facebook and love the response.  I think a lot of people out there agree that being a stay at home mom is hard work but I also know that a lot of people think we just sit around on our butts watching soap operas and eating bon-bons. 

I am struggling a lot with the stay at home mom job.  I love it, it is what I have always done and within a couple of months, I will not be employed in that area any more.  Getting a full time job scares me.  2 of my kids are in school so I know where they will be during the day but I still have one at home who will now have to be raised by someone other than me and that bugs me.  Not to mention, I love being there to take my kids to school and pick them up after.  If they want to do an after school activity, sure why not, I will pick you up a little later than normal.  So, getting a job will make me unable to do those things.  As much as people tip their hat to those of us that stay home, I have to tip my hat to those who work.  Those who give up that time with their kids and basically have someone else raise them 5 out 7 days of the week. 

To back up the article though, since that is what i initially intended to write about, let me back it up a little.  This is my day today.  My 2 year old climbed in bed with me around 2:30am.  She kicked and hit me numerous times, then decided she wanted to be awake.  After about an hour of her wanting to chat, I asked if I could put her back in her bed, she said yes and it was as if I heard angels singing.  So, off to bed she went at 3:40am.  I slept for another 2 hours and 20 minutes and then it was time to get up.  I made breakfast, got kids dressed, did hair and drove them off to school.  My youngest is now eating her breakfast and as my laundry washes, I am able to sit down to this for a bit.  As soon as that goes off, I will be thoroughly scrubbing my middles room and washing bedding and cleaning up the rest of the house.  All of this will be done while I also make lunch for my youngest, help her go potty every hour and make sure she knows I am actually very interested in her baby dolls and rocking them to sleep.  At noon I head off to get my middle one from school and 45 minutes after I have to go right back to get my oldest.  We come home to do homework for the both of them and then we have doctor appointments.  Dinner will be served and baths will be had.  Bed time stories and prayers need to be said and hopefully they stay in bed after they are put there.  So, that being said, does it seem like I sit around all day?  Could you understand why i would be tired if this is what I do every day and if I had 10 minutes to myself, how I may want silence?  I am sure the girl who wrote in felt foolish enough reading the response, I am not sure if she was prepared to have it start making its rounds on the internet.

And I pose a question relating to those women who do work.  When you come home form work, your day is like mine, so how do you do it?  I think the grass always looks greener and you wonder how everyone else gets along.  Did I mention I have subscribed to Working Mother magazine to try to prepare myself, lol.  I am worried!!!!  I would like to end with this though.  Whether you stay at home or whether you work and raise your kids at the same time, I think we are all pretty remarkable.  There is so much one every ones plates and sometimes it is hard and sometimes it is not but we push forward and know that there is a silver lining and it will be worth it all.  Good job ladies!!!!!

Crazy Day In This Crazy World!

I don't think that October 3, 2011 was a very good day for quite a few people out here in southern Cali.  Mine started out crazy and ended crazy and I am glad ti is now October 4, 2011.  Our first bout of crazy times hit when I realized that my middle girls earring back on her left side was actually implanted within her ear lobe.  After dropping the oldest off at school, we headed to the ER.  It was there that they found the other side was in there as well, not nearly as bad as the other side since I had pulled the earring not knowing it was in there.  So, 2 needles, a scalpel and 2 sliced open ears later, her earring backs were out and in a cup for us to take home.  My girl was brave, she didn't cry at all and the doc repeatedly told me how good she was and even rewarded her with a purse filled with coloring books, markers and clay.  We were able to come home for a brief second before getting my oldest out of school early to head to her neurology appointment.  Little did we know that as we passed a point on the freeway, a shooting was going down on the northbound side.  We soon found out when we got down to the hospital and the freeway was empty and the nurses informed us.  How were we to get home?  Side streets aren't too bad right?  Wrong!!!  When an entire southern Cali freeway is evacuated, it makes side street driving beyond ridiculous.  3 hours later, when it normally takes 45 minutes tops, we were home and feeling very lucky to have not been on the other side of the freeway at that moment.

I feel that I am completely aware that evil exists in our world.  I would like to see the world through rose colored glasses and at times, I do.  I like to seek out the good and bring smiles to peoples faces and have a smile on my own, but I am very aware that not everyone thinks this way and that some people may want to seek out the complete opposite.  I just don't understand driving down a freeway and shooting at random cars.  As I drove home it made me think, how would I deal with that?  I could stop and get us all down, but my younger one is strapped in a seat where she is unable, would she be harmed?  It is such a scary situation.  On the news last night a reporter went to the door of the family of the suspect (who is still out there at this very second) to ask if they knew he was capable of doing this and where he might be, etc.  The sister answered the door and just seemed to not care.  She had no clue where he was since he had moved out over the summer and didn't care where he was.  Not that I feel any sympathy for the man and what he did but I have to think, they seemed so uncaring.  Did he grow up thinking he was not loved and therefore started to hate people, people he had not even met?  After growing up, did he not have friends who cared or  a family who noticed his absence form love and took him in?  It really makes me want to smile more at people, especially those who look like they might need one.  Is it too hard that as a society, as children of God that we can band together and take care of one another whether blood related or not?  I know this is my rose colored glasses speaking but I think a little kindness can go a long way.  There was the story that was circulated years ago about a kid who was going home to kill himself because he felt that no one cared about him.  When he dropped his school books after getting off the bus, another kid came up and helped him and walked him home.  The kid decided not to do it and years later at graduation told everyone in his speech and the friend had no clue he had saved his life.  How amazing is that?  A small act of kindness kept a child form taking his life.  As a society I think we can all step up a little, show some compassion and you never know, maybe you will keep someone from trying to kill others or take their own life!

Weekend Tragedy

So I was a little uncertain on whether or not I wanted to post anything about the tragedy that happened in Arizona over he weekend.  Everything quickly turned political, calling out numerous politicians and government officials and I did not want to get involved.  Not that I don't have views on politics, I feel very strongly in my political views but I am not one to stand on my soap box unless prompted or feel the need to express my views.  However, when I woke up this morning (super early might i add, I am starting a new work out routine and I may or may not have been up at the butt crack of dawn to get my exercise on, that discussion is for another day though) and was able to watch the news (I always watch the first half hour of the Today show while my oldest eats her breakfast), it really sank in, but not in a political way.  6 people were killed and one of them included a 9 year old girl.  They said the gunman opened fire on his target (the congress woman) and then without aiming at anyone in particular, opened fire numerous times and was even getting ready to reload when he was tackled.  I feel sad for all of the families but a 9 year old girl?!  That just hit home.  My Girl Scouts range in age from 6-10, most falling in the middle region, they all have such bright futures and their dreams they want to accomplish one day are out of this world and I cannot wait to hear how they succeeded in their life goals.  So to think that one of them could be taken out of this world in a horrific way saddens me.  I remember looking over at my sweet girl eating her pancakes and thinking, she could be gone in an instant one day.  I think my mind always goes to her possibly dying of a seizure because that is a very real reality for us, but I never think about her dying from the hand of a gunmen who has a chip on his shoulder and more than likely mental issues.  I am sure that family is just reeling, waking up and for 2 seconds thinking of how awful that nightmare was, only to have the wave of grief wash over them and realize that it is not a nightmare but a reality.  I have had that pain hit me, after the loss of my brother mostly.  I was able to keep it at bay for a while but there was a day in which it hit me like a huge wave and I could barely breath.  I guess what I am saying (and I know people say it all the time) but don't take life for granted.  Make sure you tell your family and friends just how much you love and care for them.  Because no matter how much you try to protect your kids or family, it can all be taken away in an instant.  And if you are the praying kind, which I am, lift up a prayer for the families of those lost!!!!!!!!!

Life

Ok, so i know that I promised a fun filled blog with pictures yesterday, only I do not have any new pictures downloaded and I am being lazy.  Plus, there are much more important things going on.  did you see the first miner pulled out from the earth last night?  How amazing and historic was that?  I admit, I cried like a baby.  How could you not?  Families thought for 17 days that their loved one was dead.  Then the jubilation of finding out they were alive because of a note that was written and sent to the surface.  Then to be told they may not be able to get them out until Christmas!!!  Then finding out that today is the day.....who wants to hug their loved one?  As soon as I heard they were lowering the first rescuer down into the deep dark tunnel, in what is a tiny panic attack waiting to happen cage, I was glued to the tv!  Anderson Cooper was my go to guy, I love the way he delivers news!  I think he even told a couple of people to be quiet so they wouldn't be running the moment unfolding on the tv, who wants to hear other people talk?  I want to hear what is going on!  I was a little aggravated once Larry King came on.  First off, his expert guest on all things mining was Mike Rowe, you know, the guy from the show Dirty Jobs.  Don't get me wrong, I like to watch him do his show, the reality tv show that has nothing to do with mining, and he is pretty darn hot (I am just sayin here people, I speak truth).  But to be an expert guest?  And it showed.  I think Mike and Larry went back and forth on the order of who would be going first and who would be going last out of the mine.  I think it went something like this:
Mike: Who gets to go first?  Do they do the ultimate game of rock, paper, scissors or something?
Larry: Oh I don't know but I am sure it has to happen like that, how do you choose?
Mike: Exactly, it had to be that!
Really?!!  I am in no way a journalist for breaking news, I have never had an interest in being a high profile journalist.  However, I read a ton of times the day before that they would be chosen based upon their health and that would be determined by a medical professional once they had access to the men.  Hello?  are you not reporting on the news?  Know the freaking news gentlemen.....and don't bring on the situation to discuss important news events, I mean really.  Ok, so maybe Mike is a step above the situation, but it is basically the same thing when reporting on world events.  Alright, off my soap box I go to fish out my camera and hopefully have pictures and fun light-hearted blogging tomorrow :)