HAPPY FRIDAY MWMs

Today, I enjoyed a wonderful conch snack for lunch and will enjoy my favorite beverage later, vodka and club soda with lots of lime! Wine just won't cut it tonight. Lol.

It's almost 5:00pm! And you know what that means??? Soon time to get off and start your weekend!  YAY! What are you doing this Friday?!  This weekend??

Signed, 
Glad it's a Friday, Candilaria

Guest Blog: Split Personalities

courtesy of www.resurrectionhouston.org

Have you ever looked at your kids and asked yourself "What was I thinking" or "Who fooled me...twice!!" 

Better yet, have you ever woke up wishing the kids were all grown up and no longer lived at home only to be kicked back to reality in the chin by little feet or morning breath in your face asking for cereal at 6a.m. on a Saturday morning?

I have been blessed with two beautiful girls, Raven is ten years old and Riley is two years old. Some of you may think "You did great, the older one can help with the baby" or "At least she can dress herself and make her bed"...Wrong, wrong wrong!!! 

These two little people are like opposing politicians in The House of Assembly. 

Raven has a strong personality, independent and always speaks her mind. I constantly have to remind her of who is the parent and who is the child. Riley is very clingy, a cry baby and a trouble maker!! Oh did I mention she's still nursing?!?! Yes, at two and a half years old with a mouth full of teeth!! Is it okay when your child tells you "Mommy lay down, want boobies"?!?!?! I don't think so!!  Raven weaned herself at nine months old but at this rate...I think I'm going to have to send my left breast to college. 

Presently I'm having the "P" talk with both my girls...The dreaded "Period" and the "Potty" talk; imagine that!! Okay picture this...We're  driving in a shoebox size car, one's screaming her head off because she wants to watch Dora for the 100th time on the portable dvd player and the other one is screaming "Pull over, let me out, can't watch another Dora show!" I'm holding my head and singing "99 bottle of beer on the wall"...trying not to loose my mind.

Having an eight year gap definitely has it challenges, no two days are the same but I wouldn't change a single thing about my girls. They are the love of my life. Even though they are as different as night and day, they do have one thing in common... me! I see myself in both of them. Having said that, what does that say about me... Am I a schizo?!?! Can any of you other MWMs relate to my "split personalities"?!?! 

Written By:
Natasha Nixon

I am thirty-three years old and I’ve been married for eight years. I have two beautiful daughters and a dog. I’m very religious, grew up in a Pentecostal church but I now study the Anglican faith. By profession, I’m a Property Manager to high end clients. My motto to my kids are “Do onto others as you have them do onto you”. I love being a wife and mom wouldn’t change anything in my world!!  

If I Didn't Drink I Would Cry

courtesy of always-summersanders.blogspot.com

I am a mother. My daughter is in Kindergarten. Her school day ends at 2:50p.m. I am a teacher. I can officially leave work at 3:15pm. I have made the decision to not send my daughter to my school.

Today on her second day of school I left school at 3p.m.

I was in my car at 3:03 p.m.

I arrived at her school at 3:24pm.

As I was pulling up I saw the Vice Principal. She was lifting my daughter. As I walked up, the Vice Principal pointed to me. Channing came running full steam ahead! She exploded into my arms.

Here are her first words to me...

"Mummy, it took you ages to get here. I was the last one there. All of my friends are gone!'

I should be in the school yard when my daughter walks out of her classroom!

As a working mother I am unable to get to Channing's school to pick her up on time. I am officially the mother whose child is the last to be picked up. The school yard was not empty but clearly she was the last Kindergarten student.

I am devastated. My best was not good enough!

What do I do? Tomorrow I will try to leave a few minutes earlier and defy school policy.

Motherhood has to come before career!

Until I pick up again,

Tiffany

P.S.

Is there anyone out there looking for a business venture? I think it would be a great idea to have a school pick up bus service that caters to Grade Two and below. A bus service with a friendly staff, booster or toddler seats, snacks, screens for kids to watch movies as the sit in traffic ... you get the picture. I would pay top dollar tonight.

courtesy of www.jeanknowscars.com

There are bus services but for older kids. I and I am sure other parents of toddlers are in need of another type of bus service.

Think about people. If you know a taxi cab driver who is not satisfied, sell this idea. It is so doable on our little island town.

DO YOU HATE YOUR JOB?

Do you ever wake up in the morning feeling like you just cannot get out of the bed?  Not because you are tired.  Not because you are tucked cozily underneath your covers. No no.  Because you dread going to a job you dislike.

courtesy of indulgy.com

The more I talk to women about their jobs, the more I hear the word “Ugh!”.  I don’t know what the percentage is but it seems as if a lot of women are not very satisfied with what they are currently doing.  Several factors can cause these feelings, according to Dr. Katharine Brooks, executive director of the office of personal and career development at Wake Forest University and author of "You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career.” There might be a conflict between your interests and the duties of the position; the job might be too demanding or not demanding enough; lack of training for position; lack of job security; you may have a poor relationship with co-workers or a supervisor; you might be poorly compensated; you might be in bad or unsafe working conditions; or you’re burnt out.”

Why would anyone want to get out of their comfortable bed to go to a job feeling like that?? 

courtesy of thesite.org 

A lot of us feel this way. Why?  Because we kind of have to.  Bills must be paid. People often stay in these jobs because they don’t realize what else they can do and what ends up happening is they fall into a rut.  A rut that you feel there is no way out of.  After all it’s all about stability and security, oh and pure comfort, that keeps us at these jobs we don’t like so much. 

Do you remember my post the other day about burning bras? LOL.  Do you think we feel this way because really we should be home raising our children and pouring ourselves into them? 

Well…I don’t know about y’all, but my job is my getaway from the kiddies!  It’s Ok to admit it. I ain shame!  It’s probably your escape to. Don’t lie.  Yes the stress is there.  And yes I work hard (most times) when at work.  BUT somehow it’s not the same as two screaming children in your ear, pulling on our leg, asking for this and that….non-stop…non….stop!

As much as I would love to be a stay at home mom….at the same time, I know me.  I know what I can take from what I cannot.  And trust me a full day…EVERY, SINGLE, DAY?  With these children??…HA…not going happen.  And as I mentioned in my previous post…I need a child-sitter AND a housekeeper.  I ain playin’! LOL

So, back to the point; maybe it’s just that we never took the time out to figure out what makes us happy or figure out exactly what our talents are.

I understand we all have circumstances that don’t allow us to do the things we would like to do.  There is time and of course financial obligations; that is a big one. Hello mortgage! Geesh!

But what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?  What are you desires? What are your dreams?  Where is your passion?

 

I’m here to encourage you, you can do it! Whatever it is you wish to do.  You can.  It’s easy to feel stuck in the “box”.  It’s easy to be scared.  But this is your well-being we’re talking about! (I am writing this post for myself just as much as I am for you!)

We want to be happy. Not stuck in jobs we don’t like so much that take up the majority of our lives!  Now, I’m not telling anyone to leave their jobs.  Next thing you know I’m receiving a bunch of e-mails saying yada yada yada…you told me to do it!  Nuh uh!

So here’s what you do. I stumbled on a few tips from a Forbes magazine article titled “What to do if you hate your job” written by Jacquelyn Smith. 

Here are a few of them...

courtesy of quickmeme.com

1. You assess yourself.  Figure out how it is that you got to this feeling.  Is it a new feeling?  Have you always felt this way? Is it that you simply cannot deal with some of your coworkers/supervisor? Is it the tasks you are asked to do? Do you dislike the environment? Make a pros and cons list and what you would like in a job.

2. Figure out if it’s you or the job you’re unhappy with.  Determine whether the things you’re unhappy with have to do with you, or the job.   This should help you figure out if moving is the right move. 

3. Talk to your direct report. Let your boss know.  There may be ways you can improve the situation, Brook says.

4. Set your career goals.  Where do you want to be in the next five years.  Brooks asks, “will your current role help you get there? If not, what would? And how can you move toward that?” These questions tend to put things into perspective for you.

5.  Look for opportunities within the company that you can see yourself doing. Maybe there are other positions within the company that you may be interested in.  Involve yourself with projects or initiatives in the company that would make you happy helping to improve the working experience.

6.  Don’t take it out on others. It’s never OK to be miserable on the job and treat your colleagues and clients unfavorably.  No one likes a miserable gus.

So with that said…

Whatever your desires, whatever you wish to do, you can do it!  Get out there, figure it out AND JUST DO IT!

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” - Henry David Thoreau 

Signed, 

Following my dreams, Candilaria

courtesy of liz-green.com 

Husbands Do Know Best

courtesy of urbanmoms.ca

Stop laughing... husbands can know best! 
This is only true if you picked a good man to marry. Some of you are married to men you don't value and therefore will not submit to, yes I used the word submit but that is a completely different blog!

Anywhoo...

I have a new shower buddy. Her name is Channing. For the past two weeks, my four year old daughter has asked to take a shower with me. 

Cool! 

Makes sense! 

Awkwaaard! 

Bath time is faster and drier. 

I can model how to bathe correctly. 

But what if she sees my tattoo?

Channing's desire to shower with me intensified because we have a fa real girlie moment. The boys take their showers first, then the girls put on their girlie towel head wraps. I had no idea a new mother and daughter routine would begin when I purchased them at Target this summer. (Totally love them though!)

courtesy of www.target.com

And so, Channing and I wrap our heads 

get in the shower and have a blast. We 

looked so adorable together, I took a 
photo to remember the moment 

right before we hopped in the shower.

Channing enjoyed our head wrap photo 

shoot so much that while preparing

for another shower she asked if we could take 

pictures again. Her Dad said "No!"

I gave him a quizzical look. His response was

"We don't take pictures with our clothes off. We should only take pictures with our clothes on." 

I opened my mouth to refute. I took a head shot photo the first time and would only do the same tonight. Okay fine, our bare shoulders were a tad bit visible. Clearly Eric remembered our shoulders and not our beautiful smiles from our first photo. I kept my mouth shut. 

Here goes... I admit it. Eric was right.

As a father, his goal is to keep Channing off of the pole when she gets older. 

( His words!) His foresight in achieving that goal began tonight with that one directive. Channing needs to be taught that she should not take pictures with her clothes off. But my goodness, the girl is only four years old. Does her father have to start teaching this life lesson now? Really?

The little life lessons we teach them today will one day soon be big life lessons to help them along the way! 

Little girls are posting nude photos on the internet all the time. I cannot say Channing will never do the same, I am sure my mother thought I would never get a tattoo, but I did. One day in the near future Channing will make choices I disagree with as well but that does not mean we should stop instilling values, morals, etiquette and good ole fashion common sense.

After her father told her no photos with no clothes on, Channing came up with her own proposal. (Her new favourite vocabulary word she read in a Fancy Nancy Book...check out the series) She said, "How about we take a picture after we put on our pajamas?" Absolutely!

My Shower Buddy and I after our bath

Our husbands do know best. 

They may not close drawers, put clothes in the hamper instead of on top of the hamper, put cups in the sink after use, put their own tools away, throw away diapers after changing them...sorry I digress, but if given the chance they are protectors.

Give your husband a chance to protect you and your family. 

I could have disagreed with Eric about taking another photo which in my humble opinion is a subtle way of emasculating him but tonight I stepped back and allowed him to be a husband and father.

Let your husband be a husband/father too!

Thank you Eric. In the words of Channing Hall and I quote..."You're the best!"

Until we shower again,

Tiffany