Please pass the tissues.

Ugh, it’s been a while since my last post.  Too long.  But there’s good reason, I promise.

My family battled a round of head colds over the long holiday break, and I am still fighting mine.  Go figure.  If I could only have a couple days of solid rest, I’m sure I’d be fine, but obviously that isn’t going to happen.  Life goes on, head cold or no head cold, so here I am.

I’ve been through several boxes of tissues, half a bottle of Nyquil, and a round of pink eye.  Good times.

With any luck, I’m at the tail end of this thing, and can resume my normal activities in my typical cloud of mommy-haze rather than the cloud of cold meds that I’ve been in this week.

Touché, Universe.

Like many other small-business owners, I utilize Facebook to announce new products, free shipping codes, and other fun information to keep my customers engaged with my AVON business.  Building my team by recruiting new reps is just another objective of my business page, and I often post information about how someone can join AVON.

Earlier this week, I saw a post from another rep which contained a link to an article which highlighted AVON.  Awesome!  I love networking via Facebook, and it is nice that reps can share information like this not only with their customer base, but with other reps as well.  I was all set to write up a nice plug for my AVON team, but when I clicked on the link to check it out before reposting, I kind of froze.  The article was a list of top job suggestions for “girls”.  The feminist in me raised an eyebrow; why “girls” instead of “women”?  As a scanned down the list, I kept thinking “Why couldn’t men do these jobs??”.  But, the article specifically mentioned AVON as one of the top five suggestions, so that made it ideal to post it on my business page.  Obviously, I love my business and I do think it is an excellent way to add income to your household; but, men can easily have a successful AVON business, too (and there are many that do!).  My point: I had reservations about using this article as a recruitment hook, but I figured I was just over thinking the topic and went ahead and posted it.

The following day, I was driving with my youngest son to preschool, and he was chattering away.  After one particularly long-winded statement, he asked “Mommy, am I smart?”.  Without hesitation, I answered “Yes!!”.  He went on, “I think Daddy is smart, too”.  I agreed.  Then, just to build up my own self-esteem, I asked him “Is Mommy smart?”.  He paused; my left eyebrow shot up.  He responded with “Ohhhh, no, Mommy.  You are not smart”.  He had a sympathetic tone, as if he was carefully breaking this news to me.  He continued, “Only boys can be smart.”

Seriously, one of these days my left eyebrow is going to shoot right off my head.

I quickly launched into a lecture about how girls are just as smart as boys, and can do anything boys can do, and it doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl as long as you work hard and apply yourself.  I’m sure that all he heard was “Blahbity blah blah blah”.  He is only four years old, after all.

After I dropped him off at school, I was still stewing over his comment.  How could my precious little boy have such chauvinistic tendencies at such a young age?  How have I failed so horribly in showing my kids that everyone is equal?

Then it hit me.  I perpetuated gender stereotypes by posting a link on Facebook to that stinking article, even though I knew better.  I was being punished by the universe for being so irresponsible.

Ok, ok; maybe that’s not it. But it did make me realize again that we have SO much work to do to teach our kids that everyone, regardless of who they are, is equal.  In this case, I need to teach him that he is not smarter just because he is a boy.  You are smart if you are open to learning, ask a lot of questions, set goals, and work hard…whether you are a boy or a girl.  Or should I say man or woman?

Ugh.  This mom thing is hard.

(That post has since been removed from my business page.  I’ll find other ways to promote my team, so as not to tempt the universe again, and hopefully save my eyebrow from any unnecessary exercise.) 😉

Back to the same ol’, same ol’…

After a lovely holiday break, we had to rise and shine extra early today to return to our “normal” schedule.  My alarm went off way too early (as I enjoyed the luxury of “sleeping in” until 8am for the last couple of weeks), and although I fully anticipated a huge struggle from the kids to get ready for school, it was a surprisingly smooth transition back to reality.  My youngest duckling returns to school tomorrow, and I’ll have something I haven’t had for more than two weeks: two and a half hours of kid-free time.

I almost feel guilty about enjoying those two and half hours so much.  I don’t get to do anything indulgent, like watch my shows on television, shop for shoes, or take a nap.  No, I fill those hours doing the errands that kids hate (on tomorrow’s agenda: renewing my license plates, woo hoo!), or scrubbing things in the house that will have time to dry before the kids return from school.  Do I know how to party or what??

As excited as I get about my “break”, there is a problem:  I plan about six hours of tasks to complete in that brief time period.  Then, I get all stressed out and discouraged that I didn’t finish my list and just blow off the rest of the day (how do you think I’ve found so many great items on Pinterest??).  So, my goal for this year is to try to be more realistic in what I can actually accomplish, then save time at the end of the day to enjoy the fact that I did finish my list instead of being grumpy that I couldn’t get through it all.  The result should be a more relaxed, organized, and happier mama.

It’s going to take some time to adjust, that’s for sure!  It’s already 5pm, and while I’ve done quite a few things from today’s list, I still have dinner to make, laundry to fold, kids to corral…deep breaths to take.

All good things in due time, though, right?!?

The Sock Monster’s Kingdom

Everyone has missing socks.  No matter what you do, or how organized you are, chances are you’ve lost a sock in the wash.  Where do they go?  It’s like there is a monster living in the dryer that feeds on socks.  At least, that’s how I’ve imagined it.  So many years of finding sad, lonely socks without their mate will cause a mind to conjure up interesting reasons as to the whereabouts of the rogue socks.

But in my house, it doesn’t stop at socks.

Random items come up missing frequently around here.  Given, with three kids (ages eight, six, and four), this is not the most organized of homes, but our things go missing more often than they should.  My oldest son’s glasses, for example.  He had them one minute, the next, gone.  I tore this house apart looking for them, to no avail.  Two years later, they still have not resurfaced.  In my head, the Sock Monster now has some very expensive spectacles (as he must be able to see better with them…somebody should get some use of them, I suppose), for which he uses to steal more socks.

And shoes.  And important school papers.  And credit cards, house keys, toys, lipsticks, remotes, and just about everything else.

Including my youngest son’s beloved blankies. Oy, the blankies.

I bought his blankies for him before he was born, and from the beginning, the kid was rarely seen without his “kiki”.  They came in a pair; brilliant, as one could be washed while the other was being snuggled.  However, once he was old enough to catch on to the fact that there were two kikis, he insisted on having them both.  Being the youngest of three kids, it was easier to indulge him in that than to argue with him.  Now, four years later, he is still fiercely loyal to his kikis and has a difficult time functioning without them.  You can imagine the commotion that fell upon the house three weeks ago when we realized that the kikis were missing.

Of course, we didn’t realize it until bedtime.  In fact, he had been snuggling with them on the couch just that afternoon, as he had to get three immunizations that day and he was sore and cranky.  But, poof, they were gone.  The poor little guy was so distraught, crying and panicked, which of course made me feel terrible.  We looked everywhere…for three days straight.  The whole weekend, in any free moment, was spent checking every possible hiding spot in this house, but no luck.  They were seemingly gone.  He didn’t sleep well those three nights, which meant that I didn’t sleep well, until finally I took him to a nearby shop to buy a substitute kiki.  We couldn’t find one that was just like the originals, but we purchased the only one they had in the store; it was “soft and fluffy, just like my kikis”.  It wasn’t the same, but it would do.

Days continued to pass, and I thought for sure that since I had spent $18 on a stinking replacement blankie that the original ones would pop up anytime.  Nope.  Then my little guy started telling us, quite excitedly, that Santa would find his kikis when he brought presents on Christmas Eve, because Santa is “magic and can do anything”.

Crap.

I was already all worked up over the kid’s Christmas gifts, because he was asking Santa for only one thing: a “big Flash toy that talks”.  I looked everywhere for that particular super hero, searched the ends of the Internet, and even talked to two different comic book guys…but nothing.  No talking super heroes.  He completely imagined this toy, and was convinced that Santa would bring it because he was a good boy.  Of course, I was so worried that he would think that Santa put him on the Naughty List because he didn’t get this fantastic toy.

As Christmas approached, the kikis were still hidden away somewhere. Fortunately, when Christmas morning finally arrived, all of my kids were absolutely thrilled with their gifts from Santa, and I was relieved.  Neither the imagined Flash toy nor the kikis were mentioned.  I had even stopped looking for the old blankies; I figured that if they were going to surface, they would surface on their own time (selfish Sock Monster!).

The kids’ holiday break marched along, and was spent playing with new toys, romping around in the fresh snow, and enjoying a much needed break from our very busy schedules.  Just this morning, the last weekday of their break, we were getting ready to head to the movies when they were invited to have a sleepover at my parents’ house.  What kid doesn’t want to spend time with their doting grandparents?!?  They were thrilled at the prospect, and bounced off to pack their bags.  Not two minutes later, my sweet little guy appeared in front of me, beaming from ear to ear…and clutching his two kikis to his heart.  “Mommy, they were in the small pocket of my Buzz Lightyear suitcase!  I found them!!”  He then ran off to finish packing, and just like that, the drama of the last three weeks was over.

Sorry, Sock Monster, the kikis do not belong to you after all.  Sock Monster – 43, Kearns Family – 1.  You can keep every last sock you find, but do not mess with the kikis.  That is just not cool.

My wish for 2013…

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone is enjoying a day full of relaxing, family, football…or whatever it is that you love.

Today is a day for hope, for new beginnings.  It’s a day for evaluating our lives and determining what we can do to improve things for ourselves.  While I do have a list of resolutions (that may or may not happen, ha!), I have one wish that I hope everyone will consider adding to their lists:

Just.  Be.  Nice.

That’s it.  Easy, right?  Apparently, not so much.  All too often I see little acts of pettiness, anger, even hatred toward other people that are just completely unnecessary.  I see these things in my community, online, in the news.  I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of it.

Now, I’m not suggesting that we all dance barefoot in a big circle and sing cheesy songs to confirm our undying love for everyone; I’m not that unrealistic.  However, if you see the opportunity to be nice, maybe think about doing it.  Hold a door for someone.  Say “please” and “thank you”.  Don’t say nasty things about someone behind their back.  Don’t judge others because their lives are different from yours.  Don’t call somebody or something “retarded” because you disagree/don’t like/find them ridiculous…and I do mean any form of that word (“libtard”, “fucktard”, “tardball”…unfortunately, there are more), and definitely don’t defend your ignorance for using that word when somebody calls you out on it (we’ll get into that more later!).  Volunteer more.  Wave “hello” to your neighbors.  Return your shopping cart when you’re finished with it.  Don’t let your kids be rude to others, even if they are “just kids” or “don’t mean it”.  If you make a mess, clean it up.

Obviously, some of things are personal pet peeves; others, things I should work on as well.  This is not a complete list, for sure.  Forgive me if I sound condescending or self-righteous; that is not the intent.  Everyone has room for improvement.  Think of it this way: put positive in, get positive out.  What do we have to lose by being nicer to each other?

It’s up to us to make 2013 a good year.  If we sit back and complain about everything, say rude things to or about others, and not try to make any improvements, then we’ll be sitting here a year from now making snide remarks about the way the last 12 months went.  I’d rather hear about how great everything is, and make a list of things we can do to build on that.