Heeeeeere's Johnny!

     I threatened to go Gangnam Style at the bus stop.
    
     Let's just say not a whole lot has improved about our mornings since the first day of the 2012 school year.

     Everyone was listening to me, yet no one was hearing me. So I did what every good mother does. I threatened them. Not only would I have gone all Gangnam, but I'm pretty sure I would have worn sunglasses. Nothing like the threat of public humiliation to get you in gear.

     Of course this was after I sang the most annoying song in the history of the world to get them out of bed just a tad quicker. In the most annoying voice I could muster, I sang this little hand-clapping ditty that our girl scout troop used to sing...

     Say, say little playmate.
     Come out and play with me.
     And bring your dollies three.
     Climb up my apple tree.

     Slide down my rainbow,
     Into my cellar door.
     And we'll be jolly friends,
     forevermore, forevermore, forever more...more...more.

     (Say this like Chandler Bing) Ummm, could there be a more annoying song to wake up to in the morning?

     For two boys? I think not.

     In all fairness, they actually get up pretty well. It's after that when chaos ensues. Or actually, it seems to be whenever we have time constraints or pretty much have to be anywhere. It can be summed up in four words.

     No. Sense. Of. Urgency.

     My youngest could have one leg in his pants while getting dressed and decide to do something like play a board game. This hasn't happened yet, but will any day now.

     One day my youngest even came home from school with a polo shirt on backwards. Like, the kind with three buttons in the front...on BACKWARDS. I tell myself that this somehow occurred on the bus on the way home and that surely all of us couldn't have been that nuts that morning. However, this is the child who wore cleats to preschool two days in a row because we couldn't find his shoes.

     My oldest could be wearing a Velcro suit with everything he needs stuck to it, and we still wouldn't be able to find something.

     And I truly, TRULY would like to make it until 7 a.m., without feeling a tiny bit like Mommy Dearest.

     And it's not just school. Whenever we are on a deadline, things happen. Someone will have to poop as we are walking out the door, or on the way to baseball practice a hummingbird will fly in the house (true story.)

     One day I was so befuddled by the time we left, I drove to the wrong sport.

     The other morning before school I was particularly stressed out. I decided to go with the saying "fake it until you make it." I plastered a huge smile onto my face and hoped that if I smiled long enough maybe I would feel peace and happiness.

     My husband took one look at me and cracked up, because I'm pretty sure I looked a lot like Jack Nicholson right after he pops his head through the splintered door with a billowing, "Heeeeeeeere's Johnny!"   

     I'm sure I'm a lot to blame. I'm not a great morning person, and I'm sure I could wake up earlier so things would go smoother. They would have time to wake up and unwind more before they have to get going. Blah. Blah. Blah.

     On the flipside, our nights rock! We might all watch a family friendly show together, or pile up in a big "snuggle patch" as my littlest one calls them. Heck, just the other night, in true Bill Cosby style, we even had a trial to see if my husband had, in fact, killed the moth we found dead in the trash that I wanted to peacefully capture and set free. I was serious about it. My oldest was the attorney, and I was even trying to find the meat tenderizer to use for a gavel.

     So our evenings are fun, even sometimes downright spectacular. But those mornings...

     And I do take a lot of the blame for this. I'm not organized. I need to implement a better system. If I came up with something, I'm sure they would follow it. Who is the parent here? I'm sure the chaos in the morning is possibly them just getting caught up in the whirlwind that is otherwise known as their mother.

     But the good news is that I did not have to dance at the bus stop. Whew, that was close. The most embarrassing bus stop event was probably from last year when I wore kelly green heels with pajama pants while waiting on the bus.

     I probably couldn't find my shoes.

    Yeah, no idea where they get it...


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There Is Light

     Sometimes we forget.

     Sometimes in the midst of all the dark and ugly, we forget that there is so much good.

     In the midst of the school shootings and abuse and madness, we aren't able to see the light.

     The media does a good job of showing us all that is wrong, all that is scary.

     I used to be a part of the media. I wrote for a couple of newspapers. I know a little bit about how it works. Unfortunately, if it bleeds it leads. I am not here to media bash. The media is important. It's important to know what is going on around us, what is being done to us, what we can do to fix things.

     Media actually protects us...but...it's a double edged sword. That which informs us, that which protects us, can also harm us. It can dampen our spirits, beat us down, cause us to throw our hands in the air and sometimes throw in the towel.

     It's not easy living in these times. It's not easy to find peace. Even if the goal is to protect us, it's not always easy hearing about all of the things in our food that is killing us. Oh, and that drug that is supposed to be helping you? So sorry. We just found out it's killing you too.

     No wonder our society is running rampant with anxiety and anxiety disorders.

     And sometimes we don't even realize what it's doing to us. It's a slow burn.

     But there is light.

     It's not easy to see at first. It's not a welcoming beacon that absorbs us in its enveloping light. Sometimes we must search for it, seek it out.
But it's there. Boy, is it there.

     In the midst of the Sandy Hooks and the political division that is even now invading our churches, there is also this...  

http://makinglifewhimsical.blogspot.com/2012/12/kindness-inspires-kindness.html

     A woman who rallied a team of people to do 40 extraordinary acts of kindness for others as a celebration of her 40th birthday. Bet you didn't see this on the news.

    
     In the midst of the the hopelessness, there is also this...

http://lifewithgreyson.blogspot.com/

     It's just a blog by an everyday mom who has been dealt a challenging hand. But rather than wallow in self pity, she chooses to reach out to others by sharing her journey with beautiful autistic children in hopes to help others thrive.

     For everyone who is uncomfortably looking away, there is certainly someone who isn't, and who is doing something about things like this...

KONY 2012

www.youtube.com

The KONY 2012 is a campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a p...

 

or this...

END IT : Shine a Light on Slavery

www.enditmovement.com

     And for all of the hate out there, there is someone like this...

     http://momastery.com/blog/

    A woman with 50,000 PLUS followers who is starting a 'Love Revolution' and a place to help others.  

     There is so much good. It's unfortunate that it's harder to find. Uncommon to hear about. But it's out there.

     There is light.

     Find it. Focus on it. And breathe it in.

     So we can live it.    

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Behold the Power of the Insignificant

Who would think that this...





could make me so happy. Or that this...




could be so flipping irritating?


     Today I learned a big lesson. It doesn't take much to excite me. I always hear about all of these things that are the key to happiness. How a long, strenuous workout at the gym five times a week will change my life. Or how eight hours of sleep a night will make me a new person. Or maybe giving up sugar. I'm absolutely positive that those things are true, I really am, even though they are yet to be discovered by me.
     However, I so often forget just how little it requires to put a spring in my step. Today I bought a new soap dispenser and filled it with some liquid soap from Williams Sonoma. The soap smells like winter air, a crisp fire, and coziness in a container. That's it. Soap. Soap lifted my spirits.
     But that is not the only thing today that lightened my mood. Stevie Wonder was in the house today. Now, I like Stevie Wonder alright, but would not really call myself a Stevie Wonder fan. I just so happened to have the song "Superstitious" on my iPhone because I downloaded all songs spooky for a Halloween party earlier this year. While making the kids shells and cheese today, I hit 'shuffle' and Stevie came on. That is one of my New Year's mini-resolutions. I don't make big ones anymore. Just lots of mini, easy ones. Playing more music in the house is one of them.
     Anyhow, today was only day I can recall that I have ever danced between microwave dings. And I'm not talking a little shuffle here and there. Mama was gettin' down.
     Why in the world I haven't been playing music everyday when I make lunch is beyond me. I hate making lunch. I want to get right to the eating part. When I'm making my own lunch, I don't get up and make it because I think I will be hungry in ten minutes. I usually start the process when I'm already starving, therefore, it's not a bit fun. Enter Stevie Wonder. Something so simple.
     Granted, lunch wasn't quite as productive for the boys. My little one had to jump up from his seat and dance around like a lunatic when "The Freaks Come Out at Night" came on. (Before you judge me, remembeeeeeer... the Halloween party).
     So, before you decide I'm the most pitiful person in the universe, please know that music and smelly soap did not change my life. Not. At. All. But yet, if two tiny little seemingly insignificant things can make your day just a little bit better. What could about twenty tiny little things do?
     I'm so guilty of thinking that the worthwhile things are always the big things. And that's simply not true. Little things can change your day. And everyones things can be very different. I have friends who get manicures. Lots of people's 'thing', but not mine. Not only do I not have fingernails, but my OCD self would have to watch every tool dipped in alcohol right in front of me. Not relaxing.
     A few days ago I bought some lipstick that the actress Ginnifer Goodwin wears. I think she has such a simplistic beauty about her. For just a moment, my little middle school self, pretended I looked like her. (When you are doing this it is important to not walk by any mirrors or reflective surfaces). I already made that mistake once before when I bought a Tyra Banks modeled Miracle Bra. Still waiting on that miracle...
    I guess what I'm saying is that I received a lesson in simplicity today. Find your little things and do them. If it's eating with fancy utensils, eat on Sista! If it's playing music at dinner, go for it. If, after helping with a school craft, you peel Elmer's glue off your hand like you did in second grade while you watch TV, ummm...peel away. (I will not confirm nor deny.) But, nothing is too weird or small.
    Tomorrow I might even put on my Ginnifer Goodwin lipstick, while I make macaroni. Maybe Stevie will even be singing..."Isn't She Lovely?"

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Stressed Mom's Cafe: Happy New Year <--- How Original!!!

Stressed Mom's Cafe: Happy New Year <--- How Original!!!:      Sometimes I wonder if I'm really a cowgirl.      I've always had this ability to totally immerse myself in my surroundings. If I'm ...

Happy New Year <--- How Original!!!

     Sometimes I wonder if I'm really a cowgirl.
     I've always had this ability to totally immerse myself in my surroundings. If I'm outside doing 'outdoorsy' things, I suddenly want to ride the rapids down a wild river, slap on some turquoise, and perhaps wear a long braid, while I work out my arms rowing.
     When I'm riding a horse, I totally feel like that is what I am meant to do. Train horses. Heck, I'm a Kentucky girl after all. Maybe even show horses.
     I also feel like there is a part of me that should be living in a flat in New York trying to make it as a writer. But there is an equally strong part of me that feels maybe I should have been born back during the Civil War, except for the corsets...(nevermind).
     I haven't decided if this means at 40 I still haven't really discovered who I am, or if I simply have an open mind and like to try new things and experience life to the fullest. I'm going with the latter.
     I suppose it could possibly mean that I am simply very susceptible to the power of suggestion. Because I promise you that those HSN people can show me the ugliest 'Mother's Ring" in the world, and within thirty minutes I'm pretty sure my happiness depends on my purchasing it.
     The point that I hope I'm eventually getting around to is that I absolutely love the promise of a New Year where anything wild and wonderful can happen. It doesn't matter if your regular day consists of carpools and laundry, you can truly do amazing and life changing things.
     You can get in the best shape ever (stay with me, I can fantasize), make a positive difference in someones life, a difference that you may know about or that you may never discover, but very real and important nevertheless. This might be the year for discovering your true passion, or leaving your comfort zone and stepping outside the box and realizing that you should have stepped out a very long time ago.
     For some reason, even though January 1, is just another day, there is just something about it that promises possibilities and opportunity.
     I read a quote the other day by G.K. Chesterton. He said, "The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul."
     The new year is an opportunity to wipe our slate clean and do what we have been doing, but do it much better, or to do something altogether different.
     I think something altogether different sounds pretty darn exciting.
     As author Mary Oliver urges, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?'
     That clock is ticking. Let's get to it.