Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The interesting dilemma of summer vacation...who's really on vacation? I feel like I work all school year long and then it's "summer vacation"! I should be screaming, "Yeah!", but instead I feel liking screaming "ugh"! I'm thrilled to be around the children more, but where's the vacation part for me?

Work continues, but now the distractions of the day have increased. Trust me, entertaining four children isn't always easy and camps can be OH so very expensive! Put in perspective, however, worth it at times!

Children gauge their time as if it is infinite where as adults we know it is finite. Trying to make the most of it often being the challenge as mornings quickly slip into night and the cycle starts anew. I find myself continually saying "cherish these distractions; the noise...before you know it, the children will be grown and on their own adventures!" I'm a firm believer that my role is to build their foundation so that they can fly and soar from the rooftops if they so please, but seeing how quickly my first born has grown...it is only a matter of time when I'll be waving bon voyage!

I digress. I started this entry laughing about what summer vacation means to me vs. my children. While they enjoy that they can stay up late, I pray they stay quiet enough for me to get my 6 hours of sleep. When I get up in the morning to face its challenges and facets, I am greeted by all 4 children rearing for me to plan their day's adventure...now try waking those same 4 kids on a school night having gone to bed at their appropriately scheduled times! Forget it, the alarm goes off and they groan and pull the covers over their heads. Am I crazy or shouldn't they be sleeping in now that it is summer time. Why the burst of energy while I try to enjoy my morning cup of coffee in peace?

I guess trying to make heads or tails out of this is probably as futile as trying to stop time!

Friday, June 8, 2012

On a day when the weather outside is beautiful and all should be right with the world, I have spent close to an hour with Cynergy Data, my company's merchant service provider, discussing why a $200 penalty fee is unfair. A fee, by the way, that I only became aware of today because I called to answer a letter they had sent me. Response from the top management was, you should have been aware that you were penalized. How can a person keep on top of these penalties when on your bank statement all that it says is the name of the company? Or when a statement comes and it is full of numbers and abbreviations?

Being overly sensitive, I had to stop and look outside my window again to realize all IS alright with the world and that it IS beautiful outside. I have run my company for now 8 years, always putting the customer first; choosing to produce in the United States to help my country's economy. In the end, where I think we fail as fellow human beings is the desire to truly help one another. To evaluate what is important...keeping a customer or the $200?

Maybe I am naive, but how can a person survive with all the obstacles placed upon them by the economy and the big companies just looking at the bottom line? I think it's time for more people to look outside their windows and take a deeper breath of not just fresh air, but humility and honesty. Maybe then every day would be a beautiful day...rain or shine!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

It has been quite a while since I have written. Life, children and work have gotten the best of me it seems, but that is no excuse. As I look at what has transpired since my last posting, I realize that the most significant things have been my children coming into their own personalities and challenging the path I had so carefully (in my mind) laid out for them.

My fourteen-year-old daughter has more to say about life than she did at ten. Even my sons have different life choices they are making. When I challenge their views, they often come back with logical responses...making me question my original thoughts. Topics from music to TV to movies to clothes and friends not to mention school are more in their hands than mine. Our wonderful world of technology has made everything so readily accessible to my children. My five-year-old can use my iPad more efficiently than I! It is amazing and scary.

So where to I go from here? I can't change my belief system on what is right, wrong and acceptable, but I can open my eyes, ears and even heart to listen more carefully; to talk more openly; to guide more perceptively.

Children growing up is a fact, but HOW they grow up to be responsible and humane beings is a choice.

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About Me

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I am a mother to four beautiful children who have taught me more than I believe I have taught them; they have also been the inspiration to the products I have developed to help pregnant and nursing moms.