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True love

A bond between sisters…
Today, I cried. Not once, but twice.

2:30pm, my daughter Talia had a doctors appointment. Her first orthopedic inserts were ready and we went to pick them up. The doctor inserted them in her shoes and she walked around the office in her school uniform, school shoes and orthopedic inserts. Doc asked her how they felt. Her response, “they feel good.” My first thought, success! We walked out of the office, down a staircase and into the parking lot. Then, she stopped and looked at me with her big brown eyes filling up with tears and said, “Mom, I can’t walk any more. They hurt so badly!” Wow! Talk about being caught off guard! I asked her why she didn’t say that when we were in the doctors office. Her response, “because I was trying to be brave.”

I did everything to hold back external tears at this point. Then, my little Julia said something profound; “Talia, maybe mommy can bring me to the doctor and I can get the same things as you in my shoes so we can hurt together.” Then, Talia responded; “No Julia, you don’t need them. I don’t want you to have to suffer something you don’t need.” Internally, I was crying already, but after their conversation, my tears came out for the world to see. As I stood in front of my girls, tears streaming down my face, I smiled. It was one of the most beautiful moments I have had with my daughters. I decided we should take a walking break. Really, I just wanted to savor that moment with them. We sat together on the sidewalk and held hands. We talked a bit, they began giggling and both felt better (so did I). The final decision: forget about the shoes for a moment and let’s go get some frozen yogurt.

6:30pm, baths were done, supper eaten, and relaxation time for all of us. Julia, the child who cannot relax, bumped her mouth and was bleeding. While I looked in her mouth to see how bad the damage was, Talia disappeared. She came back a moment later with a cold and wet paper towel in hand, and handed it to Julia. She told Julia to put it against her cut so it would feel better. Knowing the cut was minor, I let Julia do it. Then the singing started. It was Talia. She was singing a song she made up for Julia about how much she loved her and would take care of her. I wish I remembered all the words but I was once again, too busy crying.

If anyone asked me what true love meant to me, I would respond saying, “It’s what my daughters have.”

Posted in Parenting | Tagged Family, Inspirations, love, Mom, Orthopedics, parent, sisters | Leave a comment

Living inside out

Do you have the courage to live inside out?

This morning, while eating breakfast with my family, I noticed my daughter’s shirt was inside out. I helped her get ready and wondered, how did I miss that? Sure, it looked pretty normal but her tag was definitely on the wrong side. I giggled. Of course, like anyone who loves to disseminate everything they experience, I assimilated this moment to the human race and the term “normalcy.“

A quirky teenager (aka ME), thought to herself one day… why don’t I fit in like everyone else? I feel pretty normal. The reality: I was NOT normal. Then again, neither was anyone else. From afar, the popular girls seemed happy. It was assumed everyone liked them. The jocks seemed like they were all friends. Again, this was from afar. What I didn’t pay attention to, was that the popular girls were doing things like stealing each others boyfriends, bickering about who got to buy the ah-mazing dress they saw at the mall, and who’s hair was highest (yes, I did grow up in the 80′s). Within every group, there were outcasts. Each of them, desperately trying to fit in so much, that they forgot themselves. I realize today, that I allowed myself to fall into that trap too. While I was trying to fit in with the “popular” crowd, I didn’t pursue things that made me happy.

Living inside out is exactly what most of us forget to do. It is the truly strong that are willing to expose who they are. I want children in this world to stop living outside in and start living inside out. My daughters shirt may have been inside out, but it made me smile. It’s not about perfection or imperfections, it’s about being real and true to yourself. Exposing oneself is a lot more fun than hiding who you truly are. It’s living inside out and giggling.

Posted in Inspirations, Parenting, Ruminate | Tagged bullying, Centered, living, Popularity, Self Discovery, Self-Awareness | Leave a comment

How an innocent day at the park can go wrong

An innocent day at the park with 6 kids and 2 mothers. What could possibly go wrong?

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and kids were playing. And then, one mom decided that it was time to take some pictures. What this mom did not realize is that the pictures would result in the below.

I just had to post them because they gave us suck a chuckle when we “actually” looked at them!

Posted in Children, Flummery, Funnies, Girls, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting, Photography | Tagged fun, Innocence Lost, Park, sun | Leave a comment

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Posted in Children, Family, Gifts, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Shopping | Tagged Best Mothers Day Gifts, cards, cardstore, mothers day | Leave a comment

Precious life

Watching the news yesterday (April 15th, 2013, The Boston Marathon Massacre), I felt a surge of emotion like many others. Life is short. I cannot express my immediate thoughts. They seemed all over the place. I didn’t know how many people were injured or dead, but did know that many of my friends were there watching. I, like many others, felt helpless. Watching the news was not easy at all! Pictures shown were that of runners, families, young children and groups of friends. It was mass chaos.

I needed to get away from the TV and clear my head. Since I had some errands to run, I decided to take a trip to Target. I dropped off my daughters at my parents house for a visit. As I drove out of their driveway, the girls smiled and waved goodbye to me. I started to cry. It’s not like that was the moment I realized how precious our time together was, but that moment defined much more for me which I can barely explain. It was something deeper. An unexplainable feeling that exists between mother and child. Something that cannot be seen or heard. It’s simply internal and strong.

Target was quiet. There were about 20 customers in the store. While walking through the isles, every time I heard someone talking, it was about The Boston Marathon bombing. I quickly moved through each aisle, desperately wanting to get out of there. I kept imagining the look on my daughters faces as I drove away. I couldn’t get their beautiful smiles out of my mind as they waved goodbye. I began thinking it would be the last time I saw them. At any given moment, we could lose the ones we love. At any given moment, our lives could end. It is time to stop thinking about what could be though. It is time to GENUINELY start living for today and enjoying what we have in front of us.

Yesterday, April 15th, 2013, is proof that something tragic could happen at any given moment. It should be a catalyst for all of us to start living! Our lives should be spent doing what we enjoy. Time with our families should be our first priorities. Laughing and loving should encompass the majority of our daily lives.

Yesterday, April 15th, 2013 made me realize how happy I was that I no longer worked at my old company. I was miserable. I could not stand how unfairly people were treated. I could not stand the office politics and favoritism. I could not stand the office bullying. I could not stand that when we had a surge of business and hired multiple people. Each new face I saw, I felt bad for. In my heart, I knew that the majority of new faces would be let go the moment business slowed. I could not stand that they did not realize their jobs may have been short-lived, and that they were being viewed as a number and not as people.

Yesterday, April 15th, 2013 reminded me to start living for me.

Posted in Centered, Humanity, Inspirations, Mom, Parenting, Ruminate | Tagged Boston Marathon, Corporate America, life, love, work | Leave a comment

The cookie caper

Talia: “Mom, how many cookies did you say I could eat if I finished my green beans?”
Mom: “2, and remember, I have a video camera watching.”
Talia: “Julia, should I tell her the truth?”
Julia: “NOOO Talia! Don’t do it! You’ll be sorry (pronounced sowwweee)! Trust Me!”
Talia: “Ok Mom… Don’t be mad but I kind of already had four but I am going to finish my green beans now! I promise!”
Julia: “Talia, do you think I should tell her what I did?”
Talia: “No Julia, she probably already knows and you are probably already in trouble.”
Julia: “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks Talia.”
Mom’s thoughts… so close… yet, an epic backfire!

Posted in Children, Family, Flummery, Funnies, Kids, Parenting | Tagged Cookie Caper, funny, Hmph | Leave a comment

Bubbles everywhere

Do bubbles ever get old? Bubbles are the number one “extra” I love to add to all birthday presents for little ones! Especially in the summer! Somehow, they are always trending!

As much as I cannot stand a song I learned with Talia at Gymboree, it has stuck in my brain and I most likely will never get it out! So… that said, here goes…

There are bubbles everywhere, everywhere (clap) (clap)

There are bubbles in the air, in the air (clap) (clap)

There are bubbles everywhere, there are bubbles in the air… there are bubbles everywhere, everywhere (clap) (clap)

Posted in Children, Family, Girls, Kids, Parenting, Photography | Tagged birthday, Bubbles, fun, gifts, gymboree song, presents, sun | Leave a comment

The morning hustle

This morning started out quite typical… hitting snooze on my alarm clock a few times, yelling for the girls to wake up… I laid out their clothes. I jumped in the shower. I jumped out of the shower. The girls still didn’t have their clothes on. I made them breakfast… clothes still not on… I dried my hair (a rarity)… clothes still not on…

Fast Forward… Finally, in the car, we drove to school. I parked (illegally), and the girls jumped out of the car. I grabbed their backpacks, my bag, a little something for a teacher, and Julia’s show and tell toy. Chasing after the girls, it happened. Julia, the little bugger, decided to trip me!

You know, the perfect kind where they act like they didn’t really mean it… yet, you know what is about to happen, but cannot do anything about it… Yes, that thing… it’s called the Holy Crap I literally just did a flip and landed on my a*s, scraped my you know what, as well as my hand, think my pants may have partially fallen down… all this in front of a whole parking lot filled with parents doing drop off. It was fantastic (insert sarcasm here)!

Seething, I got the girls into school. Neither asked how I was or acknowledged the blood gushing from my hand. Off to the pharmacy I went. I found a new type of bandage that conforms to your skin and has medicine on it (damn new innovations)! I covered the new super-duper bandage with some other type of bandage (thanks to Mr. Pharmacist who was clearly trying to make me spend money for no reason). Once in my car, I put it on. Bandage one and two didn’t seem so bad. Fast forward again… 20 minutes later… whoa! What was that tingling… Oh my… and the burning… Sh*t! WTF! Really now, they could have warned me that after the medicine seeped slooowwwly into my skin that I would want to scream and rip the sh*t off myself…

Lovely morning… how was yours?

Posted in Children, Flummery, Funnies, Kids, Mom, Parenting | Tagged Falling Down, Monday Morning, school | Leave a comment

What type of consumer are you

There are two types of consumers. Those that use what they buy… and then there are the ones that buy things but don’t really use them. Then, there is my kind of consumerism…

I like to buy things (clearly). My usage though, is a little quirky. I have made a list of things I buy and how I use them.

Things I buy, and use frequently, and even overuse:
Clothes
Shoes
Books

Things I buy, use, then stop using or use sparsely because I don’t want to run out:
Eyeshadow
Shampoo
Hand Soap
Incense
Perfume
Stationary
Candles
And the list goes on…

Don’t get me wrong now, if I am running out of a great soap or shampoo, it’s not like I stop cleaning myself or my hair… I just resort to one I don’t like as much. The problem here, I am not living for today. Heck, if I buy it, I should use it right? That’s what it is here for! I should use these things until their death! I attribute my hoarding to my parents. Sorry mom and dad but I am selling you down the river! My whole life, mom and dad told me not to waste. Somehow, the term “waste” resonated with me and now don’t “waste” has become a don’t “use” ’til it’s death fear of mine… as if I cannot get more. We are the land of plenty right? This is another piece of the puzzle to my quest for true sanity.

Moral of the story, if you buy it, use it. If you don’t want to deplete it, don’t buy it.

Posted in Parenting, Shopping | Tagged Consumer, Consumerism, shop | Leave a comment

Time capsule mystery

I’m not sure if it was the third or fourth grade, but I remember picking a few choice items from my bedroom to add to our class time capsule. We were told that upon graduating, the time capsule would be lifted out of the ground and we would get our things back.

Where is the time capsule now?

Unless I missed the memo, I don’t believe anyone dug that old capsule up again. Graduation came and went… in fact, it was almost 20 years ago. (yes, I’m aging myself again). I feel fine aging myself here though. Seems that according to the wine tasting lady at Trader Joe’s yesterday, I look under 30… she told me that she had a 30-year-old daughter that she compared all young women to. Fortunately for me, her daughter must look pretty awful for her age. Anyhow, I want to know where my time capsule goodies are and whether I will ever get them back. I N.E.E.D. to know what I added to it.

Here are some thoughts (clearly I am old b/c my memory has failed me!):