Free thinking
I have so much to say.
And yet, I still need time to process it all before I can share it.
Should I talk about the amazing time we just had at Disney World? How my kids couldn’t stop grinning and squealing that pure-kid squeal that could only emanate from someone so small and filled with joy?
Should I share the wisdom I learned from Guy Kawasaki or Chris Brogan? Maxine Clark or Kathy Ireland?
What about the family time? The lessons I gleaned from my kids and stellar husband?
Ohhh…and the videos….sigh. There is much editing to be done.
Not to mention, I still have thoughts to share on Blissdom.
What about the fact that I am heading to the OLYMPIC GAMES IN VANCOUVER in less than 84 hours to act as a correspondent for Procter and Gamble? I am over the moon….AND, I have this amazing interview to share with you - I talked to 2002 Women’s Bobsled Gold Medalist Vonetta Flowers and we chatted about what it is like to be an Olympian. I cannot wait. I am overjoyed.
Does it make sense that my head is spinning? Or that I am exhausted and just really want to snuggle with my husband (who has likely fallen asleep while I’ve written this short note)
And….. I still have to SHOP AND PACK for Vancouver - because, really - who has Olympic Games worthy gear just hanging around at their house? Clearly not me.
I have missed just sharing from my heart - and that will start again tomorrow.
Good night, friends…..
Blissdom and Harry Connick Jr.
Exactly one year ago, I was excitedly planning to attend my very first conference - Blissdom.
If you aren’t familiar with Blissdom - it is the brainchild of two of the most brilliant women online, Alli Worthington and Barbara Jones.
I had a spectacular time. I credit my time at Blissdom, along with the dozens of amazing women I met then and have since been lucky enough to call friends with the growth I have experienced, both professionally and personally.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I do know, I never anticipated the depth of the connections, the open arms of this community, the friendships that would cement in no time at all.
I knew I had much to learn, but (honestly!) it was like I had been sitting in a dark room and someone walked in and flipped on the light. Did I mention the light was fluorescent? And beautiful?
I laughed until my sides hurt. I took pages of notes. I slept even less than I do now because I simply didn’t want to miss a minute.
And YOU do not want to miss a minute either.
I’m serious.
Have you heard the news? I mean the REALLY-HUGE-ARE-YOU-KIDDING-ME-IT-CAN’T-POSSIBLY-BE-TRUE-OR-I-MIGHT-HAVE-TO-SCREAM-NEWS?
That Harry Connick Jr is performing at Blissdom?
And I am so excited - I will be doing a duet with him!!!!
(Kidding on that last part)
My personal, exciting news is that I am SPEAKING. But we’ll come back to that in a few.
Let’s talk more about Harry.
Harry and I have a bond. He sang at my wedding. He just doesn’t know it.
Did I mention he is performing at the Grammys? And then coming to Blissdom?
So, are you in? Are you coming? If not for Harry….for the women? For the learning? For the life-changing, soul-affirming conversations you are bound to have?
And because you want to come to my session?
I’m speaking in a Workshop on Videos and Vlogging with some amazing women: Audrey, Jo-Lynne, Jendi and Esther.
So hop to it.
In order to make Blissdom even more amazing than last year - we need one more thing:
IT HAD TO BE YOU.
Fabulous Fun To Be One Birthday Bag Giveaway
Sometimes I feel a little like Oprah. Not in that ‘Multi-Millionaire-Amazing-Talk-Show-Host’ kind of way - but in the ‘I-Get-To-Give-Something-Amazing-Away’ kind of way. And - the giveaway?? A collection of Celebrity Baby Gifts!
Not only is the Fun to Be One Birthday Bag truly drool-worthy, but the company who puts this bag and MANY others together has a beautiful, charitable heart. They do Celebrity and VIP gift bags for charity and high profile events, and they auction a specialized bag once every quarter and then donate the money to a deserving cause. The more I read about Jewels and Pinstripes, and founder, Julie Kenney - the more impressed I am.
Julie is a mother of two who has found her passion. Not only is she having fun - but she is helping people - many of them children. She is living, ‘Give Good, Get Good’.
I am THRILLED to be able to give one of Julie’s uber-fantastic Fun to Be One Birthday Bags to an incredibly LUCKY reader.
Jewels and Pinstripes has assembled this amazing gift bag full of innovative and stylish gifts that is guaranteed to spoil your little girl! The It’s Fun to be One Birthday Bag was recently gifted to Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Lisa Marie Presley, Marisol Nichols, Michelle Monaghan and Adam Sandler for their one-year-old girls.
This gift bag is valued at over $900 and includes the following products: Swank Mommy gift certificate for personalized mommy jewelry, $100 gift certificate for personalized stationery from Cardstore.com, Skip*Hop STUDIO diaper tote, Ladybugs and Lullabies hair accessories, Stonz Wear booties with sherpa linerz, gift certificate for personalized Mabel’s Labels, Sama Baby paisley dress with pink cover up top, stride rite SRT shoes, Angel Dear animal blankie and animal napping blanket, Zooni mop top hat, pink cotton romper from Life is good, Dittany Baby luxury printed tights, Bee-Tees T-shirt, Moment by Moment photo book, The Water Geeks BPA free sippy cup and hand, face and stroller plant-based wipes by Punky Wipes.
In order to enter, tell us which of the items in this gift bag makes your heart beat a little faster. (I know, I know - ALL OF THEM, but pick one or two!) To keep the spirit of giving alive - EVERY entry that is for SOMEONE else will count as two entries. Please tell us WHY your nominated friend would love this gift bag. If your comment is selected (and you have chosen to nominate someone else) you will have to provide their email or phone number upon winning.
For extra entries:
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This contest will run until December 15, 2009.
ExtraordinaryMommy.com is not responsible for prizes that are shipped from outside vendors or sponsors. All entries will be pooled together and one (1) winner will be drawn. The winner will have two calendar days to reply via email. Unclaimed prizes will be placed for availability to newly chosen winners after that time. Giveaway is open to United States residents only, must be at least 18 years old to enter. One entry per person, entries accepted through December 15, 2009 ending at exactly 11:59 CDT.
Confessions of a Bad Housekeeper
Ok, I’m bringing you all right into my world on this one.
The other day I tweeted this. I was trying to motivate myself to fight my inner slob. But you? You all responded in agreement. Apparently many of you have the same bad housekeeper battle too.
Unfortunately, my inner slob has turned into an outer slob. Work is piling up, and my house is disintegrating to the point that I no longer recognize it. Who lives like this?
Clearly, I do.
And my excuse, “it is only because I have kids - their toys and papers are everywhere!” no longer makes sense - even to me.
In an attempt to kick myself into gear, I am going to show you just how bad I am now.
One of three things will happen:
1) You will be mortified and provide me with sage advice that will get me going and help me to stay tidy.
2) You will smile and pat yourself on the back for managing to be even moderately tidier than I am (but still offer wisdom)
3) You will sympathize. You will tell me you understand the chaos.
Either way I will feel better. I will smile.
And when I am happy, I am motivated.
Not always to clean - but today?? I will figure it out.
Baby steps, right?
So, here goes:
This is my ‘catch- all’ kitchen counter. Yes, clearly I am in need of a better filing system.
And this is the area of the house where we come in from the garage - also a dumping ground.
This is my dresser…..I stop here on the way from one place to another to just ’set things down for a second’ (or for days!)
And my closet? Simply no excuse. Some of the clothes on the floor are to be donated, some to be put away for warmer weather.
And the bathroom? Disaster - even IN the drawers.
And finally? This top shelf in the pantry USED to be organized - until Delaney started Kindergarten and Coop started preschool and they began to come home with a bizillion papers a day. Feel free to yell ‘Pack Rat!’ at your computer. I deserve it.
Not only is living in chaos driving me C-R-A-Z-Y, I am definitely less efficient. I spend too much time searching for things I can’t find. And, I’m afraid I am a far cry from the model my kids need.
P.S. I didn’t show you the laundry room or my office….but simply imagine.
Help?
Lessons Learned During Soccer
I think it is my job to learn and evolve as a person, especially as a parent. I am supposed to be a role-model. If that means I learn a new version of patience, or keep my mouth shut when I am dying to yell, so be it.
Saturday’s Kindergarten soccer game was especially instructional.
I won’t bore you with the whole story but suffice it to say, I needed to CALM DOWN before I wrote.
Delaney has been playing for a few weeks now. She has pierced ears, as do a number of the girls on her team. The rule has always been that the girls could play with bandaids over their earrings. Apparently the rules changed.
But instead of the Ref (who was, at BEST 21 years old) explaining the situation to the coaches, I heard phrases like:
“Well THEN THEY CAN’T PLAY!”
“Say another word to me and you’re going home!” and
“Just shut your mouth!” (This last one was in response to, “Hey man, I’m just trying to ask you a question.”)
Next thing I know, Delaney and another little girl are coming across the field in tears.
If you are like me, your gut says, “NO ONE MAKES MY LITTLE GIRL CRY.”
Lesson # 1: Take a deep breath and wait a minute
A few parents got involved. The ref’s responses to them included, “You don’t talk to me OLD MAN.” and “Maybe if you had a little more common sense you wouldn’t have gotten your kindergartner’s ears pierced.”
Lesson #2: It is good for me to hold my tongue.
If that snotty little thing had criticized my parenting AFTER making my daughter cry, I might have lost my mind. Fortunately, I was smart enough (this time) to stay back.
Lesson #3 Leave it up to the experts (in this case, the coaches) to handle the situation.
I am confident this situation won’t end here - our coaches were so disappointed with the entire situation. This Ref has no place in our soccer system. He was disrespectful and downright rude. And sadly, initial contact with his boss was fruitless.
Lesson #4 Sometimes holding your tongue makes the greatest impact.
If the Ref had been kind from the beginning, the situation never would have escalated. But now you have a whole group of parents wanting a change.
Parenting is hard, but at least I am learning.
Kanye West’s Outburst on the VMAs Proves he is a Terrible Role Model
I don’t often jump into the fray of pop culture, but I have to confess, I think Kanye West is classless. His social skills are suspect and I am disturbed his celebrity means there are kids who look up to him. Or maybe they did.
If you didn’t see his latest antics, you could initially watch the replay on Youtube, but the video has been pulled, I imagine as a result of copyright. At MTV’s Video Music Awards last night, Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to basically say Beyonce should have won.
Reasons Kanye West should not be a role model:
1) He is a sore loser
2) He is a bully and thinks belittling others is appropriate
3) He clearly doesn’t know when to keep his thoughts to himself
4)He is the disastrous combination of a narcissist and an egomaniac
5) He is wasting an amazing opportunity to focus his talents for good
This is a performer who has a following - there are people who love his music - and he is taking that genuine opportunity to use his celebrity for good and stomping on it.
I’m all for free speech - but there is a LINE. How dare you interrupt anyone when they are accepting an award - let alone a 19 year old. From what I have seen, Taylor is very close to her mom. If I was Taylor’s mom, it would have taken all the restraint I possessed to not jump on that stage and yank him down. Forcibly.
That said, clearly Beyonce is the Anti-Kanye. When she won likely the most coveted award of the night, she remembered her feelings as a teenager at the VMAs and brought Taylor out to have ‘her moment’.
Fortunately, there are Beyonces in the world to overshadow the Kanyes.
The School Bus and the Missing Kindergartner
Let’s be clear on something. If you lose my child on the first day of kindergarten - or EVER for that matter - I will lose my mind.
Fortunately, my friend is kinder and gentler than I am.
When she went to pick up her 5 year old from kindergarten today - she waited and waited outside the classroom - until finally being told all of the children were gone. And yet?? Her little one? No where to be found. Turns out she was put on a school bus. To no where.
She was told to ‘hurry home to meet her child’ - but the problem: there are no buses going to her house or even neighborhood. That is WHY this sweet child is NOT riding the bus - because it won’t take them HOME.
After a bunch of frenzied walkie-talkie-ing, the child was brought back to the school, fortunately unfazed. Can’t say the same about mom.
Can you imagine?
Our first day - or first 1/2 day - or really first couple of hours was uneventful. It looked a little like this:
Delaney couldn’t figure out why mommy and daddy came along. Tomorrow will be the true test - drop off and full day.
No school buses involved.
