TodaysMama

What did I do to deserve this?

I admit it. Sometimes I'm stressed out. As witnessed by my last post. I was nearing the worn out mark. I often act like women's capabilties to run a business and be a mom and manage a household go back to the fact that we are simply better multi-taskers than our counter parts. For many women, this is simply the case.

In my case - my counter part is the thing that enables me to multi task my life in a myriad of ways. He also tends to make me chill out when I need to. For instance, this afternoon, he led me to our bathroom where he had a bath waiting for me. Not only was the bath waiting for me, but he had cleaned the rest of the bathroom and our bedroom. He told me I was not allowed to come out for 2 hours. I accepted. :) He then took off on some errands and took the kids with him.

The whole time I thought, "we all know what I"ll do, I'll take a bath, then I'll get out and sneak to my computer and get some more work done." Well, I gave it my best shot, I took a fairly lengthy bath and when I got out I had a robe waiting for me outside the door. I went to open the door to our room and it was taped off with signs that read "I'm serious". Especially taped off was my office. So, I turned around and headed back to my room where he had laid out some cozy napping clothes, and had his ipod and skull candy (noise reducing head phones) laying on my pillow with enya cued up.

Are you kidding me? I had the best nap ever! But it gets even better -- after he got home we went and ran some errands, and we all know what day of the week it is . . . Thursday. And on Thursday's I take a little time with my mom and some friends and we watch Grey's Anatomy (which by the way was a rerun tonight, so we watched the first 5 episodes of the season 2 DVD instead). My point here is that when I came home, my cute husband had cleaned the house (which had been an utter disaster). The kids rooms were clean, the dishes were done, the toys were all put away.

I should stop now because it's starting to sound like I'm bragging . . . ;) Who gets to take a THURSDAY afternoon nap kid free with scotch tape blocading off the outside world? Not many people . . .

Taking a bath and scrubbing the toilet at the same time . . .

Yes ladies, I'm talking about multi-tasking.  Well I am sick of multi-tasking today.  People always ask me "how do you try to balance your business, being home with your kids, and keeping your day to day life moving" - Well the more I analyze, the more I realize the extent that my multi-tasking has gone to.  And today at least, I'm sick of it.  The RAM in my brain is a little backed up.

I woke up in the middle of the night to check on my little one who's had a fever and make sure she got her 2nd dose of motrin (because she has febrile seizures).  I couldn't fall back asleep, but what did my brain decide to think about with it's spare time?  Unique URL's that I should snatch up for my business in a market where someone is pirating my site name . . . So I got up and sent myself and email. 

I should have just stayed up all night since I had to wake up extra early to go and do a radio intervew, exchange my blackberry (which I can't stand), and grab some fruit smoothies for the family for breakfast. I figure we're battling colds, I might as well go get some fruity goodness to fight them off. While giving the kids a bath together this morning i started cleaning the bathroom and scrubbing the toilet, and then I took a quick shower myself (the shower is next to the tub less anyone think that I left them bathing alone ;). You have to do lots of things at once!

I ran errands this morning and returned phone calls while my kids were happily (and not so happily) listening to If You're Happy and You Know it.  I dropped my computer off to MacDocs (I go there because I can park right next to the door and run and drop my computer inside with my kids in eye shot (3 feet away), ran to the post office, made a deposit - all the while returning phone calls.  

I also had an appointment with our accountant today and had to edit an article last minute before a deadline to turn it in (which I did slyly during the meeting). The day continued on in simliar fashion. When I got home I made dinner (and sorted and paid bills in between steaming brocolli and cooking chicken), returned emails, made the neighborhood "phantom" treat (and door bell ditched it at someone's house) and wrote this blog entry. I wondered why my head hurt so bad by the end of the day. I don't think I sat down (except to drive, and talk, and hand out happy meals at the same time.) It's been one of those days! Tomorrow, I anticipate that I will not change out of my pajamas.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

We went on a little fall hike up the canyon yesterday and my son told me that he wanted to be a Crocodile Hunter when he grows up . . . with special weapons . . . to fight sting rays . . .

I asked my 2-year-old little girl what she wanted to be when she grew up: Cin-rella - I love the way she says it, I wish I could replicate in writing her 2-year-old accent.

When I was 3 or 4 I wanted to be a fireman when I grew up. What 4-year-old is going to say they want to be an entrepreneur, or a small business owner, or a tech crazed webpreneur when they grow up. That aside I think I have my dream job. Something that is like a blank canvas where I can bring concepts and design, and functionality to life and there are fewer boundaries all of the time with the advances in technology.

I love every inch, every facet, every little twist and turn of my small business.

I saw a funny cartoon in Time magazine last night -- 3 moms sitting around a table talking about their kids:

Mom 1: My son wants to be a doctor when he grows up!
Mom 2: My son wants to be a lawyer!
Mom 3: My son wants to sell his website to Google!!!

Watch out Google . . . we're all coming for you!

A Little Too Krafty

So it was a drive thru lunch day. . . We stopped at a little burger place near our home and the man on the speaker said outloud "we've also got macaroni and cheese bites available on the kids menu", so of course what do the kids select? The macaroni and cheese bites.

I didn't really think twice about what they were. Have you seen these things? I got home, opened their meals, and there were deep-fried chunks of macaroni and cheese. Hands down, probably the most disgusting things I've ever seen, and the most child obesity promoting bits of nutrition I could have provided my children for lunch.

Are you kidding me? Who came up with these things? And how did I allow myself to order them???

Hmmm . . . I wish I had skills

Hmmm . . . I wish I knew how to insert images properly into my posts. Trying my best ya'll.

Hmmm . . . what doesn't Derek know?

My mom's vote is that Addison had a baby and put it up for adoption in New York. Far fetched? Who knows? Here is the next question . . . who's baby would it have been? McDreamy's or McSteamy's?


Whatever it is, it must be scandalous! I tell ya, that show is a guilty pleasure- it's one sexcapade to the next but that darn show redeemed itself this week. Last week I was up in arms about the abundance of commercials, this week I'm mourning the fact that I am counting down the days until next Thursday!

Tonight's episode was fabulous. Goodbye Finn!

Boo Berry is Back!!!

Those cereals that we all knew and loved from days of old are back! (or I might just be rediscovering them). All I know is that my kids and I enjoyed multiple bowls of Boo Berry cereal tonight before bed. Mmmm . . . next time I'm getting Count Chocula and Frankenberry!

The first bite took me straight back to pre-school! I vividly remember pasting Boo Berry bits all over a ghost. And yes, pasting - the thick kind of glue that seemed like it had chunks of coconut in it? Mmmm. . . what ever happened to paste? Does that still exist?

What am I?

Someone called me a working mother the other day . . . It left a taste in my mouth and I'm not sure what it was. Someone has called me a stay-at-home mom, a WAHM, a SAHM, etc. etc. No one really knows what box to check me in. Again, all titles leaving me with a taste in my mouth that I had still not totally defined. In that same vein, The "Mommy Wars" has always left me with a taste in my mouth that I disdain.

How is it that we have drawn so many lines in the sand defining what we are? We have acronyms and nicknames for every facet of it. Part of my philosophy is that today’s moms are so many different things, how can we pigeonhole ourselves or anyone else into some sort of distinction or class of mother hood. The reason I think the Mommy Wars are BS is because I think the war is over misconceptions that we create on our own. If we were to strip it all down to a basic level, the Mommy Wars wouldn't exist. The Mommy Wars are about absolutely nothing in my opinion.

Classify me: I am married, I have 2 children ages 2 and 4, I have my own business with a home office, my husband has his own business as well, my husband kicks in to be with the kids when I have meetings etc. to attend, I don't have a nanny or a regular babysitter (although at times I wish I could find one), sometimes I have to dress up for meetings (I call that my uniform, or dressing blingtastic), sometimes I wander around in scrubs, a t-shirt and flips, I work 30-60 hours a week depending on the week, those hours mostly revolve around early morning, naptime, or late evenings after the kids are in bed. What am I? (crazy) A working mom? A stay at home mom? A work at home mom? What team will you put me on for the mommy wars? I like to consider myself a mom. Better yet, I'd prefer if you'd just call me Rachael.

I have a neighbor who makes jewelry out of her home to raise extra money to pay for their adoption, a friend who does bookkeeping for her husbands business on the side in his office Saturday mornings, a friend who's the PTA president, a friend with 6 kids who does triathalons, a woman in my community who volunteers to the equivalent of a full time job and has 3 kids to boot, a friend who is a lawyer, a friend who works one night a week at the Gap for the discount, the list goes on. It's varying shades of grey if you want to figure out who is what. My mom worked full time when I was growing up and I never thought of her or classified her as a "working mother" - I just thought of her as my mom. And the things that any of the above women do make me tired to think about because all of it is engaging, takes brains, talent and energy, and there are days when every bit of it drives each one of us mad.

All of us have work to do. All of us have things we are passionate about. All of us wants to be someplace else on some days of the week. All of us have stuggles and all of us have successes. How many mommy classes do we have to create before we realize that we are all just moms, women, or most importantly individuals, with lives, skills, interests and passions? And more than that - we all have something to offer each other from whatever perspective we are springing from.

How Utopian, I know.

So, next time you want to figure out what team I'm playing for - I think I might call my self an independent agent.

Whatev!

I love Grey's Anatomy . . . but I did not love the abundance of commercials that accompanied it tonight. I will only Tivo from now on! And when it did finally cut back to the show it only lasted a couple of minutes. Oh well . . . they've all ready sucked me in for next weeks episode!

Will it be McDreamy's or McVet's or anyone's at all?

Let me tell you what hurts . . .

Falling asleep on your 4 year old's bed for the night hurts. I don't know what happened. One minute I was tucking the little man in, the next minute it's 5:15 in the morning and I'm curled up on the edge of his bed on a tiny little bear pillow. I hadn't budged, I hadn't moved. As a matter of fact I was so asleep that when I woke up I was in a bit of a panick - it took me a good 30 seconds to figure out where I was.

I'm stiff, my neck is kinked, and I'm incredibly tired. And what's worse . . . 45 minutes after I returned to my own bed . . . in comes the pitter patter of little feet to crowd my queen bed to 3! Once again I'd been pushed to the edge, the little man wins again!