Hello everyone. It’s monday… again… and if you saw my Facebook status earlier, you know my Monday is off to a bangin’ start…
But… then I hopped over to Pinterest… and saw this…
Interesting… so… change our thoughts and we can change the world… or our world at least, right? (more on that to come later this week)
So, let’s start over – GOOD MORNING MONDAY!
it’s a start…
This past weekend marked the end of “Mommy-Palooza” which, if you don’t know, was the month of Solo-parenting… most of the time, I share my boys with their dad, so I am a part-time parent. Â That means that I have days where it’s just me and I can take care of errands or “house-stuff” so that when I DO have my boys, it’s all about them… it’s an arrangement I have gotten used to and while I miss them when they aren’t there, I also treasure my Mommy time alone… this past month, the ex was out of the country… so I was 100% mommy… and still had all those blasted errand and house stuff and workouts I had to fit in somehow. Â Hence, getting up somewhere between o’ dark thirty and the butt-crack of dawn. Â And for those who know me, you KNOW this is a HUGE change… because I was, once-upon-a-time the Midnight workout queen… the days not over till my workout is done…
Are you sitting down? Â I actually have gotten to where I’m WAY off kilter (more than normal) when I miss mymorning sweat session… I know! Â crazy isn’t it? Â It’s actually a good thing. Â Summer is almost here in Texas… and with the 90 degree days this weekend, I’m thankful for the switch in my routine… even in the heat of the summer, the mornings are still usually tolerable even if it’s still blazing hot at 8-9:00 at night.
Anyway, back to my “mommy-palooza” discussion… First of all – I’m not trying to be a big ol whiney baby. Â I KNOW tons of you who do this 24/7 whether you are officially a single parent or not. Â My point is simply that I don’t.
I had actually gotten into a rhythm with my boys… just as it was ending… and HOW do I know that I had gotten into a rhythm? Â because I did NOT flip out when my youngest accidentally burned up the power washer hose costing $70 to replace and I did NOT flip out when my oldest decided to help prime the fresh wood on the back of the house in his fairly new blue jeans. Â In both cases, as I could see the fear and tears in their eyes, I took a deep breath and said – “it’s ok. Â accidents happen… and now we know what to do differently next time.” Â My mom is STILL in shock at my reaction… my mom – who I love dearly – would have KILLED us kids if that had happened… of course she praised me for being so calm and level headed… to which I reminded her that screaming and yelling wouldn’t have fixed anything… progress… cuz, I kinda have a bit of a temper… (shocking, I know)
In fact, because I didn’t yell and scream and make the boys feel worse than they already did, they both decided that they could help pay for the mistakes by doing extra chores around the house… ON THEIR OWN. Â without prompting… WOW… I was in shock over that… but my “flower bed” (and I use that term VERY loosely) is now weed-free and the staples that proliferated the roof line of the house are all gone…and I have a promise of lawn mowing this next Friday when the boys are out of school… Somewhere along the way, the boys learned that when you break/damage/ruin something, someone has to pay to fix/replace it… and since they can’t go out and get jobs (cause you know the whole child-labor thing is frowned upon) they decided that the next best thing would be to help around the house to earn money… hmmm… Â And, on Sunday, I made sure to pick out “painting clothes” for the boys so we didn’t have any more issues… and, well, we were done power washing for the weekend, so there’s that…
Other cool stuff? Â My dear wonderful friend Leah posted something so emotionally raw that it was powerful… it was a confession of sorts about where she’s been mentally…
It inspired me to post this little diddy about NOT being Super-mom and the subsequent “confessional” because come on… sometimes, ranting, whining, complaining, whatever, allows you to get things off your chest so you can release the negativity and move on to more positive endeavors… AND, there’s a level of anonymity with the confessional… each week, I’ll share some of the contributions WITHOUT names so that we can help support those who need it.  My hope is that if you “confess” you’ll come back, see the support from myself and others, and feel empowered.  we’ll see how that goes… although, since it IS anonymous, I won’t be able to say HEY YOU – come back and read what others wrote!!! so, just stay tuned m’kay?
Also, y”all KNOW I love me some coffee, right?  Well, it started with Leah (aka @bookieboo) and her post about how bloggers LOVE their coffee… which then was turned into something bigger… Janice (@fitcheerldr) started a meme about coffee… and my dear friend Krista (@kristalswan) jumped on it tagging me… so at some point this week, I’ll manage to work my camera before the first cup of coffee is complete and join in on the fun 🙂
All in all, I feel like I’m ready to tackle this week – hopefully 🙂
This post is sponsored by Fitness Made Simple and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway
No yelling – I am impressed! Can you teach me?? 🙂
I’m not sure it’s here to stay… it was a good moment LOL! Biggest thing… DEEEEEEPPPPP BREATHS…
Also – my kids know that “MOMMY needs a time out” is SERIOUS business and respect that. Another PSA LOL
Wow, lady, the more I get to know you, the more I <3 you!
I'll have to send you a picture of my morning cup of coffee… yep, it's just 1 but I call it more than a cup and more like a "coffee trough" that holds a quad of espresso and 12 oz of milk … all figured into my daily intake and balanced with a couple normal cups of green tea and lots of water. However, folks at work joke about not bugging me with questions until I've had my morning coffee!
Keep up the phenomenal work, sweetheart!
Thanks Jeanie 🙂 “coffee Trough” LOVE IT! you should see the size of my coffee cup on my latest post. 🙂
Looking forward to getting to know you even better too 🙂
Wow, im impressed…no screaming, huh? And I’m so happy you have come over to the dark side with the morning workouts. Btw, love the pinterest stuff too.
The dark side… morning workouts… extra coffee… less stabby mommy. it really IS a PSA.
LOVE YOU
It is hard not to “flip” when the kids do something wrong, I know I have my own battles with it, but major kudos for you for finding a balance!!! It paid off greatly as shown off by the response of the kids… :o) As much as you say you aren’t super-mom…I feel that you are hiding a cape under there 🙂 hehe!
Have a great week! <3
nope… no cape… TRUST me. I’m not getting any mother of the year awards… I see it a mom of the moment 🙂 Thanks for the sweet words 🙂
My Monday didn’t start off great either!! Great job not losing your temper, i’ve been working on that myself… It’s just so much easier to flip out than it is to take a minute to calm yourself down!!! That’s awesome that your boys wanted to make it up to you too. 🙂
Mondays have a way of doing that don’t they? As for the boys – would love to take ALL the credit… but alas, it’s a village effort 🙂
Hope you have a great week. AND – as seen on FB – If Britney Spears can get through 2007, you can get through today 🙂
I laughed so hard I spit my coffee… which was ok, since I was already wearing some! LOL!
Mondays do seem to be notriously evil – good to know that Pinterest could sort it out for you, aaaahhh Pinterest, what would we do without it! Shifting our reactions to the kiddos does indeed take tremendous patience and discipline so congratulations to you! I always pat myself on the back when I realize I avoided a meltdown (from both me and the boy!) by staying cool.
Have a great week – I’m off to check out all this coffee business!
Oh Pinterest… How do I love thee… It’s a great distraction some days 🙂 I’m glad to hear you pat yourself on the back – it’s good to catch ourselves doing the right things 🙂
Have a great week 🙂
Wow! I would say you had a great time with your boys. You handled the changes, you were calm and level headed (which is not my strong suit!) and you survived… all nicely done! 🙂
Yes, it is a horrible juggle for the 24/7 thing… I am a farm widow for several months a year with nothing to show for having a husband but his dirty (greasy, oily..) clothes and a lack of food in the house. Lol. Truth is we all get off kilter, we all have to adjust regardless of our situation. Sounds like you rocked it. I will mail out your SuperMom cape shortly.
Swing past my blog if you have a chance…. besides a shameless plug for comments I have a cool affirmation I want to share with you. I am on a emotional health kick and wanted to share. Love ya!
I’m on my way 🙂
Way to go Mama! Being the mom that doesn’t scream & yell over mistakes is something I shoot for, but I still have my moments…but if I can master it to a point to get some chores done, I’m in 🙂
I love that you went from midnight oil to butt crack of dawn & although I miss you at night I’m glad you are getting sleep like a normal person.
DOOODE… I definitely still have my moments…
and yes, I miss you too… but just cuz I go to bed early, doesn’t mean I’m getting my sleep on LOL! Insomnia is still my friend (?) but it’s become a battle of wills where I tell myself NOT to jump on FB or twitter because I’m gonna sleep if it kills me… hmmm… prolly going about it all wrong huh?
I have to stay off those too if I want to try and sleep. Key word TRY. Lol.
After a few breakdowns in our house lately I ahve learned to simply take a DEEEEEEEP breath and try to say, it’s ok, it was an accident, and letting it go. It’s not worth the pain and heartache that lingers way after the words have faded. Good for you, Shelley. You’re really inspiring to me- you are real and warm and funny and you keep me going! Thanks!
Deep Breaths – in my opinion – are under-rated… I’ve even started getting my kids to take them when they are getting overwhelmed… it’s been remarkable to watch…
and thanks so very much for your kind words. I try to be real… warts and all… it’s nice to know it’s appreciated 🙂
LOVE YOU!