Thoughts On Direct Sales...

(this is important, y'all!)

This is a touchy subject, and a particularly controversial one right now, it seems. I have seen rants and raves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter about how annoying it is when people post about their direct sales businesses.

I will admit - I used to be mildly irritated by posts from friends about makeup, candles, jewelry etc. (even though I am a Plexus Ambassador! Talk about hypocritical...)- HOWEVER, someone recently said something to me that really changed my perspective on direct sales posts.

I'm paraphrasing here, but the bottom line was this:

We are walking advertisements for everything we use and like - we tell our friends about that great new drink at Starbucks, the awesome shampoo we just started using on our kids, and the shoes we just got from that discount place online. 

The majority of us are not getting a "cut" of the sales that are made directly from our inadvertent advertising. Wouldn't you rather that one of your friends received some income or benefit from your purchase of a Peppermint Mocha or favorite new shampoo?

So instead of being irritated and 'hiding' those you once interacted with, just scroll past the things that don't interest you, and continue to interact with them normally. :) 

Pride and the Holidays

The first thing you should know about me is that I LOVE CHRISTMASTIME. I don't even mind when the local radio station starts playing Christmas music more than a month before Christmas. I mean, I don't listen to it 24/7 until after Thanksgiving, but when I need a little Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole fix - it's there.

That being said - one thing that I battle during the holidays is pride. I want to be able to do it all. I want to be the mom with fresh baked Christmas cookies, the advent calendar, the decorations, the presents, the parties, the cards! But guess what? If I am struggling in the day-to-day responsibilities, I should probably take a step back and NOT pre-plan my Christmas morning menu. Maybe I ought to take care of the laundry pile first.

This year, I am purposing to be more laid back. I am a perfectionist by nature and I need to focus on making sure that the basics are taken care of before I jump onto the next Polar Express to decorating my whole house for Christmas. 

Laundry done, bathrooms cleaned, dishes done, dinner on the table. Those are my every day goals. Those have to come before designing the perfect Christmas banner or scouring the Internet for the perfect gift(s) for my husband.

Please don't misunderstand me - those things are important, too - but if I choose to neglect my basic responsibilities, I will become overwhelmed, and eventually will find myself curled up in my bed eating peppermint chocolate M&M's, wrapping Christmas gifts, while my house is in shambles! (This might happen anyway)

Two things I am letting go of this year are:

1. Christmas cards. It just didn't happen, and honestly, I will be glad to have the money I would have spent on cards for gifts!

2. Advent calendar. I had high hopes of making the cutest little calendar with fun little gifts for each day. Thanks, Pinterest, for tempting me. But seriously...Molly won't know the difference this year, so I'm skipping it.

So there you go. I can't do it all during the every day routine, so I need to own the fact that I can't do it all around Christmas either - and I'm not going to make it look like I can, because I think other mothers out there need to know that it's okay if your stockings don't all match and you don't do the most creative Elf on the Shelf ever. Oh, and don't even get me started on Elf on the Shelf.... :-p

A Tiny Challenge

I may have alluded to this before, or you may have met and observed this about Molly in person...or maybe you don't know at all, but I have a daughter with a very strong will! She is not laid back, she throws temper tantrums that 2 year old children would be envious of, and she is sassy as can be.

I would not have her any other way!

I knew pretty early on that she was going to be a Tiny Challenge. She picks up on things very quickly, and was mobile at a very young age. She is the child that scopes out where all the plug sockets are in a room within 10 seconds of entering.

This type of personality is a blessing and a curse, just like any. Yes, she is mobile and tends to go straight for the "No no" items in a room, throws royal fits (complete with head flinging and body limping -- speaking of which, I might have a black eye in the morning), smacks me right in my face when I tell her "no", and all out SCREAMS if I am not doing something quickly enough for her liking...but....

She is also extremely loving. She gives kisses and hugs and pat/scratches my back. She tries to wipe my nose with tissues and feed me some of her snacks. She is a very good communicator and between pointing and gesturing and making little noises (sometimes almost words!), I usually know exactly what it is that she would like to be doing.

I am learning to choose my battles early. Yes, lovey girl, we must put pants on...society and Mommy declare that it is necessary, and no amount of fit-throwing will change that fact. But ripping up the tissue into a thousand pieces and handing it to me (saying, "Here") while I write this blog? I'm not gonna fight that one today. :-)

My "Tiny Challenge":

A "Pinterest Minute"

Don't even try and pretend you don't know what I'm talking about here, ladies. You think to yourself-  "hey, I'll just get on Pinterest reaaaaaal fast...for just a minute...and then I'll do [insert productive activity here]."

No. Just no. It doesn't happen. Unless I can somehow program my computer to turn off and be unable to be revived after a "minute" is up, it will probably never happen that I will just hop on Pinterest for a "minute". 

I wish I did other things like I do Pinterest - "hey, I'll just do laundry for a "minute". WHOA! How'd all the laundry get done in just a "minute"??!!"

"I think I'll bake something for a "minute"....what?!?! My time's up?! I baked us out of house and home and it was only a "minute"!!!"

I say this jokingly, but there is truth behind it. 

I have recently begun to use Pinterest as a sort of reward (call it like it is...BRIBE) for tasks that I don't particularly enjoy doing. 

Example: Do XYZ. When that is COMPLETED, you get five minutes on Pinterest. 

The problem is that I still have trouble ONLY browsing for 5 minutes! In my head, I feel like I'm talking to (myself) a 4 year old! "Okay, Mackenzee...three more scrolls and then you will click the X and go back to being productive."

Pray for me as I try to enforce my own rules with myself and become a more productive wife/mother/human being...

Never Say Never

No, I'm not referring to a song by The Biebs...although, I will unashamedly admit my adoration for that particular tune. ;-)

You know the things that you say before you're pregnant/have a baby? The ones judging other mothers' parenting choices? The ones that are start off with, "I will never ever ever ever do _________" Yeah, that kind.

Never say never.

You will eat your words...daily. And it will be such a humbling experience. 

I'm not talking about judging others for things that may harm their children's safety. If you see somebody feed their baby a bottle of orange Fanta, while screaming curse words, then driving away with the baby in their lap in the Walmart parking lot? BY ALL MEANS, JUDGE AWAY. (and then pray for them!)

I'm talking about these:

I will never ever ever go to the store at 9pm wearing yoga pants.

I will never ever ever let my baby sleep in bed with me. all night.

I will never ever ever pacify my child with food to make them stop crying.

Even as I write this blog post, I'm thinking of examples and banishing them from this post with the thought - "But, I really would never do that! "

I've done all of the above. And she's only been here for 8 1/2 months. Granted, the yoga pants were post-partum, and I was tired of maternity pants!

Anyway, I write this as an encouragement. It's okay to do (some of) the things you vowed you'd never do.

(But for the record, my child will never ever ever play in the play-place in the Mall.)

(No, really. Never ever.)

"THAT Mom"

Since high school (or at least, somewhere in that time frame), I've always prayed that God would help me not to be "THAT Mom" when I grow up. Don't even act like you don't know what I'm talking about. We all have someone in mind. No matter how much we love them...they are still "THAT Mom", and we cringe a little when they go on the prowl!

But let's be honest with ourselves, ladies. We are all "THAT Mom", sometimes. There is no way to perfectly guard against it! The best that we can do is surround ourselves with family and friends who will brave the fire-breathing dragon that is "THAT Mom" to let us know when it's time to reel in the rod of unwanted opinions, facts, and lengthy stories about our children's milestones.

All through my pregnancy, I would get so annoyed with older moms telling me "just wait til..." or "it goes so fast!", or even telling me all kinds of labor stories, tips, and tricks. 

Now, looking back, I appreciate the love and support from those mothers, but when you're 5 days past due and feeling like you could rival a beached whale, you just want to scream every time someone says, "Oh, she just needs longer to cook!" <--- No. She's being an evil newborn who hates her mother before she's ever been born. (<--- I know that isn't actually true, but, that's really what you feel in the moment. :-)

Being on the "other side" now, I often say to my husband, "I can't believe I almost typed to her that it's going to go SO fast!" (Speaking about commenting on my pregnant friends' statuses on Facebook, of course.)

I get up in arms about car seat laws, outraged when someone is prohibited from breastfeeding in public, and giddy at the sight of a coupon that will save me BIG bucks on diapers. My daughter passes gas during the most inappropriate (albeit hilarious) times, reaches little milestones like... you know, licking the windows, and is 30-something weeks old (come on, now, just say almost 8 months!). I don't post these things on Facebook, not because it isn't important to me, but as a deterrent for myself, so that I will not be tempted to be....you guessed it... "THAT Mom".

Wait...is me writing this post being "THAT Mom"???