This Mom's Guide

A mother, a wife, a serial dieter, a blogger, a friend, a woman bringing you along for the ride.

Posts Tagged life

When Life Hands You Lemons

Mar 12

Posted by ThisMomsGuide in life | 2 Comments

rotator-lemons_476x357We all know the old saying, “When Life hands you Lemons, make Lemonade!”  Well I say don’t stop there, make Lemon Bars, cookies even, make that sourness even sweeter. Easier said than done most of the time. Why is it that we are going through life and BANG! not only do you get a lemon but you were given the whole darn tree?

You can look at any situation and after you are done sucking on that sourness, you eventually try to either learn from it, alter your plans which may end up for the best in the long run, or just end up with that funny looking “I just sucked on a sour lemon” face.

I do try to do the learning from it or the altering (which really does end up a lot of time better). Sometime though I am stuck with that face for awhile, but you know what I learned? Being upset, complaining about it to no end, does not change it. You are the only one who can. So take those lemons, add some sugar and move on…don’t worry more lemons are heading your way, but so are some blessings. Just take it one day at a time.

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Customer Service Prepared Me for Parenthood

Jan 4

Posted by ThisMomsGuide in Being A Mom, Working, life | Comments off

parenting-category1I am an only child (I do have three step siblings that were briefly in my young life but other than that I was alone). I did not grow up with a huge knit family. My father was not close with many people and raised me off and on till I was 12. My mother, well she was only there till I was 5, for reasons beyond her. But I did have two amazing grandparents who did a darn good job raising me for a lot my days. They raised me with an old fashioned charm. Sometimes though I think they had a lot of guilt for me and my life and were very accommodating to my whims.  So to say the least I was not really sure how to be a parent, and was glad God waited until I was 30 for me to have my first baby.

At 27 I got a job at a Medical Corporation, a very large International one.  I worked in their Customer Service Department. I truly believe I learned some valuable skills and lessons in Customer Service that echos in parenting.

* If you plan your day it will inevitably change. you learn to go with the flow and be prepared for most things. (maybe not several rolls of toilet paper unraveled in the house, or a bottle of ketchup that has been emptied on the kitchen floor, but you will not kill anyone, so that’s a good step…)

* Crap will hit the fan eventually. I learned to keep a cool head, look at a situation from all sides before making a decision on which course of action is best suitable for a problem. Occasionally with parenting it is just actually Crap you are dealing with though..eeww…

* You will talk to people who will occasionally annoy you or get under your skin. After being asked if I am stupid or if my company was ran by Satan by a swearing insane person, hearing Mommy, Mommy, Mom, Mom, Ma….over and over, just does not have the same effect.

*  Breaks and Lunches are not always given. The same in parenting unless you are counting pee time with a interested toddler staring at you or grilled cheese crusts you are eating as breaks and lunches.

* People you work with tend have a lot of personal issues with each other, so you learn to stay out of it, or get in the middle. Same with your children.

* Customer Service is at times a thankless jobs and definitly underpaid. Parenthood- need I say anymore? It has been said that a full time stay at home parent would literally make over 100K a year if they were paid for all the hours and services rendered, hmm..waiting on that check, must be in the mail. And when I clean the kitchen for the 3rd time in a day, you rarely hear, “Gee honey, what a great job.”

* You become an accommodating person in customer service, always pleasing clients, the boss, your coworkers, and the company. I do not know more accommodated people than my husband and daughter, they might not believe you, but trust me….I know…

* You learn to juggle many things in customer service, calls, issues, projects, deadlines, etc. Parenting – cooking, cleaning, errand running, boo boo kissing, dr appts, etc. Not the same but just as busy for sure!

* Finally, you will learn you just can’t be super person all the time. Occasionally you will have a bad day, a bad moment, or just a bad mood. It happens, and you move on. In parenting I have a lot of those times. But the hugs and kisses I get everyday from my child and husband, make parenting a better job than customer service any day. (Maybe we just all  need some hugs and kisses at work! LOL)

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My Social Media Friends – Why I Need Them

Nov 16

Posted by ThisMomsGuide in Internet Or Social Media, life | Comments off

social-mediaI try to remember times before my love of the internet. I was in my early 20’s. Friends were never a problem. Whether getting friends, keeping friends, hanging with friends, chatting with friends, or being friends, it was easy. It was before my adult life took over.

You get married, have children, and get older. You keep some friends and you tend to lose a lot more it seems. Sometimes it’s due to no longer having anything in common, and as for others, it’s merely a time issue.

Now that I am well into my thirties, I find it hard to have a lot of “tangible” real world friends. I salute the people I know, that get to go and party like it’s 1999 with their friends on a regular basis. I for some reason no longer do. I know even my husband has this issue. Work, family life, house and yard upkeep, and exhaustion..just sucks up your time so often.

I feel making new friends is easier for women than men. I recently watched a movie called “I Love You Man” with Paul Rudd. I feel for men after seeing that movie. I guess I never thought about how hard it is for a man to make new friends in the adult world, if you can not make them in your work environment. I can strike up a conversation with a woman in the grocery or the library, but will we end up grabbing a latte or really calling each other? More than likely not. I have however met women and exchanged Twitter handles. There we stay in touch. I guess men could do that too, it would seem less intimate.

So I call these women (and men) that I have met in many different ways that I converse basically via a social media proxy my “Social Media Friends”.  On my Facebook account most of my friends are old high school friends and acquaintances, a few tangible friends, old coworker friends,  family, and very few strangers. This is because I have pictures of my daughter and more personal information on there. On my MySpace account, which I admit I do not really use very much, it’s  mostly the same as facebook but there are a few people I met through myspace. Now my Twitter account is anyone who wants to chat with me and they are not some spammer I happily include them into my circle of my friends.

I find that because I am more than likely on the internet at least once a day every day, my social media friends are more informed about my day to day life than the friends who do not use social media. I find that my social media friends sometimes care more or maybe just have more time to care. They ask on daily basis how things might be going. They share more. They give pep talks to each other. They give advice more. They give well wishes for you to get better. They comment on pictures. I love my Social Media friends.

Do I feel they they are better than my tanglible friends? In some aspects, maybe, but I will never replace them ever because nothing can replace a hug when needed. Maybe I finally hook up with them for dinner and we laugh until it’s way to late into the night. When I have had family die they are there to hold my hand. When I give birth they are taking pictures. They are tangible “Aunties” to my daughter since I have no siblings.

My Social Media Friends fill in the holes in my life, making it more complete. I barely remember my life without them, and I glad they are here. Thank you to all my friends…whether on the web or in life…

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Fighting Against The Wind – Life’s Metaphor

Oct 2

Posted by ThisMomsGuide in life | Comments off

Fighting Against The Wind

Fighting Against The Wind

The other day was an intensely windy day, almost tornadic with winds gusting 40 mph in every which way it seemed. As I was sitting in my car at a traffic light not really thinking about anything but thinking about everything (if that makes any sense) I noticed a flock of little birds flying in the air. I should rephrase, they were trying to fly. They appeared to be little sparrows and they seemed to be getting tossed around in the sky by the strong gusts of wind. Yet they kept trying to fly to their destination, all of them doing their best to stay together. It seemed it was a metaphor for my life and maybe even yours.

Life is so stressful, especially lately it seems. No one seems immune to the woes around us. Our personal problems at home are all encompassing it seems. Maybe you or your family have health problems or financial worries or even emotional tolls. I have have had all these issues in my life at one time or another, and like these birds, I just keep trying to get through this destination of life together with my loved ones the best I can.

Sometimes our issues are the world’s issues all around us that spills into our lives. The Economy, the Bailouts, Swine Flu, Presidential Agendas, Conspiracy Theories, End of Times, the Weather Changes (the intense storms, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, etc..), Terrorism, Poverty, Genocide, War, and the list goes on… Sometimes it’s a wonder we can breathe or even want too.

With all this crushing stress and evilness in life I also try to also keep in mind that there is good in the world. There is Faith, whatever Religion you may be or may not be. You have Faith whether in a Divine Power or in your own direction (me, it’s God all the way. I am a Roman Catholic). There is Family. Hopefully you have been blessed with either a good one or married into a good one like myself. There are Friends. I like to say sometimes Friends are God’s way of making up for bad families. There is Charity. So many people give of their time, their money, or their support to others and a lot of times to complete strangers. Finally there is Hope. Hope that tomorrow will be better. Hope that things can turn around. Hope that we and others can always change.

I will say that the birds did end up all together in a large Maple tree, and I hope and pray that no matter what life may hold for me or my family that we all get through it together always…and my wish is the same for you.

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The Gluttonous Trap

Aug 16

Posted by thismomsguide in Weight Loss & Diet | 2 Comments

C0109JunkFood01-main_FullI tell myself I am starting a diet and I pick a date and then I do a detrimental thing, I fall into what I call “The gluttonous trap”. This is where I eat everything I want to eat or think I will miss eating as soon as I start the said diet.

This time I have a plan. I have enrolled my child into preschool and I am GOING, yes going finally, to the gym after I drop her off. This should make my sweet husband jubilant at the fact my $40 a month for the gym will actually go to cleaning up some sweat I will leave behind on some machine instead of paying for the possibility of leaving it. *giggle*

Also I am going to enroll back into weight watchers. I have done it before, but I was not ready all those years ago. Having had back surgery at 33 and raising a 3 year old and running a house will make you rethink your priorities a bit.

Anyway back to “The gluttonous trap”, so I am starting on Monday and have fallen into the trap. No wait let me rephrase this, I have fallen and been sucked into a vat of super glue. LOL. So I have eaten it all the last few days. I have never met a fat gram I did not love..and now I have become heavier than just a week ago. Just in time to offer them to the Weight Watcher crew.

This blog will be many things. Sometimes about being a mom, sometimes about being a wife, and sometimes about being me, but definitly at times about finding that thin girl that lives inside. (I ate her awhile ago, she’s been dying to get back out) so thanks for reading and I hope you laugh with me, cringe with me, but most of all root for me, a mom going through life one step at a time.

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