Friday, October 29, 2010

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween will always have a special place in my heart....I have a very good friend who lives entirely too far away and for as long as I can remember, we always spent Halloween together with her children. No matter what state they lived in,I would make the trip to their home to be with the kids to trick or treat. That tradition stopped when I had my own child and hers grew up, and while we are starting our own traditions for this holiday I sometimes miss those trips.

I understand how life goes on, people evolve, families grow and relationships change. It's always been important to me to continue traditions for the holidays...but I acknowledge the need for tweaks every once in a while. While I won't be traveling to trick or treat with my friend's kids, I will be trick or treating with mine. This year, Halloween came up way too fast for me! This is the first year our home isn't decked out with Halloween knick knacks (much to my husband's dismay!), because time just got away from me...ugh! So instead of obsessing over what didn't get done, I'm going to focus on what we're going to be doing this weekend...celebrating with our family and friends, eating lots of candy, marching around the neighborhood dressed as our favorite super heros, baseball players and princesses....and continuing our traditions.

Have a very Happy and Safe Halloween everyone!!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

You're Beautiful!!!

ok, so this will be a quick one but I was on the MSNBC website during lunch today and came across an article about 200 high school girls in Texas chosing to not wear make up on Tuesday's in an effort to promote true beauty. Their club is called "Redefining Beautiful: One Girl at a Time". Check out MSNBC for the article:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39775094/ns/today-today_fashion_and_beauty/
It's not about the clothes, the makeup, the bags or shoes and it's not about size. I particularly love that they have been getting an outpouring of support from other teens around the globe as well as the boys!! (you go boys!)....

There's also a link within the article to "Operation Beautiful"...a movement started by Caitlin in North Carolina who says "the goal of the Operation Beautiful website is to end negative self-talk or “Fat Talk.” If this little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic negative self-talk is — it hurts you emotionally, spiritually, and physically". KUDOS to you Caitlin...I hope this goes far!! Check out her site at: http://operationbeautiful.com/.

I don't have a daughter, but as a woman I know what it's like to want to keep up my appearance...my regular 6 week cut and color are facebook statuses for me...but I also know that I'm totally fine with not wearing any makeup on any given day. I'm also 37 and don't really care what others think, but when I was a teenager it definitely mattered...I wish we had girls like this in my high school!!

So props to the people out there who are promoting a positive self image to teenagers in their communities, you're helping more than you know!!!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Tis The Season????

Seriously folks....last time I checked, today is October 17th, not December 1st...I want to know what happened to Halloween? Thanksgiving?? Autumn?? Why, why, why is it that when I now pass a store it's decked out for CHRISTMAS already???!!!! This is appalling!! October is for changing leaves, pumpkin and apple picking, warm cider, sweaters, candy and costume parties. November is for boots, jackets, pumpkin pie, giving thanks and parades down 5th avenue. December is for trees, decorations, snow, coats and CHRISTMAS (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you celebrate). I hate that we're rushing the holiday season and every year it seems to start earlier. I was talking to my cousin the other day and she said that a store she was in has already started playing Christmas music..WHAT??? NO!!!! Stop!!

Attention retailers!! I know it's been a rough few years, but I'm pretty sure you putting out holiday decorations and playing holiday music this early in the season is not going to get us all jazzed up...quite the contrary...it makes me anxious and aggravated. Stop rushing!! Life goes by fast enough, can't we just enjoy every day/season as it should be? I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in Christmas in July.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Stop The Madness...

I wear a lot of hats, daughter, sister, wife, friend, co-worker, mother...and the one I take the most seriously is Mother. The decision to have children was not an automatic one for me. When I was younger I never really fantasized about having and raising kids. After I got married I didn't feel an immediate need to bring a child into the world, I struggled with even wanting one for a while. I'm certain we made the right decision for us in our family when we took the plunge into parenthood and I wouldn't have done it any other way. It was done with a lot of consideration and thought. My son is the greatest thing that has ever happened to us, every day is a new adventure and we are endlessly grateful for him.

So yesterday I was reading the news and that's when I learned about the Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide because of bullying. Bullying? What? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!?!?!?!? WHY? That's not just wrong, it's shameful and horrible and needs to be addressed.

Here's what I know...especially since becoming a parent...I know kids are mean and I know kids are dumb and yes, that is a generalization. I know it's my responsibility as a parent to make sure my child is kind, generous, considerate, compassionate and well mannered toward others. I know it's hard being a kid, what with all the competition and expectations placed upon them from us as a society. I also know that children need role models...(apart from the athletes and celebrities)...people they know, who they can interact with on a daily basis, turn to for guidance, respect and communicate with (and I know that does not have to be a parent)...I know not all children have supportive parents and that sucks quite frankly. I know this is an issue that starts when kids are small and continues until they're adults and no matter what angle you look at it from, it's never right. Being mean to another person is wrong. You can say these types of issues are so complex and there could be some underlying reasons for it but you know what? Address it. If you have a child with socialization issues or self esteem issues or any other kind of issue that causes them to act out toward others...address it.

This is the 21st century. We should be able to befriend whomever we want. Date, fall in love, marry, dont marry, have sex, be happy with WHOMEVER we want. It's no one else's business, end of story. It's not right to criticize, berate, tease, harass (or whatever word you want to use) another person because of their personal choices. Life is hard enough when you're well adjusted....imagine if you were struggling with something like your sexual orientation or low self esteem, or some other kind of anxiety as a young adult. That's the hardest time of your life to have to deal with anything of that nature...let's not make it harder for these young people. How can we fix this? Communication is the first step. Being able to talk about the issues without consequence or judgement is where this has to start. As a mother and a member of society it's my responsibility to listen. So, I'll start with the one child I have, and make a promise that no matter how hard it gets (because not every day is all candy and roses), I will love him and communicate with him and listen to him. I may not always agree with him along the way, but I will always try to guide him in the right direction for him and no one else. And I will promise my friends and family that if their children every need an ear or a shoulder, they can have mine without judgement.