In general, for everyone, mornings pretty much suck.

But if you are trying to get your kids ready to go anywhere, I think you reach a level of suckiness that is so high you just can’t see it anymore.

I’m not really a morning person and unfortunately I wake all too many mornings with a headache.  So I’m already starting off at a disadvantage.  I imagine there are people out there that bounce out of bed and effortlessly get themselves and their rugrats ready and if I ever meet one of those people, I just might punch them.  I hope not.  But if it is in the morning, a punch is quite likely.

The teasing and arguing and annoying starts the moment their eyes open.

“He’s in my room”

“She touched my toy”

“He said I’m slow”

“She said I’m dumb”

The energy it takes to annoy the crap out of each other (and me) as soon as they wake is more energy than I have all day.  Where does it come from?

So I spend most of my time commanding (and sometimes begging).

“Stay in your own rooms and get dressed”

“Don’t touch each other”

“Ignore him/her”

“Eat your food, stay in your chair, brush your teeth, WE’RE GOING TO MISS THE BUS!”

It really doesn’t take long before I am yelling the commands and screaming for them to just stop annoying each other and get ready.  It is exhausting.

And I really don’t want to yell.  Sometimes I feel like they can’t even hear me.

How do others do it?  How do you get them out the door without yelling, pulling your hair out, running away screaming?

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I have freckles.  A LOT of freckles.  They are everywhere.

I never much liked my freckles.  I remember being teased a bit about them since I was pretty much the only kid who had them.  Even the boy I liked called me Freckles and it wasn’t all cute like when Sawyer said it on Lost.

I tried covering them up with makeup.  I tried lemon juice like they did on the Brady Bunch but they were still there.

I was outside waiting for the bus with my kids and it was a little chilly.  I had one on my left and one on my right with my arms around them.

I looked down at them and saw a sprinkling of freckles on each of their noses and cheeks.

And my thoughts were about how adorable those freckles looked.  How they are little pieces of me showing through on their faces.

I had to admit to myself that freckles aren’t bad.  They are beautiful.  They tie us together.  I love the freckles on my babies.

And I hugged them a little tighter and my heart smiled.

Check out this post to find out more about the Calm My Crazy meme.  This weekly post is for me and for you.  A place to share our moment of calm.  Something that brings us a little peace and happiness in a world of crazy.

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Originally I had a different post in mind for today.  But then I read Embracing My Reality by Kristen over at A Little Something for Me and it inspired me.

We were both at Bloggy Boot Camp this weekend and I came back full of ideas and plans.  But somehow I had forgotten the question she writes about in her post.

“Who do you write your blog for?  Who do you want to read it?”

I was focusing on goals and forgot this very basic building block to my blog.

So as I lay in bed last night (where I write my most brilliant posts in my head), I thought about who I write for.  And I figured it out.

I write for me.

To record moments.  Those I want to remember.  Those that touch me in some way.

To work through obstacles.  Those issues that can tear me down.  Writing helps to build me back up.

To learn more about myself and about life.  Everyday I learn and grow through my writing.

I write for you.

My journey might help you or touch you in some way.  You can know you are not alone in your feelings.

My journey might give you ideas or make you think about something in a different way.  Maybe you will see something that you didn’t before.

If nothing else, maybe my journey will leave you thinking, “Man, glad I am not that chick”

I wrote a while back about how I wanted to use my blog to help myself and others.

I need to keep that in mind because at the end of the day, I write for us.

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I have thoroughly enjoyed linking up with various memes like Pour Your Heart Out, Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop and Just.Be.Enough.  It has inspired me to create my own linky for something that I really want to make sure I write about every week while encouraging others to do the same.

I have found that I can more easily write about something that is weighing on my mind, something I struggle with, or something that leaves me with a heavy heart.

Enter my new meme – Calm My Crazy!

I envision this as a place to write about something soothing, calming, something that lifts me up.  Something that can make me stop and be happy in the midst of all the chaos of life.

So join me starting this Friday, May 25th using the button below.  Write about whatever you think helps to give you a little bit of Zen in an otherwise crazy, fast paced life.

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This weekend at Bloggy Boot Camp in Philadelphia, we were treated to a wonderful gift from one of the fabulous sponsors.  Waterpik provided a beautful new showerhead that is removable and has 5 selection sprays.

The PowerSpray+^™ EasySelect^® Hand Held Shower Heads with 5 Spray Settings is really easy to install and will give you a fabulous shower.

I made a little video showing the easy install and my first impression.

So for anyone in the market for a new shower head, this is a solid choice.

Disclosure: As mentioned I received this shower head as a gift from Waterpik.  I did not receive any compensation for this review and all opinions expressed are my own.

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Talking about some doing some things that don’t come naturally.  I’ll be heading to Bloggy Boot Camp in Philly this weekend with Diane from The Invisible Disability.

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I wanted to let you all know that I am very proud to now be working with The SITS Girls as one of their forum leads.  I am grateful for this opportunity to work with a fabulous community of bloggers for bloggers.  They have so much information and are a great way to connect with other bloggers.

So check out The SITS Girls here.

See my bio along with other fabulous women here.

And please participate in the forums here.

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My oldest is about to graduate high school and go off to college while my youngest is about to turn 7.  Where in the world did the time go?

Everyone says it.

Oh, they grow up so fast.  They’ll be grown before you know it.  Blah blah blah.

You hear that when they are babies and think that these people must be insane.  As you are bleary eyed and sleep deprived and cooing over an infant, you can’t possibly imagine them as adults.  Heck, you can even see them walking at that point.

But then it happens.

Days go by.

Milestones occur.

First day of preschool.

Lost a tooth.

First crush.

OMG they are learning to drive!

I really can’t believe it.  I have no more babies.  My teens can act more mature than I (sometimes).

Everyday they get older.

And everyday closer to leaving me.

I am still in denial about my oldest going to college because when I think about it, I cry.

I wish for my 2 youngest to be babies again.

Can I freeze time?  How do I slow it down?  I swear I am missing it.

They grow up so fast.

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My Dad grew up in New Jersey and is a die hard Phillies fan.  When I was young, we would go to my grandparents’ house and head to Veteran’s Stadium for games.  Although I have never been into watching baseball on television, I loved going to the stadium for games.

As an adult, I have been to a few baseball games but it has been over 20 years since the last time I saw the Phillies play live.

Last weekend I went to the Phillies and Nationals game with my Mom and Dad, brother, sister-in-law and niece and nephew.

We had awesome seats.  Just 2 rows away from the field.  My nephew even got his mitt signed by one of the Phillies players.

It was pretty hot at first but then sprinkled on us and got overcast so it was quite pleasant.

But the best part was being there and feeling like I was a little girl again.  With my mommy and daddy and my little brother.

I had a silly little grin on my face the whole time.

As a mom, I spend a lot of time and energy on the kids and it was such a wonderful little escape for me.

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When I look back through my blog posts I wonder if anyone can follow my crazy thoughts and feelings.  I’m pretty random, posting about my struggles, funny family stories, not-so-funny family stories, vacations, and pretty much whatever else enters my head.

One day I’m happy.

The next I’m miserable.

Then something funny happens and I share.

It’s almost like this blog is written by many different people.

But, it is all me.

I may be random, I may be hard to “get”, I may be crazy, but I put it all out there because it’s what I feel and it’s what I think and it’s mine.

I love having this blog.  I love that people can make a comment relating to whatever whim I fancied to write about.

I love that I have a space that is mine all mine.

I haven’t been posting quite as much even though I seem to have a ton of thoughts in my head that want to get out.  I hope to get a bit more organized and get those posts out of my head.

I’m quite the brilliant writer when trying to fall asleep at night or in the car with no outlet for my thoughts.  Anyone who creates a thought recorder that will type it all out for later use please add me to your beta-test list.  That would be awesome.

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