Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2013

Five Ways to Teach Your Children to Give at Christmas

The holiday season can be wonderful fun for children. However, the amount of consumerism targeting children at this time of year can foster a "gimme" mentality in your children. To avoid your family missing out on the beauty and charity of the season, here are five ways to teach them to give instead of get at Christmas.  Create a family Charity Jar. Have your whole family donate to the jar. Try skipping that morning latte once a week, or gather up the spare change in your car to throw a few coins or dollars a week into your family jar. Encourage your kids to donate a portion of their allowance or birthday money to the jar. Once your jar is full, use the internet to research charities that support causes that interest your children. For instance if your children are animal lovers perhaps you can use the money to donate toys or food to the local animal shelter. The most important part is to let them be a part of the process. Let your children help shop for gifts for another

28 Days of Being Thankful Challenge Days 7-10...yeah I know

Yes I know I'm terribly behind.... But I'm thankful I can try again, how's that? Day 7- A failure I'm thankful fo r Once upon a time I wanted to be a dancer. I studied for many years, ballet tap jazz hip hop modern,,every damn thing, Dancing was my life....and then it kinda wasn't. It was fun, beut it wasn't exactly my passion anymore. However I didn't really know how to say it. How do you tell your parents after 16+ years of paying for lessons, um i don't wanna do this anymore. Everybody expected me to dance. So at 20 years old I had a big audition for Knick's City Dancers... And I said well I won't make it and it will be okay...at least I can say I tried, without having to admit, I don't want to do this anymore. So I reluctantly went to the audition, and lo and behold made it call back round,,,and then it hit me, if I make it, I have it do this. So I promptly went to bathroom and threw up like four times. I was so scared. And it wasn

Day 6 of Being Thankful- My children

My children are  probably what I'm most thankful for. In the fourteen years since my first baby was born, my heart has been opened  and filled with an all consuming love, I never knew possible, Summer Bunny, DJ, Syd and Spike make me laugh, cry, smile, even yell a little ( maybe a lot). I'm thankful for this messy, crazy loud and joy filled life they've given me.

28 Days of Being Thankful Challenge Day 5 Your Friends

Day 5- Friends I really like this topic. Most people that know me are going to day... You have like 2 friends.. Totally untrue. The truth is I have a lots of acquaintances and very, very few friends. And I'm very thankful for this let me tell you why. A lot of people call everyone in their contact list their "friend". We met at a fundraiser, she's my friend, We worked together two years ago, he's my friend? Hello?? Not in my world. I have a very specific list of criteria that needs to be met before I move you up to friend list.  You can go out to brunch with anyone. My friends and I will cook cheese eggs in each others kitchens while stealing bacon as soon fast as we make it, with a our children's running in and out f the back door causing a ruckus. You can have a girls night with the woman in the next cubicle, but if you throw up because you can't even drink anymore and miss the whole party your friend will drag you to her couch and will call your hus

28 Days of Being Thankful Day 3 and Day 4

So I forgot yesterday so here goes: Day 3-A  person who lifts you up...there are of course many people at various times in my life who have lifted me up. But in recent months, my friend Felicia has come through on more than one occasion, with just the right joke to lighten up a serious situation, just the right word of encouragement when I feel bad, and even sometimes the right kick in the ass to get back on track. You can never have too many people in your corner who lift you up. I'm very lucky and very thankful that I have her. Day 4 - Family I am definitely thankful for my children. They are the source and the reason for my strength. These beings come into the world with brand new hearts and brand new souls and I'm in awe and forever thankful of being blessed with the enormous responsibility of shaping these hearts and souls into generous and kind contributors to the world.

Best Man Advanced Screening for Broward/Dade Area....Enter Here

If you would like to win advanced screening passes to the #bestManHoliday this Monday November 4th here's how...1. Like the  I Just Want to Be Superwoman Blog  page 2. Like the  "Reality and Relationships"  page 3. Like the  MahoganyInk  page. Then go to  http:// theovulator.blogspot.com/  and answer the following three movie t rivia questions..1. 14. Who is the first African American to be nominated for an Oscar for a screenplay? 2. In which of the following movies did actress Nia Long not appear: A. Bog Mommas House B. Soul Food C. Friday D. The Wood and 3. What movie earned Denzel Washington a Best Supporting Oscar?

28 Days of Being Thankful- Day 2 Strength

Day 2 calls for being thankful for a strength I have had or shown. I was a bit stumped by this I admit. I've decided I'm thankful that when I realized that my Spikey wasn't acting like a typical toddler and that he had more issues than I could explain away. I was strong enough to face my fears and seek a diagnosis. Early diagnosis and tons of early therapy has drastically changed Spike's life for the better.

28 Days of Gratitude Challenge.... And Day 1

As a working wife and mom, it's easy to get bogged down in the hustle and bustle of life and the never ending to do lists. We never take time to be thankful for what we have. I'm guilty of this, I admit it. So I'm attempting this blog challenge for two reasons. One, to get back in the habit of regular blogging and two to learn to live in a space of constant gratefulness. My hope is that purposely finding a reason to be grateful each day will help me make being grateful a habit, a lifestyle even. It can only be helpful right? So here's my challenge.. Day 1 A Blessing: Today I'm thankful for the blessing of an introduction. My aunt introduced me to mechanic who is repairing me car after an insurance company attempted to bully me into declaring it a total loss. It was a stressful situation and the simple blessing of an introduction has changed the whole situation. Thank you!! P>S> I would love it if anyone wanted to join me on this challenge, let me k

Not Having it All..........

I have a terrible habit. I want to be great at everything. I'm good at a lot of things,,,but I want to be great at everything. It's exhausting. And since I'm always trying to juggle a million things, I inevitably drop a ball or two or sixteen. I want to be a great mom, like a fantastic one. I want to write an epic novel and a critically acclaimed film and produce thought provoking documentaries. I want to be a psalm 31 wife. I'd love to have an actual social life and let's not forget that mandatory "me" time. I'd love to have all of this while impeccably dressed in a size 4. That's my version of having it all. I'm sure"all" is not one size fits all. Here's the problem. I suck at having it all. I mean I don't suck at all these things individually. If I put enough energy into one or two goals, I can be pretty amazing...when I start adding all my dreams goals to my regular list of to do's and I wanna do's, that

Holding Our Sons Closer.....

I write today with a heavy heart. My disgust, rage and sadness over the Zimmerman verdict hasn't lessened over night. However, I am preoccupied with other thoughts. I'm burdened with how insanely difficult it still is to raise black children, especially boys, right now in 2013. My family and friends and I waited with baited breath for the verdict, hopeful but wary. Abused, neglected and disregarded so many times by the court system, we dared to hope for Lady Justice's blind objectivity even while being resigned to the fact that the color of our skin always lowers our chance for truth, justice and that is the American way. So no I wasn't shocked or surprised. My children were shocked. They didn't understand. At only 11 and 14 years old they are old enough and smart to understand most of the evidence and facts of the case. Their outrage is not about racism. Their  shock and sadness isn't about racial profiling. It's about innocence and guilt, It's abou

Dark Girls Documentary: This Dark Girl's Thoughts

I heard a lot about Bill Duke's Dark Girls  before I ever saw the documentary. I knew that it was about colorism within the black community and it was supposed to be really deep. So when I heard it was going to be on OWN, I was totally into it. And so I tweeted about it, Facebooked about  it and then sat down to watch. I don't know what I expected. The film's website promised a look into the lives of women darker than most and the "separate lives" they lead. I didn't really know what those separate lives were, after all I'm a dark girl. What's happening in my separate "dark girl" life? I didn't even know I had one. I watched woman after woman  tell heartbreaking tales of, neglect, abuse, and low self-esteem. I watched beautiful little brown girls point out pictures of white girls and name them as pretty smart and good, while pictures of a girl like themselves they labeled, dumb, bad and ugly. I saw a retelling of that ridiculous paper

For Anton.....

Once upon on time I knew I could fly. If I closed my eyes,wished hard enough, and said the magic words, I could fly. I knew because Anton told me I could. Once upon a time, I knew I'd be the best prima ballerina, an Oscar winning actress and a millionaire. I knew I could do it, because Anton told me I would. When we were young, my uncle Anton was my life coach, my playmate, my teacher, my inspiration and my partner in crime. He assumed in the most nonchalant way, that we would always succeed in whatever we had planned. So I had no reason to doubt it, as long as he was right next to me. I knew was good enough, probably better than most, because he told me. I knew I was smart enough, talented enough, because he told me. We played together, learned together and fought together. We finished each other's sentences, if we felt the need to talk at all. Whatever the other was feeling we just knew. At only 2 years apart we were twins in our souls. Inseparable for our entire childhoo

Bad Mommy Moment #3062

For the most part I think I'm a good mom...At least my kids seem to think so. Well at least they rarely throw tomatoes and scream "you suck!" So I'm taking that as a win . But there is one mommy duty in which  I consistently receive a fail! It hurts me to have to admit this to you all. I am the absolutely worst tooth fairy in the entire world. I never remember to do my toothy thing. This is the third kid losing teeth so you'd think I'd have this down to a science by now. I mean how hard is it, kids puts tooth under pillow, I wait until kid falls asleep and replace tooth with money easy peasy right?? WRONG!!  I always, always, always, forget. I don't know why. I get excited for them when they lose their teeth, maybe slightly queasy when they insist on showing the bloody hole(gag!) But by the time they go to bed and out that precious tiny tooth under their pillows... I completely zone out. So last week on Sunday Syd loses another tooth at this point she&

Allow me to reintroduce myself...

You know that feeling when you have when you've neglected a good friend, maybe you've forgotten a birthday or missed an important event. Not purposely of course, just life got in the way, you just got caught up in well...life. And then more times go by and now it's too late to casually mention it, so it gets more and more awkward...yeah well so here I am...back..I could give you 10 million reasons why I was on a hiatus but really life is my only excuse... So what have I been doing?....Bunch a stuff I promise to write all about soon, but for now let me just say hello, I've missed you, and I hope you missed me too.... P.S. All my readers know how dear Autism Awareness is to my heart...here's a link to my interview with Parenting Magazine about Autism: What we know right now...check it out http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/health/autism-facts Talk to you soon..Buh Bye