Calling the doggy police April 4, 2007

I am thoroughly annoyed with our neighbor across the street. Today was the second time I caught their dog leaving his waste in our lawn. This dog, being as old as it is, will not leave even when I shouted and it and even proceeded to bark at me even though he was in MY yard. You see, they think it’s okay to just let their dog out to do it’s business …not only in their yard but in anyone else’s yard. I have seen the dog pooping in their next door neighbor’s yard and I know they have gotten in arguments with the neighbor on the other side (they eventually moved for reason I’m not aware of). I bet they have so much poop in their own yard that their dog is venturing out to other “cleaner” yards. The gross thing is that their kids always play in their yard too - “YUCK!!!” I have NEVER seen them pick up the poop. And even when I went over there to tell them their dog pooped in our yard (for probably more than the second time), they said they would clean it up…have they? NO and it’s pitch dark out now. If I see it in our lawn tomorrow morning I’m taking a shovel and pitching it in their yard.

Don’t get me wrong..I’m not an animal hater. My kids play in our front yard and they have the right to play in their own POOP FREE yard. So what’s the solution…very simple..

1. Walk your dog!!! And like all the other dog owners in this neighborhood - bring along some bags and pick up after your dog. Geez, you have two kids who are more than capable of walking the dog around the block.

2. If you are too lazy to do that, get an electric fence.

Otherwise, I am more than ready to call Animal Services. I am completely fed up!!!

All those readers who made it this far…thank you for letting me vent.

Why work? March 22, 2007

I’ve had several people pose this question to me after I’ve told them that I would love to find that part-time job that will allow me to work out of a home office and most importantly utilize my education and work experience. And I know some wonder it although they may not verbalize it. The real reason everyone asks/wonders is that in a little over a year, my husband should be making a decent income that would allow us to live far more comfortably than we ever had. It’s all relative though - I mean, before kids, I was bringing in all or most of the household income.

So why work when I don’t really have to? Well, to be honest, I miss it in some ways. I don’t miss the corporate world at all. But I miss finishing a project and getting the appreciation/recognition for it and I miss learning. Sounds self centered and egotistical, doesn’t it? Well, as many of you know, what they say is true - “Being a mom is the most thankless job.”

So where do I go from here? I have already found it to be very difficult to find a part-time, work from home job in my area. It appears the competition for the few positions out there is fierce. So I trudge along, making contacts, searching the internet for potential opportunities. Any advice?

The Little Artist March 22, 2007

Yesterday, all afternoon M was only interested in drawing with his crayons.  The problem comes when his drawing strays off his easel onto books, the baby monitor, etc.  Because I couldn’t supervise his drawing since I was making dinner, I had to take his crayons away from him temporarily.  But somehow, everytime I looked up he had a crayon in his hands toddling around the house looking for something to add color to.  Each time I found one in his hands, I had to take it away and put it in his crayon box which was high up on a shelf.  But somehow he kept getting his hands on one - like he had a secret stash somewhere.

When I was about 3 of 4 years old, a friend and I added some color to the bay window in our house.  Our window was floor to ceiling in height and had at least 15 panes to it in total.  Somehow we managed to add a lot of color with my crayons to each and every window pane.   I was reminded of this incident when I caught M adding some red to two of our window panes.  (Amazingly enough, M did not draw on any of our white walls.)

My husband uses this incident to support his belief in karma - what goes around comes around.  If that’s the case…I’m in big trouble.

Kid Flicks February 13, 2007

What would you consider to be a kid’s flick…kid meaning preschool/early elementary in my case? My boys got the Cars DVD for Christmas and they just LOVE it.

I’ll be honest, I have yet to watch the entire movie, and maybe I should have “screened” it first. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem all that bad EXCEPT when the characters refer to the town as “Hillbilly He(double hockey sticks)”. I try to fast foward past these parts since J is at an age where his he seems to be picking up “interesting” words to add to his vocabulary. This movie is rated “G” too. Couldn’t they have used a different word instead of He(double hockey sticks)? Luckily, he hasn’t picked up this word yet!!

So what movies have you all found to be great for younger kids (not too scary and without profanity)? I heard Curious George and Robots were good picks…any other suggestions?

Mommy Etiquette February 10, 2007

Okay, so I wanted to toss this topic out there…

Today we took the kids to the mall and let them play in the play area for a while. Ofcourse, it was relatively crowded. First annoying incident occurred when a mom changed her son’s diaper on the ground in front of my husband who was sitting along the perimeter of the play area. That is so wrong, rude and disgusting on many dimensions, but most importantly, LITTLE KIDS PLAY ON THAT CARPETED AREA…and run around everywhere. What if one of them fell down and their face landed on that dirty diaper or something? Okay, the chances of that happening are slim, but it there is still a slight possibility. At any rate..it was just wrong.

Another thing that annoys me is when the parents leave their kids to run around and don’t pay a lick of attention to them….as they run into, push, hit and kick other kids. Those other kids end up being my kids. I’d say more often than not, I have to tell at least one kid to stop kicking M or don’t push J while their parents are nowhere to be found. I’ll be the first to admit that my kids aren’t perfect angels, but I do my best to make sure they aren’t mean to the other kids playing there.

And those times where my reactions aren’t that quick and M pulls or pushes another child (usually smaller than him), I usually apologize to the kid and the parent (if he/she is around) in addition to telling M or J that it isn’t nice to hit, push, pull etc. I’ve noticed that a lot of other moms don’t apologize for their children…they will tell their kids to be gentle or stop hitting but they don’t really acknowledge the victim or his/her parent. And that bothers me?

Am I overreacting? I know a lot of parents will think “kids will be kids”, and I agree, but it doesn’t hurt to apologize for your child, does it?

Juggling act January 29, 2007

It’s all been a juggling act the past few days. Taking care of sick kids, cleaning the house, going to work, working on our business, etc. By the way, I’m happy to share that we FINALLY have our Chinese New Year designs up. For those of you who don’t know, my sister and I are trying our hand at running our own business.

Although it’s been a struggle being motivated to get things done, especially now since I’m working at the office part-time, it has become sort of a pet project for us. I hope once I move to closer to my sister, we can devote more time to this and really put some more effort into it.

In the meantime, I’ll do what I can in the time that I have and just give it my best shot.

All you mompreneurs, would love to hear your tips on staying motivated, organized and juggling everything at once.

Isn’t it funny… January 26, 2007

On my way to work today, I was thinking that the best thing about working now was my 15 minute commute, when I get to listen to my own music…no Thomas the Tank Engine or Dora the Explorer DVD’s! Don’t get me wrong, my temporary job is okay, but I’m definitely not utilizing my prior skills and education to the fullest. It’s just a way to contribute to the family income.

This part is the “not so funny” part: I missed a day of blogging yesterday because our family has been busy sharing conjuctivitis germs…yes, pink eye is running rampant in our house. DH is the only one that hasn’t gotten it yet, but he think’s it’s inevitable that he will wake up tomorrow morning with gunky goop all over his eyes. (Sorry for all those with weak tummies.) But I’m used to it now, because unfortunately, this has become an annual ritual for our family.

Thanks Oprah! January 23, 2007

Shout out to Oprah for her show today on Working Moms - My Baby or My Job (you can view it on her site). I just finished watching it (I had to record it) and some good (simple) points were made:

1. Working moms and SAHM’s need to be a little less judgmental towards one another. Every family’s situation is different and what is right for one woman and her family may not be right for another. Let’s be a little more understanding and supportive of each other’s decisions. There is no such thing as “one right decision” for all mothers.

2. You CAN’T have it all even though we would like to think we can. Oprah made a good point in saying that maybe you CAN have it all, but you can’t have it all at once.

3. I’ve always known this to be true, but it was brought up during the show: You will never know what it is like for a working mom or making the decision to be a SAHM unless you are personally faced with it. I always wanted to have children, and in my mind, I thought I would go back to work full-time, partially because we would need my income. But after having my first, I couldn’t imagine going back to work full-time. So I went back part-time instead. It’s that inexplicable love I had for my child that told me I couldn’t stay away from him everyday. But that is me…and those are my feelings.

Bottom line: Having experience on both sides of the fence, I honestly respect the decisions made by both working mom’s and SAHM’s. Working moms shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for their decisions to return to work. They don’t love their children any less than those who choose to be SAHM’s.

Would love to hear other’s thoughts on this…

I think I’m addicted… January 22, 2007

to blogs. Visiting other blogs that is… I’m still struggling with my own blog (although I think I’m doing a 100 times better keeping up with it). I’ve come across so many interesting blogs - some which I have listed on my blogroll to the right. I think for many of these blogs, I can relate to many of the entries and it’s comforting to know there are other women in my situation, struggling through similar problems. Other blogs sometimes just provide though provoking topics of discussion that are inspiring. Although I think my blog entries have yet to reach that “thought provoking” category, I’ll keep trying…

And to encourage other bloggers, I’ve attempted to leave more comments. I know how encouraging it is to think your blog entries are worthy enough to merit a comment from a visitor. So all you visitors, come on, humor me and leave me a comment. I’d love to hear what you have to say!

The Working World January 19, 2007

I was exhausted yesterday after my first day of work. That’s why I missed a day of blogging. Today was better, I think partially because I’m getting into the swing of things and b/c DH was able to pick up J so I wasn’t rushing from M’s daycare to J’s preschool. Work keeps me busy and the day goes by faster, even though the work itself is not particularly interesting. But I still miss the kids terribly - particularly M since I am used to being with him all day everyday.

One thing is for sure, I do not miss the corporate world. Or maybe it’s just this particular corporation - my former employer. I’m glad this job is temporary. Some great people in my department, but the way things are run by the people at the top…let’s just say that it will never be one of the best companies to work for - especially for women. Unless, that is, the board gets smart and kicks the big guy out of the company…

At any rate, I hope one day I’m lucky enough to be able to work for a truly family-friendly company.