Leading by Example

Last week while shopping at my favorite store, Target, I heard a little girl start crying.
My mommy instinct kicked in and I glanced around looking for her to make sure she was with an adult. The little blond girl was standing there wailing away with big alligator tears streaming down her face as her mother looked at something in the aisle. The mother was dressed as if it were wannabe-runway-model day at Target.I don't mind dressing nicely even if it's just to go to Target but she was made up as if she were going out to a club...and it was 1 in the afternoon.
I gave a small chuckle at the girls outburst (and the mothers outfit) as I looked at my son who was quietly sleeping in his car seat. I continued shopped for Dollar Spot goodies in my plan ol' jean capris and a Badger sweatshirt.
Just as I was about to walk away the girl screamed louder, and then I heard the mother say "Will you please shut up...your embarrassing me! How am I supposed to find you a daddy if you embarrass me all the time!?"
I am pretty sure my jaw hit the floor as I stared at them. Did she really just say that to her little girl?
I looked at the mother in disbelief as she was kneeling down at the little girls level gripping her by the shoulders, frantically looking around to see if anyone was watching. I was looking at her in disgust however I am convinced now that she did not see me because I was not male therefore not daddy material for her little girl.
I walked away shaking my head. This woman was clearly not Mother of the Year material...I am not so sure she was even mother material to be honest.
So this poor little girl was clearly upset about something and now because of her superb mother she is now even more upset thinking that she doesn't have a daddy because it's her fault for embarrassing her mom...therapy is going to be needed for this girl as a young adult.

I am appalled by the way some of these "parents" are parenting their children. I hear them saying things that should not be said to children and doing things in front of their children that should not be done.
I have a cousin (I doubt he would ever read this..but if he is...I am not sorry it's how I ,and the majority of our family, feel) he was in prison for a number of years, gets out of prison and gets a woman..um rather...a girl..pregnant, but not just once he has two children with her Irish twins). Then he gets another woman pregnant...and then another. Yes, he will have 4 children with 3 different women and he doesn't have a full time job...a car..or any real way to care for these children. UGH..disgusting-STOP REPRODUCING!!! This isn't a game, these are 4 little lives that will forever be difficult because you and the women you had 30 seconds of fun with weren't thinking.

I think a lot of people believe that they can have kids because they will love their children...that's great you should love your children however you have to love them enough to put yourself last and do everything you possibly can to support them. That means giving up your social life to care for them, giving up your free time to get a job, giving up your ipod and fancy cell phones and save your money for days you will need it...and staying out of prison would be a nice for them too.
John Lennon said "All you need is love" however, that's not completely true when it comes to babies...you need a whole lot more...its a human life, not a gold fish.

Leading by example is great, when the example given is great. If you are a poor example of a parent (or human being in general) what do you think you are teaching your children.
Ghandi said it best when he said "Be the change you want to see in the world"

Truly words to live by.

Change

Changes can be both bad and good. They can scare the crap out of you or excite you-some of them do both (like having a child).
Some of them happen without any warning and some come after years of waiting.
Needless to say change is always going to happen.

Let's take oh, I don't know, health care (because I am sure NO one is talking about that right!?) we (as citizens of the USA) are going through a period of change.
We all know that health care in America sucks, and if you don't think it sucks, tell me what rock you live under so that I may visit.
As my husband and I were running this evening we were discussing how ridiculous people are being about it and we came up with the same conclusion; People complain that we had a president that didn't do anything good, then everyone wanted change. There was Obama ready to give us change, now that he is making changes, everyone is still complaining.
While I may not agree with the bill 100% I do think a change is good. I am intrigued to see where this change leads us...maybe it wont be a huge success however maybe because of this change, an even greater one will follow.

Voicing your opinion is a great thing to do, but please do it based off facts. If you are not smart enough to read the health care bill and interpret it correctly please keep your skewed views to yourself. I honestly think a lot of people just hear things on TV, the radio, or through their friends and assume everything they hear is accurate. Come on people, we live in an amazing time of technology where we can find many factual articles that outline the bill for you...stop being lazy and take the time to really learn about it before you go "preaching" it to others.

Again change happens, whether you like it or not. Life and changes that occur in life are easier to swallow if you live by the words of Robert Frost "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life...IT GOES ON." Unless of course you are Republican than some of you think the world is ending soon...

Give change a chance...the worst thing that can happen is that it changes!

Sunday Run

Today was a brisk day but a gorgeous day, blue skies and sunny, perfect for taking a walk/run outside.
My husband and I took our baby boy to his Aunties house, who conveniently lives in the condo below us,and headed on our way. This was the only day my husband had off of work this week so it was nice that he and I had the opportunity to spend some time together.
Taking walks and running with my husband is something I greatly enjoy. We have a great time filled with good conversations, reminiscing of our past, discussions of our future and of course lots of laughs. Not to mention that when we are running we push each other and encourage each other to keep going and not give up. Today was no exception.

At one point we were walking side by side when I reached out and grabbed his hand to hold. It is such a comforting thing,to hold hands, yet rarely do we find the time to actually do so. As I grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze it reminded me of a time when we were not yet dating.
The time in our lives where we hung out very often, but as friends. At times during that period I longed for him to reach out and grab my hand...I also longed for him to reach over grab me and kiss me, however it would take several months before any of this would happen.
But as soon as he took that step and kissed me, I knew instantly there was no turning back, the man had me hooked.
When I hold my husbands hand and kiss him to this day I still get the lovey-dovey feeling, I am still that much in love with him. Granted we have only been married for 2 years...I know people who are getting married and have never felt that feeling. I pity them.

Today while on our run we decided to sign up and run a half marathon in August. We are both pretty excited it will give us something to train for through the summer and it's the half way point to our marathon in January.
Our 6 miles of walking and running today with the clear skies and cool spring air was a great way to wake up from the winter hibernation slump we had slipped into.
Now we are re-energized not only to kick butt and train for our half marathon but also to step back and remember just how much we love each other.
Enough of this mushy stuff, it's time for this tired mama to go to bed!

And Away We Go...

I have been wanting to start a blog for some time now. Of course as soon as I thought about it I over analyzed it, as I tend to do with most things. I had to find the perfect name for my blog as well as the perfect screen name. I had to think about what I wanted to discuss and if it will be a themed blog where I only write about one thing in particular or will it be just be a daily dose of random thoughts lurking from my mind.
Finally today as my baby was asleep in his swing I grasped the opportunity and just did it. Needless to say I didn't think of a catchy screen name or name for my blog. I am positive that something would have come to me eventually. And I am sure that one day it will hit me out of the blue..the perfect name, of course when that day finally does come-blogs will more than likely be non-existent.

So welcome to my daily dose of randomness that surrounds my life and believe me it will be random!
I am a Stay at Home Mom however my blog will not be full of all the cute things my baby does or how many times he rolled over in a day...but be aware I will brag about him every so often, he is pretty adorable.
I am training to run a marathon in January of 2011 in Disney World (My husband and I are big Disney fans) so I am sure running will be mentioned every now and then as well Disney World.
I am also a very opinionated person, I go off on rants and vents but I try to do so in a respectable way. I never slam something without doing my research on it and I am always open to people correcting me when I have made a mistake (as long as its done so with respect).
I LOVE fashion even though I may not wear trendy things on a daily basis I do love it. There is something comforting to me with slipping on a pair of stilettos even if it is just to go to the grocery store.
I enjoy writing, it's my release, my sanity saver. Needless to say I am excited to see where this leads me.

So once again welcome and enjoy the ride.