Sunday Inspiration May 5, 2013

Hi All!

Today's Sunday inspiration and motivation comes from my youngest daughter. The Y generation has not had the freedom to walk to school and play in the street as my boomer generation did. This generation also did not have recess. A fact I still think is just plain wrong. When my kids were younger I had us all enrolled in belly dancing classes before we moved to Arizona, because of my skeletal issues. The eight years we have been in Arizona my activities have been severely curtailed because of my health. Yet My baby who had never so much as tried to dance  set out to find her sport.

Baby girl doing Circus yoga about 4 years ago.

Baby girl is smart as a whip. Her teachers love her and always ask if I can send them twenty more like her. She is a very good student.  Yet she realized that there must be balance in one's life. So baby girl (Fifteen this year) set out to find her sport. First up was volleyball in middle school. Not good. This generation also did not have recess. A fact I still think is just plain wrong. 

Next baby girl tried track. Not good. I have to give her credit she did not quit no matter how many times she came in last. An interesting aside, I would be cheering like a trained seal when she came in last. I also cheered for the other kids who came in last. One such incident, one of her teammates came over and gently told me the kid was not on their team. I said okay and kept cheering. She asked why was I still cheering for the kid. I responded how would you feel if you were dead last. She and the other kids who heard the conversation started cheering the last kid on in each race. You could see the visual change on the last kids face when we started cheering them on that the could do, it keep running. Those were the quietest parents I have ever seen in my life. Yes, I was an anomaly being the only Black parent in the stands. Thankfully the season ended. Then she had to make a decision to try out for pom or cheer at her new high school. She went with pom. When we walked in the way the coach looked at us, I new Baby girl had a snowballs chance in hell of making the team. Before you try and challenge me on this one, I've been Black 58 years, so yes I know when I'm encountering racism. She didn't make it and I talked her through it.

I don't think baby girl remembers her older sister being on the church cheer team. Yet, she discovered cheer on Youtube. Baby girl became the energizer bunny to try out for a private gym. She set up an exercise regime and faithfully followed it, tried out and made the junior team. She was a backstop base. Her flyer's loved her. The one time her flyer fell the person coaching had told them to hold their spot and her flyer fell.  Baby girl's flyer had to calm her down. Baby girl swore no matter what her flyer would never hit the the ground, and they didn't. My being hit in November 2012 ended that. 

Now at the end of ninth grade she tried out for cheer at her high school which was also less expensive.
She went through the three days of practice and then try outs. I said a prayer that however it turned out she would be okay with the decision. She walked through the door and said Mommy I didn't make it. I went into Mommy mode and held out my arms to hug her.  She came to me and put her head on my shoulder and after a minute said, "You're hugging the newest member of the varsity cheer team". She got me!

Baby girl knows grades have to stay at the level she is now (3.3). She has a long haul to be a reconstructive and plastic surgeon. So my take away is no matter, what follow your dreams. You will reach your goals or something better.

So what is your takeaway and how have you kept going to reach a goal. Please share by leaving a comment.

Michelle




Sign up for our free newsletter!

 

Did you have a great weekend? I did

Hi All


Today was a beautiful day in Scottsdale. A little breezy but sunny. I attended the Sunday A'fair at the Scottsdale Mall. A nice crowd, beautiful setting, great music (jazz and reggae) and awesome crepes. I am in foodie heaven when I have spinach and goat cheese crepes. Today I upped my game and had salmon with cream cheese and capers. Smile. I wasn't sure I was going to like salmon with creme cheese, but it was delicious. 

The first group was Sonora Jazz . The second group was Sugahbeats. They played reggae and Brazilian music. Both groups were very good.

I just picked baby girl up from trip to Sea World. She took this photo of Shamu. She was happy but tired. She was bubbling over telling me about her trip.  All in all a great weekend. How was your weekend  Leave a comment and share where ever you are in the world.


Check in with me every day this month to see what I'm posting during the Ultimate Blog Challenge.


Thanks for dropping by 
Michelle

My Birthday Celebration Day 2

I was reminiscing about the last 57 years and thinking about what I would consider as the highlights of my life. I think my greatest accomplishment are my two beautiful, smart and talented daughters. I was truly blessed. I never thought about having kids. I had a childhood ailment that everyone involved believed had rendered me sterile. So it was a big surprise when I got pregnant at 34 and again at 42.

I'm old school so I had both my daughters with midwifes. Raven in the hospital and Syeda at home. Home birth trumps hospital  any day. I did not want my kids to have any drugs in their system. I threatened to do bodily harm to the hospital midwife if she slapped Raven or caused trauma in any way. The hospital midwifes were not well trained. I had a tremendous lose of blood and came home with both  arms in splints. Enough said, I'm getting angry just thinking about it. Yes, race placed a factor.

With Syeda my home birth midwives were awesome. I delivered standing up.in front of two blonde Unity carvings. At first baby girl did not want to come. My midwife's nine month old son  crawled under the table and got behind me and called to her in baby talk. She then delivered.

I nursed my girls 11 and 23 months respectively.   With Raven, I had to stop nursing because I went to work for the Detroit City Council and pumping for me did not work. With Syeda I was working for the Detroit Board of Education which allowed only six weeks maternity leave. I'll never forget when I called in to quit. The elder who took my resignation asked why I was resigning. When I said my six weeks were up and I was still nursing and didn't want to leave my baby, she replied "God Bless you dear".



Raven and Syeda have like all kids stretched the boundaries of my knowledge and patience. Raven my eldest is a super sales woman and recently left Tiffany's and took a pay cut to obtain experience in human resources. She went to work at Torneau the high end watch company at Fashion Square at 18. Her manager later told me that they had never hired an 18 year old and weren't supposed to hire Raven. They were blown away by her retail experience and the fact that she made personal and store quota from the time she wanted in the door

Syeda my baby girl will enter high school this year. (Time really does fly). Both my girls are artistic and Syeda amazingly so. Her design eye is amazing. She won her first artist competition at nine.  She's attended several sessions at Scottsdale Artist School. At age 4 Syeda took gemstone beads put Shea butter on the back of them and did a mosaic on my wall. Me being me, I showed it to several well known artists who all told me to not let public school limit her talent . Her work has been copied and stolen. I showed her work to her elementary school art teacher  who informed me that students were copying her work already. Syeda has a very unique way of drawing people. We have been blessed with teachers and classes that sought to enhance her natural skills instead of pigeonholing her.


My girls have nerve wracking, joyous and stretched me beyond limits I didn't know existed. I feel truly blessed to have my daughters. I give thanks for them every day. Smile


I thank the Creator for blessing me with them in my life.


Check in tomorrow as I continue reminiscing all week about these first 57 years.


As always you can click on the title to visit my shop and keep this going. Use coupon code Birthday57 to receive 57% off through March 10, 2012

Michelle

Today is B'Girls Birthday She Turns 13

Today my baby girl turns 13, where did the time go. It seems like just yesterday I was laughing at her as she went  from room to room playing in each room and then coming to see what Mommy was doing. She liked to play under the diningroom and then she became too tall for that. She took a while to realize she couldn't  stand up without bumping her head. She has always had her own sense of style and fashion. I believe in letting kids take baby steps in making decisions. I started my girls off letting them pick and outfit to wear and by the expression on my face daring anyone to make a negative comment to them. Baby girl has never had her hair permed although I did let her get a press and curl once. She has a strong ego and self esteem many times setting the standard for her class. The kids in her kindergarten class started calling her "rock star". I didn't get it, so I asked the kid I heard say it why. He stated it was her. If you knew my daughter then you would understand my confusion. She would not immediately join in play or other activities. She would sit back observe the activity and then decide if she wanted to participate. Go figure.

Now its  parties and she had her first limousine ride this weekend. Little Miss socialite had a luncheon birthday party to attend and that afternoon the parents of the second birthday girl treated the kids to a limo ride before they had the party. Thank goodness she has not gone gaga over boys yet. I've been talking that issue and whispering abstain from sex until she's married in her ear since she was born.

I give thanks for being blessed with her wit, intelligence and love these 13 years. May I be blessed to see her through the many transitions she still has will undergo before she reaches adulthood.

Michelle

Angano…Angano…Tales from Madagascar Make Your Own

Angano…Angano…Tales from Madagascar



This is so cool I had to share it. My Daddy instilled in us a love of folktales, animal history (?) (We watched National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau with him). He loved the program "Sea Hunt" because it showed you  deep sea life forms.

If you fortunate enough not to have your kids going back to school until after labor day, now is the time to make those memories. One of my fondest memory is my Daddy teaching us to swim at Belle Isle. All of sudden he told us come out the water. The next thing we knew Daddy was swimming towards Canada. People all along the beach started cheering him on. The Coast Guard stopped him at the international boundary. They had him rest and the he swam back.
You know that was bragging rights for years. Daddy said he wanted to see if he could do it. Mommy just shook her head. Daddy's an Ancestor now but my friends still fondly remember that day.

What you do doesn't have to be that dramatic, it can be corny as heck. Take a staycation or a over night trip and sing all the songs you know they don't want you to sing. (Especially if you're like me and can't carry a tune in a bucket). Smile Make those memories your kids will treasure them forever, even as they complain and moan now. Smile

Peace.
Michelle

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! I Am Thankful MY Mother is....

I am thankful my Mother is my Mother.  Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's around the world. May you receive the Respect, Protection, and Admiration for all that you do. There is no playbook for being a Mother and a Mommie. You do the best you can and if that isn't good enough for some people then to HELL with those people.

You do not have to be super MOM. You do not have to sacrific your PERSONHOOD or your HUMANITY to be a good Mother. Your house does not have to look like Better Homes and Gardens. You are not a failure if your kids are not bringing home 4.0 report cards. Your kids to do not have to have the lastest gadgets and outfits.

Kids need more than anything else your time and attention however little of it you may have with having to work to keep a roof over their heads. Sharing a walk in the park, a conversation, a book, your perfume that is what your kids will take away from childhood.

As they used to say Kodak moments, thats what kids take away from childhood. So make them put the electronics down and go take a walk see how many different birds or critters you can spot. Spent time with your rugrats because those memories  are what they take into adulthood.

Never forget you are the nucleus of the family, as you go so goes the family. Do what you have to keep you mentally and physically healthy.

Most of all recognize SUPER MOM is dead may she RIP. Just do you.

Wirequeen stepping off her soapbox.

Love Y'all  and let's enjoy our day.

Michelle

Baby Girl's Second Track Meet

Baby girl ran in her second track meet. She came in last again, but improved her time. She had to use her nebulyzer before the race so I didn't want  her to run. She insisted and did not whine, make excuses or complain. I was really proud of her. I was cheering so loudly you would have thought she was setting a new track record. Smile.

I know its been a long time since my now 22 year old participated in sports but these are the quietest sports events I have ever been to. Her teammates weren't even cheering for each other until they saw me doing it. I had them cheering for the kids who were coming in last by asking how would you feel. They started helping me cheer for all the kids, especially the ones who came in last, didn't matter which team they were on we cheered them in. You could see the difference it made by the look of surprise on the kids faces.

I will be doing a giveaway for Mother's Day starting next week. I got my fan page and shop set up on facebook. Still a work in progress, You can see it here. http://on.fb.me/ghLTw6

Make it a great day.