My Life as a Super Extra Ordinary Mom

My son, Joshua, illustrating taking a leap of faith. I have been a small business owner since September 1, 2017 and the experience has been similar to a roller coaster at an amusement park-full of ups, sharp curves, downs and thumps.  Sounds fun, right??  Like with riding roller coasters, you have to have a "stomach" to launch out on your own. I am sharing my experience in the hopes of encouraging others who may be on the verge of taking that first step or leap of faith.   1.   Dream, catch the dream and take the step-   I am a firm believer of pursuing one's dreams.  My pastor once challenged us to think about a cemetery in terms of all the unwritten books, businesses never launched, screenplays never created and other dreams that never came to fruition.  Do not let life pass you by while you sit on your dream.  Take the first step! 2. Set Goals- As a first time business owner, it was clear to me immediately that I needed to have clearly defined goals to ensure I

The holiday season is upon us and school bells will be ringing a final time as students race home to begin their holiday breaks.  Research has shown that children's retention is impacted during school breaks.  Why not incorporate fun activities that can involve the entire family to keep those skills sharpened during each break?  The alphabet game and a pile of leaves can do wonders!  Check out these suggestions... The Alphabet Game -As your family makes its way to various locations during the holidays, encourage everyone in your vehicle to participate in the alphabet game.  This happens to be one my family's favorite past-times when we travel. How to play: Each participant attempts to find road signs that begin with every letter of the alphabet.  Any sign is fair game-restaurant signs, interstate signs, advertisements, etc.  You can even decide as a group to use words found on other vehicles, especially semi-trucks, which are oftentimes rich with muli-word text.  Keep in

My son, Azaan, recently graduated from the United States Marine Corps (USMC) bootcamp, one of the most traumatic transformations of his life.  I asked him about his experience and was delighted to hear some of the tips he learned while on Parris Island.  These tips can be applied to all aspects of life, especially our work lives. 1.  Always give 100%.   Azaan was required to give his all at all times throughout the grueling 13 week transformation.  While most of our work environments are not like the US Marine Corps bootcamp, I am certain there are days when we all feel like giving up and quitting.  At those moments, attempt to assess what is causing the duress.  Once that assessment is made, you have the opportunity to determine if you can change the situation or if it is outside of your control.  My son only had control of his attitude during bootcamp and in many cases, our attitude is exactly what we may need to change to allow ourselves to give 100%. 2.  It's never