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

Many of us have heard the childhood lullaby "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  In fact, it sounds a little something like this: The itsy-bitsy spider Climbed up the water spout Down came the rain And washed the spider out Out came the sun And dried up all the rain And the itsy-bitsy spider Climbed up the spout again I've often wondered why the  itsy bits  spider climbed up the spout again, but that is for a different blog on a different day.   Recently, the kids and I visited our local library and we were excited to find arts and crafts were underway.  Representatives from Artivityzone.com were on hand to assist the children with a cute activity which turned egg cartons  and  pipe cleaners into itsy  bitsy  spiders.   As I watched my little ones complete the guided tasks, I was struck by the importance of arts and crafts.  Not only were the children enhancing their creative abilities but they were also building memories.    I personally happen to LOVE arts and

It has been a month since I launched my new business and I am learning a great deal about myself as well as learning about being a business owner. Tasks such as establishing structure in an unstructured environment and having accountability partners have been crucial for my early beginnings. I will expound on those topics in a later post. Today, I want to talk about why I began my own business and how you can find the extraordinary in every day moments. Are you enjoying your professional life? There are 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. How much of that time are you doing exactly what you truly enjoy doing? I have always been a firm believer of encouraging others to operate in their gifts and their passion and I realized awhile ago that I was not using my gifts to their fullest potential. You may be wondering why the title "Super Extra Ordinary Mom" and does she know that extra ordinary is actually spelled as one word? And how exactly does Super Extra Ordin

"Mommy, the kids in my class and on my bus say they think I am a girl and ask if I am gay." I've had enough!  Too many times has my son come to me with a down-cast look, his shoulders slumped and near tears after hearing an onslaught of taunts from his peers throughout the day. The definitions of bullying range from "abuse and mistreatment of someone vulnerable" to "unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance...the behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time."   Harassment is defined as "causing the person alarm or distress."   Teasing is defined as "to laugh at and criticize someone in a way that is either friendly and playful or cruel and unkind."  Either of these definitions can apply to what my son is experiencing and I want it to stop. I don't think our schools are equipped to handle this issue.  At least not the school where o

On September 5th, I began my first day as a business owner.  Filled with excitement, I met with my first appointment of the day at 8:00 am.  As I thought about my journey to becoming a business owner, I realized I had some tips to share with others who might be venturing out on their own, or who simply are attempting to achieve a major milestone. Don't have time to read the full blog?  Check out my video on YouTube where I share the three tips. #1.  Make the Decision-Today, make the decision to accomplish what you are wanting to achieve.  If it is owning your own business, decide today.  If your goal is to return to school, make the decision today.  Or if you are an aspiring author, decide today that you will achieve your goal.  Once you make  up in your mind that you are going to do it, you invite positive energy to channel your way and things will begin to fall into place.  Every action thereafter will be a step closer to your dream. #2.  Keep Your Focus-It is easy to

My husband and I are often asked, "How do you two do it?  How exactly do you manage to get everything done with such a large family?" We attempt to keep life simple and have found the following tips have worked for our family. 1. Empower the Kids- We really encourage the kids to be as independent as possible and allow them to meet their own needs whenever possible.  If they can use a stool to get something to drink or grab a snack, that is exactly what we want.  We have taught them to make a few kid-friendly food items such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or Ramen noodles.   We also instill in them the importance of assisting each other as often as possible.  Having this level of independence definitely helps when we are involved in other tasks that require our full attention. Josiah enjoys cleaning the tables. 2. Keep them Engaged- We expect the kids to help around the house. We tell them that we are a team and that we need to work together to keep the house

In just a few days my son will leave the comfort of our home to travel to Parris Island, South Carolina.  This is not a vacation adventure.  No, the trip is for basic training...to become a Marine. I fully support his decision to serve our country and have known for several months that this day would come.  So why do I have a lump in my throat and feel churning in the pit of my stomach? Recently, I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) and the featured story of the hour was the involvement of the United States Marines Corps in World War I.  The Battle of Belleau Wood was cited as "one of the bloodiest and most ferocious battles U.S. forces would fight in the war."  This historic battle, which occurred near the Marne River in France, is where our soldiers received the nick name, "Devil Dogs."  This term of endearment was a result of the soldiers' diligence, ferociousness, sacrifice and valor exhibited during the battle. To hear the full story, visit: