The Treat of the Trade

I took a Social Media Cleanse a few days ago. I logged off of Facebook and Instagram. And I cant even begin to tell you, that even though i only made it 48 hours, it was a great feeling to not be so controlled by my phone and refreshing news feed all day long. It gets stressful at times. Keeping up with everyone's dirty laundry, minute by minute status updates, check-ins...well you get the idea.  And the minions! OMG the minions!! (they didn't say all that stuff!)  I didn't "clean up" my friends list. So no one was cut from my life! :) But I paid more attention to what my husband and kids had to say. For the first time in a long time i can actually remember some of the jokes from a few stand up comedy shows the hubby and i watched while he was home.  I wasn't on my phone while having quality time with Josh and the kids. I noticed that when I did log back on, my mood changed. Not so much for the good either. I became irritable and just moody. I was...

  AHHHHH! Parenting. Parenting your own kids. Parenting step-kids. Parenting is hard ya'll! I don't care who you think you are, you don't have it figured out either. You might think you do, I mean your kids are still alive, as are mine but we seriously have no idea what we are doing. And I am pretty sure my parents had no clue what they were doing either. They turned out fine. I think anyway.   I am not my kids friend. I'm not a drill sergeant though either. Although they probably think I am Hitler's sister, I am not that bad! I parent first. Josh parents first. We struggle sometimes on if we are making the right decisions, like I am sure all parents do. So what if your kid gets mad at you and hates you and cusses you in their mind and talks horrible about you to their friends. Who cares! I mean SERIOUSLY?! WHO CARES?? They will one day move out on their own and maybe then .... just maybe....they will realize why you did the things you did. T...

(I copied this list from another blog I read....the ones that are all in bold I already do.) If I could do it all again, I’d: 1. Give myself permission to  not  be on call 24/7. By permission, I don’t mean disappearing, or for long, drawn-out periods. But I  do  mean handing over the reins of parenting more often, so I keep in touch with who I am in addition to being a parent. 2. Let the laundry pile up. Because, let’s be honest, nobody is going to fire me. 3. Enjoy a regular date night with my husband. Away from home if possible, but if we can’t, at least pretend we are. 4. Swing on the swings with the kids. Fun is more fun when your mother is having it too . 5. Make fewer to-do lists. Though I might feel as if I’m accomplishing something, I’m only writing down what I already know. 6. Sleep more, better, longer. 7. Worry less, better, shorter. 8. Be less grumpy about the state of my kids’ rooms. They’ll be empty far too soon. 9. Take ti...