Today at work, a colleague of mine stated that she had suspended one of her social media accounts because she got into a random argument with a stranger on some political page and it really shook her up. Additionally, she feels that she has become a slave to checking her profile on her smartphone excessively. Ironically, as she shared this with me, she was busy checking out another one of her social media accounts on her phone. After our conversation, I began to reflect on my own love-hate relationship with social media. It's no secret that I am a staunch supporter of interacting on multiple platforms and of using social media as a tool for engaging others in your brand. However, at what point do we become consumed by our daily musings and exchanges there? Although there are many benefits to being active on social media, it does have its downfalls too. The question then becomes, are we addicted to social media? In order to answer this question, we have to be honest … [Read more...]
Sometimes You Just Have To Bite The Bullet…
This past Saturday, my sons and I headed out to their basketball games and we were running terribly late. There were many reasons why we were late including the fact that I was sick as a dog and, due to my being sick, I had forgotten to wash my older son's uniform the night before. When we first started getting ready, I figured we had enough time to throw it in the washing machine and dry it in the dryer because it was about an hour and a half before we had to leave the house. If you are a parent, you know that things seldom work out exactly the way that you envisioned them, especially when it comes to having kids. As we were getting ready, it seems that my older son accidentally changed the setting on the dryer so the uniform wasn't completely dry by the time we had to leave. I had to make an executive decision and, since the uniform was just slightly damp, I told my son not to worry about it because he just had to take his picture in the uniform and then he could … [Read more...]
My Birthday Confession
Today is my birthday and it is a special day for many reasons beyond the usual ones that one might think of. You see, while most people are lamenting over birthdays due to the loss of their youth, I am counting my blessings and thanking God for every year that I get to be here to see my sons grow up. While others keep their age a secret for fear of ridicule, I proudly wear my age as a testament of my strength and courage. Today is my 36th birthday and I am proud to say that I am a Survivor. Yes, I know you all feel like you are survivors in your own ways but, you see, I am the other kind of survivor. Yes, that kind. Five years ago, I was diagnosed with CML. Yes it's a Cancer, yes it's treatable, and no I am not dying. CML stands for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia and it is a blood malignancy. I've had this blog for over 2 years and I have struggled with writing this post for a long time. There are many reasons for it including the fact that I believe some things are … [Read more...]
Hurricane Sandy Did Not Stop Halloween in NYC!
I spent a lot of time today pondering over whether or not we should take the boys Trick or Treating this evening. After all, the entire East Coast and Tri-state area is still suffering from the horrible effects of Hurricane Sandy earlier this week. Although we are fine and did not sustain any damage to our home, many of our neighbors did and our neighborhood is full of felled trees and downed power lines. As an educator, I understand the importance of returning to a sense of normalcy for children after any natural disaster or tragedy. My sons, much like many of the children who were affected by this storm, have lived through and experienced the anxiety involved in waiting for the storm to hit, sitting through the storm, and assessing damages afterwards. They have been looking forward to celebrating Halloween all month. Since we purchased their costumes last month, my husband and I decided to just throw caution to the wind and … [Read more...]
Entitled To What?
Lately, there has been a common thread in most of my discussions with others about the state of education and the attitudes of young people these days. Everyone agrees that today's young people have this warped sense of entitlement as if the world owes them something. Gone are the days of setting goals and working hard to attain those goals. In its place is a whole generation of slackers that walk around with their hand out. As an educator, it is evident to me in the behaviors that I witness from students year after year. Day after day, I find myself supplying children with things like pencils and paper because they regularly come to school unprepared. I often make the comparison between their not being ready for class and a doctor going into the operating room without a scalpel. One might argue that they seek supplies because they are economically disadvantaged, however, time after time I meet with parents who assure me that they have purchased the necessary school … [Read more...]
Not Your Issue…
Last year was a very stressful work year for me because I had to re-evaluate some of my relationships and friendships at work. This was due to people whom I thought to be friends showing their true colors and demonstrating that they weren't whom they appeared to be. I don't want to spend too much time getting into it all because, frankly, the way that they proved to be hypocrites is not as important as the fact that they ultimately proved to be untrustworthy. The important part is that I actually went through a period of time where I blamed myself and wondered if I had been the problem by being too outspoken or not reserving my thoughts on certain topics. That brings us to the real reason why I am writing this post which is to teach all of you never to doubt yourself. It is now a full year later and none of those people even matter at all in my life. On the other hand, they still continue to be the same miserable and deceptive people that they have always been. … [Read more...]
Watch Your Mouth!
This past week, I had to get involved in something that I simply could not hold my tongue about anymore. You see, the teenage daughter of one of my family members posted something extremely inappropriate on Facebook and I just could not turn a blind eye to it. Believe me, this was totally against my better judgment because this is not the first time that this has happened with this teenage cousin. She and her siblings have posted vulgar and sexual things on Facebook in the past and getting involved in it did not turn out very well for me. Herein lies the problem, their mother is an enabler. She had children well into her mid to late thirties and now she complains that she doesn't have the energy to deal with their teenage shenanigans. A contributing factor to all of this has been the decline of her health over the years. Although she is not incapacitated in any way, she has been in treatment over the years for a menagerie of physical ailments and she blames her inability … [Read more...]
Are You Raising Materialistic Kids?
This evening I spent at least four hours cleaning out my sons' closets and weeding out any clothes that do not fit them anymore. By the time I was done, I had three large garbage bags full of clothes that they have outgrown and their closets and dresser drawers are still full of new clothes and old clothes that are the right size. It really got me to thinking that perhaps it is time to cut down on buying clothes for them because it just seems like they have too much of everything. My husband and I take full responsibility for overindulging both of my sons with material things. It's not that we are very materialistic ourselves or that we value material possessions over abstract things like character or integrity. Our children are very well mannered and we spend a lot of time talking to them about being humble and appreciating everything that they have. They don't spend time talking about all the things they have and they get excellent grades in school to … [Read more...]
Revelations
As I get older, I am becoming keenly aware of the people who are genuinely in my corner that I could depend on through thick and thin. Life can be ironic in that you assume that you can immediately identify the individuals that will be by your side through prosperity and adversity. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and you end up being extremely disappointed more times than not. At the same time, however, you are pleasantly surprised at others who astound you with their loyalty and their genuine hearts. At times, I have wondered if being let down by those that I put all my stock in was my own doing. Perhaps I deluded myself about the nature of these interpersonal relationships and my support and loyalty was not reciprocated to an equal degree. I have realized, though, that I have not changed. I am still the same person that I have always been. I will concede, however, that I am keenly aware of the realities of life as well as my own mortality. Aging and … [Read more...]
It’s Nothing Personal…
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine wrote a post about meeting up with an old romantic flame. He mistook their encounter for more than what it was, which was a wave of nostalgia, and had to promptly be put in his place. You can read all about it on her blog, Adventures in Estrogen. I digress...The point that prompted me to write my post tonight is that he eventually read her blog and was very insulted at some of the reactions from her readers and their criticisms of him. This caused me to reflect on my own blog audience. Now, I'm not that egocentric to presume that my readers span the earth far and wide. However, there is the distinct possibility that someone whom I am close to or that I actually encounter in real life regularly, will at one point be insulted by something that I write about in this blog. I would say that this is a fairly realistic prediction considering that a few family members and my husband subscribe to my blog. Initially this was exciting … [Read more...]
