Friday, January 6

Makeup, Leggings, Weight Loss, and Other Annoying Things - A Different Perspective

I saw something on shared social media this week that has really kind of struck a nerve with me. Now, I am going to warn you right here, before you get any further in. If you are easily offended, you probably shouldn’t read this. Or maybe you should. Maybe you need to hear to what I am about to say. If you are going to read this, I encourage you to read all the way to the end. You might just be surprised.
Direct sales (aka party plan) “jobs” such as Tupperware, leggings, makeup, weight loss, etc. are all the rage for stay at home moms right now. You know what I’m talking about. If you are on Facebook, you’ve seen it. You’ve been invited to a party, added to a group, hit up to host a party, or even been asked to join one. Am I right? 
Wowza! Those ladies are so annoying! I haven’t freaking heard from you since high school (and we didn’t even like each other back then!) so why in the world would I want to host a party for you?! 5 seconds after accepting your friend request, I might add. Join your team? You are out of your mind. I'm mean, honestly, you are so spammy that I almost threw up. I didn't jump on social media to buy that crap. BLOCK! Now head on over to Twitter to tweet something funny about those ridiculous scamming moms, too lazy to get a "real" job.
Now, hold on. I am going to go out on a limb here for a second. I am willing to bet that at least a good chunk of you who are agreeing with this right now, also complain about “those people” who just live on welfare and spend YOUR hard earned tax dollars. Tell me I’m wrong. 
Here’s where I am going to offend you. (Ironic, since you don’t seem to find that bashing any of the women I mentioned above might be offensive. Just sayin’) Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
PICK A FREAKING SIDE ALREADY!! (Did she just bust out the CAPS lock?) You can’t have it both ways. You’ve really gotta choose ONE thing to complain about and stick with it, already. PS- your posts about being overworked and underpaid, and how much you hate Mondays and your job are soooo much less annoying... said no one, ever.
Do you have any idea how many of these women were (or still are) on some form of government assistance when they decided to work a party plan business? Too many to count. Do you know how many of those women have worked their way out of a desperate situation? A TON!! Give them a flippin’ break! 
“But they annoy me to no end,” you say. “They are spammy and it bugs me,” you say. Stand up and shout it from the rooftops if you’ve never made a mistake at work. Go ahead. I’ll be right here when you get back… And then I will call you a liar. Why? Because no one is perfect. Let me repeat that for some of you who need to hear it again. NO ONE is perfect. Not even you. I know. That must have hurt a little. My mom always told me that the truth hurts sometimes. These women may have approached their business the wrong way a few times. Maybe even a lot of times. Sometimes it was so bad it was gag-worthy. I get it. Sometimes it is pretty brutal. Trust me! I know! I get added to 5-10 fb groups a week. MINIMUM! All of them want my money. Sometimes it is super annoying. Don't even get me start about the random friend requests and the messages that immediately follow. Not the best approach. 
BUT....Is that the worst thing in the world? At least they are trying. They are learning. They are making effort! For some of them, this is the hardest, most courageous thing they will ever do. It is WAY out of their comfort zone. It is a last ditch effort to save their family from going homeless. It is the ONLY thing keeping clothes on their children. Without it, there would be no diapers for their baby.  
So, now that we’ve all come to terms with reality, let’s go over some things. The next time you see one of “those” girls working their business, tell them that you are proud of them for doing everything in their power to support their family. Or at the very least, just keep scrolling. You know you can do that, right? I wish I could say I am sorry if my little rant offended you, but I’m not. Were you sorry when you made fun of someone just doing her best to feed her family? I didn’t think so. Sorry, not sorry. It had to be said. 
Let's turn this around for a minute. If you were making mistakes at work, I'm sure you would hope that you'd have a chance to learn how to do it the right way before people just threw you under the bus and told you to quit your job. Or would you prefer that they openly mocked you on social media instead?? Tell me that wouldn't bother you. Why can't we all just be nice? Is it really that difficult? You don't have to agree with someone to be kind to them. Their dream doesn't have to be your dream. You don't have to understand why they chose the path they are on. You don't know their story! So maybe the next time you see someone working their direct sales business, you'll re-think things. Maybe not.  Someone once said, "you will never regret being kind." 
To answer the question, "Do people who sell oils/leggings/makeup/dishes not know about Target and Amazon?" Yes. We do. Did you think we live under a rock? We even shop there sometimes. We just happened to find a better way. We won't mock you for going to your 9-5 every single day for the next 50 years, if you don't mock us for staying home with our kids while we bring in a paycheck. Deal?
To all of you moms out there who are working that business, good for you! I am proud of you! I think you are strong, and brave, and amazing. You can do this. It isn’t always easy, but you can do this!

*Photo credit: Younique

Wednesday, October 15

The Luckiest Mom

As most of you probably already know, I am a mother. Before I am a blogger. Before I am the Mascara lady. Before I am the baker. Most of all, I am a mother. I have 5 kids. 
Yes.
On purpose.
My life is hilarious. Every. Single. Day. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that I should write a book, I would be living in a beach house eating bon bons. With a housekeeper.
But my life would still be happy chaos. 
So I thought maybe I would blog. Then I realized, I already blog. I blog here. I blog my recipes. I blog! I do NOT have time for another blog! 
And then I realized something!
THIS IS MY BLOG!
Which means, if I want to tell you all why I need makeup, or baking, or quite possibly even the therapy I bake to avoid, I CAN!
Then tonight something happened that made me do just that.
A Bad Day! A REALLLY bad day. You know the kind that turns you into the MOMster? I had that today. The kind of day where nothing goes as planned. The kind of day where you have no support from a spouse (or anyone at all for that matter). The kind where you make a facebook post like this: 
"You know those days where one child insists on shouting at you, one does her chores with the least amount of effort she can muster WHILE tormenting her siblings, on plugs his nose to eat his dinner (because his older sister taught him to!) and just no one listens to you in general? Yes.... so do it! I'm really not caring that it is only 6:15. Bedtime routine starts now. Quiet reading will take place until sleep! WOO HOO for school for FIVE tomorrow! It's a good thing I love them..."
But then even after that post, you spend 3+ hours fighting your kids to bed. Yes. Fighting them to bed. Not putting them to bed. The kind where you turn into the crazy mom and your kids finally go to bed silently because suddenly they are slightly terrified of what may happen if they don't?
That was my day today.....
But then something happened at 11:30pm as I was wallowing in my self pity.
Something that made me realize that I am the luckiest mom in the world.
(This realization came after the tears. After the guilt. After the gut wrenching "I am the worst mom in the world" thoughts. After running to their rooms to kiss their little faces.)

A post it stuck to my foot. 
I picked it up and saw that it was from my children. 
The 2 children I was the hardest on tonight. 
And the post it says "to mom". 
Where did it come from? 
What was it stuck to before it was stuck to my foot? 
And then I remember. 
 There was a price of dollhouse furniture on the couch tonight when I stumbled to the couch in the dark.
I think I was mildly curious as to why there was one stray piece of L's doll furniture down here.
Not curious enough to put more thought into it than that.
Where did I put it?
I had to get up and turn on the light.
I don't really even know what I am looking for.
A cradle maybe?
Why did my kids want me to have a cradle?
That's weird.
I have to find it.
Did I take it out of this room?
I think I was still seeing red when I sat down.
It could be anywhere?
Did I throw it off of the couch? Did I carry it out of the room? What exactly happened?
There is something on the floor.
That might be it. 
What is that? Where did it come from? Oh! It opens! What is inside?
It's a treasure chest. There is a necklace inside.
 Somehow they managed to put this treasure chest on the couch, where they knew I would go to sit down and work after they were in bed.
The somehow managed to put this treasure chest on my spot tonight.
Where was I? I was more than likely upstairs yelling at their siblings to get in their beds.
Chances are this is about the time that I came downstairs and yelled them all the way to bed.
  ......
I am the luckiest mom in the world.
Because after (okay, between) the tears. And after the guilt. I realized something.
That I am NOT the worst mom in the world.
I must be doing something right, because I have five beautiful children. And they love me! They WANT me to snuggle them. They WANT me to be in their classrooms. They WANT me to just be their mama.
And that makes me so lucky. Because I LOVE more than anything in the world, snuggling them. And going to their classrooms. And being their mama.
They love me even when I am not being very loveable.
Just like I do for them.
....
I'm just going to go and get that kleenex now. And put some beans in their "bean kind" jars. But that is a story for another day.