Turn on the television and you are sure to see a reality tv show about what life should be like or is supposedly like, a commercial that pushes you to lose weight or look a specific way. Media is an outlet that society uses to push a specific view of what people should be and look like. It takes a strong person to overcome that media push to be a certain way, it takes dedication to figure out who you are and to just be yourself.

Now not only do parents need to teach their children to be individuals, this is best taught through being an individual your own self, we now have to teach our children that reality TV is not the way to go. That reality TV is fake, it’s highly dramatized because the drama antics sell the show.  The best way to teach your children that reality TV is fake is to not let them watch it but what if when they get older they start seeing these shows and think that’s the real world?

I am a firm believer that you must teach your child about everything in this world; the good, the bad and the ugly. For you don’t want your child looking to their peers for answers on what reality TV is, what alcohol and drugs are or what a real relationship is. Peers are great to turn to but we need to teach our children to have a mind of their own, we are their full time caregivers. The best way to teach your children what their normal is, is to teach them that the word normal is defined by our own self, not by our environmental factors.

My pug is a sweetheart, I love her dearly. I mean who wouldn’t love a dog that sleeps as often as you would like to, eats twice a day whenever you feed her, goes out to pee whenever you feel like letting her out and to top it all off she lets the kids do whatever?

This dog rules…

Usually that is, until something happens to make her bark and this is just a small list of various situations that make her bark {a lot}, like all disturbed, ruffled up, hair on end .. barking:

• Tom & Jerry, you know that cartoon? Oh yes indeed. Woof Woof Woof!
• Me opening the door to enter, after she just watched me walk out of the door. Woof Woof Woof!
• Wii games – any and all. Woof Woof Woof!
• The wind blowing outside. Woof Woof Woof!
• My typing on the keyboard, in my office – one room away from her, like right now! Woof Woof Woof!

It’s crazy, never seen a dog so disturbed by so many things. The television really gets me, because she barks at it so often I have to wonder if her previous owners ever watched television? Love my Pug, dislike the startled nature she is starting to have all of a sudden.

So the other day I was talking about shirts and my daughter, the conversation went on more that day about how she actually really does love her Mama because her Mama is the most amazing, awesome Mama in the world. I got an eye roll with that comment, but I expect the eye roll because she is heading into those tween moody years.

I went around the house pointing out pictures in photo frames of when she was little and smiling so cute on my lap and with her brother. I said “see there is proof that once upon a time you loved me so much and you loved your brother Aj too”.  My daughter replies with “ummm no I was just smiling a lot because back then I loved to smile”. I replied “ummm well why don’t you smile now?” She replied “I don’t know. I just don’t like to smile”. GASP …..

I could not believe that a daughter of mine would not like to smile, I mean seriously? How can it be. I went on to explain to my daughter that she should smile because a beautiful smile can go a long way. I also went to say I could weigh 400lbs and no one would notice as long as I had a beautiful smile. She rolled her eyes and said that’s not true, but I beg to differ.

I think that beauty holds no weight, holds no boundaries and is more than skin deep. I believe that true beauty is the willingness to simply love life and smile all of the time. That is why I think of others as beautiful or handsome, because of the happiness I feel radiating from their smile and attitude.

So I had to remind my daughter, yet again, what really counts in life – to be happy and let no one bring you down. Maybe, just maybe it sunk in today.

It’s funny the other day I was thinking about how I don’t really fit in with any particular crowd. As I watch my oldest start having cliques in school where the girls are friends with this group of girls and yet not friends with the other group of girls I wonder, where does anyone fit in really?

I think that every person has something unique about them that sets them apart from a clique and I would like to think that even within each clique the individual person gets bored at times with whatever the other girls may be doing.

For me, I don’t fit in with the upper class generation who spends money insanely and has a lot of materialistic items. I don’t fit in with those who have no money and live on the side of the road without a roof over their heads. I don’t fit in with the middle class who bitch about money and yet have enough to get bye. I am simply me and I like being part of every group, I enjoy chatting with all walks of life and really do enjoy a diversified group to call friends. I doubt I would ever been truly happy hanging with one particular “clique” ever.

I am a bit of a child adult, I always say I will forever be a toys r us kid and it’s so true. I am that goofy immature girl who loves to act a fool with or without alcohol. I am that mature business woman who can sell you anything to make a commission when need be. I am that girl who is the mom figure and can totally show my children great morals and good character. I am a bit of everything and therefore I fit in with ME and that is all that matters.

As I spend my day running around with my head cut off I realize that time is something everyone could use a little bit more of. Yet then I am reminded that this is all the time we have so why not stop thinking “I need more time in the day” and start thinking “I can use the time in this day to be productive”. Sure, sounds simple enough, right?

When I am dealing with around 4 hours of sleep a night at one time and a child who sleeps about that much at one time then wakes his little brother up it seems there certainly doesn’t matter how much time is in a day because four hours straight is what I get usually.

I have been doing better at juggling with what time I have to ensure I am working and my accounting program I use is showing me that I am indeed getting the job done, yet in my mind I feel like I am never fully completing a days work or doing all of the fun things I want to do with my kids.

As I near the start of school for my middle child and already had my oldest start school I am realizing just how fast time does fly and how important it is to make good use of the time you have. Next week I will only have one of my three children home with me and I plan to make the best of this time because the following year I may have him go to preschool.

Time is something we all need more of, but do we need more time or more skills to use time we have efficiently?