The "Lion of the Senate" Moves On

I was surprised by my own emotional reaction to the news of Ted Kennedy's passing.

More than anything else, I felt the magnitude of the passing of an era. He was the one who carried the torch for his fallen brothers. He was the glue that kept a legendary family unified.

Forced to exist in a world where the media wanted to define him by scandal, he refused to accept that label and forged ahead to make the world a better place with courage and relentless energy.

In a statement issued by his family they described him as "the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our eyes."

In spite of a life filled w an extraordinary amount of tragedy, Senator Edward Kennedy always believed that our best days were still ahead of us. If he was able to maintain that kind of faith in a life plagued with loss and heartache, how can we not?

facebook vs LinkedIn for business

I'm still working on establishing my facebook presence for my business. While I have a fan page for my product, to date, I have used facebook primarily as a tool for maintaining personal relationships with friends and family.

While there is some overlap with my LinkedIn connections, my facebook participation definitely has a different purpose. I am still working to reconcile how that will fit with facebook as a business tool. I'm all for transparency, but I think there's room for maintaining appropriate boundaries. I understand there are privacy settings etc, but they are somewhat unwieldy and the time it takes to maintain all that concerns me as I already spend a good bit of time engagine in SM. I'm wearing lots of other hats and there's only 24 hours in the day.

Since I began joining relevant LinkedIn groups, my experience as a user has changed dramatically. I routinely have meaningful interactions and make connections that are mutually beneficial. I think that once people begin to understand the value of LinkedIn as more than just an online resume, the value of this tool will become much more dynamic. For those of us who have figured it out, it already is.

Of course, then there's the working inside the home thing

So to continue my thoughts on the whole working mom thing. While I'm starting to figure a lot of it out, there's lots more to get a handle on. For example, how do other people stay on top of the house - especially in summer, when the kids are home all day to mess it up?

I am wearing so many hats as a start-up entrepreneur that most of my physical energy is invested in business efforts. I make a diligent and conscious effort to interact with my children and spend quality fun time with them every day, but there would be practically zero household routine if my husband were not such a proactively helpful partner.

My kids are willing helpers when it comes to picking up their stuff... after much armtwisting, cajoling, nagging, threatening, growling and gnashing of teeth. I know they aren't like this at school. The Montessori classroom has a strict expectation of order that they thrive on during the school day. Why does it get left behind when they walk through the front door of their home?

When asked about this phenomenon at the parent conference, the teachers explained that it requires a lot of energy during the day to do all the work that they do and maintain the self control required to keep it all together. They suggested that it might be healthy for the kids to feel comfortable and have a more relaxed structure at home. Reduces stress they said. Ok. I can see that. But what about my stress level?

I want my kids to feel an inner sense of satisfaction from maintaining a tidy environment. That should be the reward. I don't think it should be necessary to provide material incentives and bribes to get them to do what needs to be done to keep the family home pleasant.

So far, it's working great for me. Yeah - right.

I think I'm getting a hang of this Working Outside the Home thing

It's been about 18 months since my husband and I decided to launch our startup game company. In that time, I have struggled to figure out how women do the motherhood/career thing. I have so much respect for those who manage to keep it all together and get it done. I, on the other hand, am still trying to figure it all out.

The good news is that, with time, I am beginning to feel a new sense of confidence. This confidence comes not so much from figuring out how to hold it all together, but rather a new understanding of priorities and an appreciation for juggling skills

I don't feel intimidated by those "super moms" who have the house perfect, the kids scrubbed and dinner hot on the table when hubby walks in.

Granny's 3 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

1 box White Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 small can Pumpkin
1 bag Hershey's Cinnamon chips

Mix by hand until just blended with a whisk or wooden spoon

Grease muffin pans with butter

Bake at 350 for 25 mins give or take a couple of mins depending on your oven.

Tips:
use icecream scoop to measure batter into muffin pans
you could also bake this as a loaf and add walnuts and/or raisins