by: Joan Kasura
I love fireworks! So does my daughter. Last year, the men in our family were total party poopers about going to the fireworks. In response, daughter and I took matters into our own hands, trekking out to the nearest display in Columbia. Thanks to our familiarity with the areas surrounding the Columbia Mall, we hatched a plan to park at the nearby high school and walk the extra mile and a half across the mall parking lots to the lakeside fireworks tucked behind The Whole Foods. Thus, when the show ended, we were ensured a speedy getaway, unlike many others who were unluckily parked bumper to bumper in the mall parking lots. by: Many Kind Regards Staff
Working from the comfort of your own home is awesome, as anyone who works from home can tell you. But what about working from home when you’re a parent? Here at Many Kind Regards, we all work from home, and we’re all parents. This, inevitably, makes our communication interesting (conference calls and shorter calls alike) - and sometimes a bit confusing. After a recent series of these interactions, we compiled a list of the crazy things we’ve heard during them. Don’t worry. We wouldn’t dare expect anyone outside of our team of awesome work-from-home parents to put up with this nonsense. When making calls outside that group, we do know how to put our “professional pants” on. But the reality it is that one of the really great things about working at Many Kind Regards is being able to do so from home, despite the many (and let’s be honest, sometimes ridiculous) distractions or obstacles in our way. We KNOW many other work-at-home parents out there who will have similar experiences, we invite you to chime in below! Without further ado… by: Ariele O'Brien
Separations are a normal experience for military families. Some choose to move “home,” the place they lived prior to joining the service or the place currently with the most family. Those that move home live near or with family while their spouse is gone. Some choose to stay where they are and keep their routine and friends around them as substitute family. This often occurs with families that have school-aged children because it is difficult to change schools every time a spouse deploys. Let’s truly not forget.
I started my career on Capitol Hill when I was just 22 years old. While I had grown up in the area my entire life, it wasn’t until I began working behind closed doors that I realized how every single member of congress is worried only about one thing, re-election. I started off in IT doing help desk support and scheduling for the office’s which really just meant I was in their offices all the time over hearing conversations while I reset their passwords and planned equipment moves. After a few years of paying my dues I moved over to sales and I sold all of their communication tools they would need to reach their constituents including, websites, e-newsletters, telephone town halls, iPhone apps, etc. Naturally that meant I worked with their communication teams to get their messages out, recall messages and work side by side to ensure things were being presented the “right” way. by Des Ryan Editor’s note: this piece was born of a discussion about modern parents and whether we are too distracted. Please use empathy when responding and discussing your thoughts. Today in my newsfeed I noticed two similar articles with very different outcomes. Both working fathers of toddlers with very busy work schedules. Both went to work as usual and were so distracted they had forgot to drop their sleeping toddlers off at daycare but instead parked their cars and left their children in the car. One father went on his normal work day came home and noticed the toddler in their carseat completely unresponsive and had died. The other father got on the train for work and realized he didn’t drop his daughter off at daycare. He calls 911 and explains what happened and that he is on his way back. He arrives within 20 minutes of the rescue completely distraught. He explains this is not his normal routine and was distracted on getting to work. These articles of forgetfulness with our children have been being reported a lot more often. Right away people ask, “How could someone ever forget their child”? “How did you not notice your child in their car seat leaving the car to go to work”? “How could someone drive all the way home and not notice that their child had been in the car all day”? “What could possibly make you this forgetful and distracted”?
Dear Eva,
I’ve always considered myself to be a strong, independent career woman. I’ve become very successful in my life but I seem to bounce from long term relationship to long term relationship and in that area I really haven’t spent time on my own. Also, the people I have been with have never really treated me the way I hoped one day I would be. While I don’t consider it settling, I do feel that I want children more than anything and I am in my 30’s now. My current relationship has it’s ups and downs but we have talked about marriage and I get excited every time we do, however, some days are really hard on me to not only be the loving potential fiance’ but also hold him accountable for things as well. Every woman has a time clock, right? If I want a family I will have to make a choice before it’s too late, right? Please help! Potential Fiance’ in Crisis Dear Potential Fiance’, I hate to be the one to break this to you but it needs to be said, there is no time clock. I hear women say this all of the time as if their lives are about to run out but what you don’t see is that you are only fast forwarding to a miserable future. Marriage is not to be entered into to have a family. In fact, you probably see all around you how many families struggle after kids come into the picture. It’s not to say you wouldn’t love your kids like everyone else loves their little units but if you think you are mature enough to be a mom then you have to be mature enough to see the bigger picture. If you are having problems now there are no Band-Aids, no matter where you look. You won’t find it with kids, a career, more date nights, it just doesn’t work that way. A solid foundation is the ONLY marriage that can survive. Everyone has their tough days with their significant others but it’s how you handle the situation when it’s presented that makes the difference. It doesn’t sound like you know enough of what you want on your own to give it to someone else yet. They take as much as you give and without balance there can be no trust and without trust you have no relationship. If pride is more important in an argument then you cannot trust them with your true feelings, which only leads to resentment over time. Think about if your children were standing in the room in your last few arguments, would you be appalled at the way things were handled then? If you plan to do everything you can for your children, the first place you should start is by making yourself happy first. Warm hugs, Eva by: Many Kind Regards Staff
Photo Credit: Flickr Don't ask us how we started this conversation. But some of the MKR staff got to talking, you know how women sometimes do when they are avoiding real responsibilities, about a seemingly made-up scenario. What if you found out your friend’s husband was your gynecologist? Lo and behold, it's not made up. It actually happened to one of us. (No don't ask who, we are standing in solidarity on this one...it's much too embarrassing) It prompted us to come up with a list. A friendship requirement of sorts. Without further ado... 25 reasons we can't be friends. Article by: Ariele O'Brien
Original Photo Credit: Flickr Everything is pending. With just weeks left before the latest unexpected military move, life is a series of questions. As usual, the first question is, "When are we moving?" Everything hinges on the answer to that simple question, yet the answer is out of our control. Military moves come in stages. First, there's rumors of the move--vague emails suggesting an impending set of orders. Next, there's the unofficial confirmations that the vague rumors were factual and there truly is a move on the horizon. Then, there's the waiting. This period is marked by the time you find out you are definitely about to receive orders to the time you actually receive the orders. Article by: Danielle Thompson
Original Photo Credit: Flickr I am so tired of seeing article after article talking about the ABSOLUTE HORRORS of Fifty Shades of Grey. It seems like every opinion piece I read on the books or movies is over-stereotypical of the entire thing and it’s either completely awful that any woman would read this book or utterly amazing to dream of what life would be like if you were Anastasia Steele. |
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