Why does the word SNOW...........

make people run to the store for milk, eggs and bread? Can anyone at all answer that question? I have lived in the south all of my life, with the exception of Germany for 1 year and I have never understood the rushing to the grocery store.

First let's get this straight, northerners like to make fun of southerners because we supposedly don't know what "real" snow is. Granted no we don't get blizzards, we don't get snowed in for days or weeks at a time, but we have had snow and ice on the ground. We do know what snow looks like and yes black ice even. HA! I bet you thought I didn't know that term.

In the south the weatherman make a big deal out of any weather, flooding rains, tornadoes, hurricanes and yes snow and ice. So in the south when it's tornado season the weathermen will stay on the tv for "continuous coverage", boy does that make people mad. Ya know what? It also saves lives when the weather is bad in outer lying areas.

Yes back to snow now, we will talk tornadoes this spring/summer/fall as it goes on for months. So we have the possibility of snow or ice tonight, wow even possible accumulation of up to 2 inches of snow! So tonight all the kids across the area are praying for snow and ice and moms and dads are secretly praying for the opposite so their kids have to go to school!

Now since obviously if you have lived in the north all your life you know how to drive in snow, put on snow chains and just common sense while driving in the snow right? Hmm I begin to wonder about the common sense part when I see the tv coverage showing areas being snowed in and yet people are still driving down the interstate, get trapped, have accidents and must be rescued. So you tell me how that is common sense? Common sense would mean staying at home if you can't drive in the snow/ice.

The southern folks well they may not drive in snow/ice a lot, and really to tell ya the truth they can't drive on a perfectly sunny dry day either, BUT that's why they close schools, stores, and roads down so that us nice southern people don't have to drive in those kinds of conditions. That makes sense right?

So back to my original question, why do people run to the store for milk, bread and eggs when they think bad weather (any kind) is coming? If you get a bad enough ice/snow storm the power will likely go out, therefore any items in the fridge/freezer probably will spoil.

If you plan to go to the store lets use some common sense on what to buy. If you live in an area where heavy heavy snow will come then you will need to adjust this list, but if you live here in the south where snow doesn't exist much this list will be fine.

• Batteries for your flashlight and radio ( buy extras)
• Bottled/Jug Water
• Bread ( gotta have something to eat you don't have to cook)
• Peanut Butter ( goes with the bread)
• Canned Meats ( chicken/roast beef) already cooked, just add to your bread.
• Mayo/Mustard Packets ( from Sam's or Costco's if you are a member) if not pick some up at the next fast food place ya go to. I don't mean handfuls, but a few.
• Snacks, crackers, chips etc.
• Diapers/Wipes extra if you have kids
• Toilet Paper (just in case you should always have extra)
• Extra blankets for the cold weather
• First Aid Kit
• Full tank of gas in your car

Now some of these you should already have at your house such as blankets etc. Now some of these may seem extreme to a lot, but better to be safe than sorry. Notice my list doesn't contain any cold food items that could be ruined.

This concludes the emergency broadcast of "oh no snow is coming, quick run to the store". Stay tuned for more coverage at 7, 8, 9 and the rest of the night for continuous coverage of this approaching possible snow/ice storm.

Sleep who needs it?

Um well apparently I do not as the case may be. I haven't slept for the last two nights, not sure why other than maybe stress. Stress causes so many issues and not sleeping is a big one.

I believe in the last two days I have slept maybe 7 hours total if I am lucky. Last night was great, up til 4 am and slept maybe peacefully til 6, then it was toss and turn til 8. I should have just gotten up at 6, but who am I kidding I don't get out of bed that early anymore.

Don't you hate when you can't sleep, but you really can't justify getting out of bed to do anything for fear you will wake everyone else up? Yes that's what happens when you live in a small container of a house. Everyone's vision of small is different, some say 2000 sq ft is small, other's like me believe that 1000 sq ft is small.

So as my child naps you think I could be sleeping right? Well I could, but then I wouldn't sleep tonight so I am forcing myself to stay awake and push thru the day. It's not easy though with my bedroom just steps away with a nice inviting cozy bed. Not only that but as soon as I think about laying my head down my child will wake from her nap. See the thought of it just now, made her cry out, so if I type really quietly maybe she will go back to sleep.....

How hard can it be?

It doesn't matter if you are a stay at home mom, a work at home mom or a work outside the home mom, each have issues that come along with it. The media is famous for trying to make one out to be worse than the other. In reality neither is worse, each mom/dad has to decide what works for their family and no one has the right to judge them.

Let's look at stay at home moms, typical stereotype of sitting all day on their butts, watching TV and eating. Obviously the people who think that have never stayed at home with kids. Being a stay at home mom opened my eyes, and I found in my life that staying home was 10 times harder than being at work.
Being a sahm is hard, you are in control of your house, your kids everything 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year. That's a lot of work! Most sahm to kids under the age of 3 typically can't use the bathroom alone, can't sit and read for more than 5 mins of uninterrupted time. It's hard to even get dinner cooked much less prepare lunch for themselves or the kids.

Work at home moms fall into the middle category because though they are sahm's they have a business to work as well. So not only do they have to take care of the normal stuff, they also need to find time to work their business in order for them to stay home. Many wahms will work when their children are napping and/or in the evening when dad is home.

Then we have our strong work outside the home moms which are in a league of their own. Moms who work outside should get the same respect as a stay at home mom. Most working moms work because they have to, some because they want too but mostly because they have to.
Working moms give up a lot in order to provide for their family, they miss out on so much of their children's lives and time with their spouse. They miss the firsts with their kids, they often miss out on school activities due to work.

So all in all each have pros and cons and only you can decide whats best for you and your family. Don't let others look down at you for staying home or working, hold your head high and do what it takes.

Pros

SAHM: Being home with the kids

WAHM: Being home with the kids

WOHM: Getting outside the house

Cons
SAHM: Rarely getting a break from the kids
WAHM: Working the business, missing quality time with the kids
WOHM: Missing a lot of quality time with the kids

No matter which you are there will be issues that come up, and you just have to set up your priorities so that you find that balance for you and your family.

Why do you stay if you are so miserable?

That's the million dollar question as far as I am concerned when it comes to direct sales. It doesn't matter what company or how long it's been around, but if you are truly that unhappy why do you stay?

I see these ladies that join a home business and within a month they are complaining: "I am not making any money, no one will buy this from me, it's to expensive, there are to many rules" etc etc. You get the drift.

Let's take the first one: I am not making any money. This is your responsibility not the companies. They will never make a claim on how much money you can make nor will they make it for you. You must be willing to work it as a business not a hobby in order to succeed. You can not simply put your website link out there and expect to make money. Sure you may get an order here and there, but not the type of money you are looking for.

You must work the business every day, take aside a couple hours each day, each week depending on how much you want to make. You should have a business plan and goals; long term and short term ones. Joining tons of wahm boards isn't going to make you real money. Ask the ladies that are number 1 in their company how they got there and they will tell you from a variety of ways, and I can almost guarantee it's not from message boards. The only reason you aren't succeeding is you, placing blame on others will get you no where.

If you find that the company you are with isn't right for you for whatever reason: LEAVE. Find one that works for you. Regardless on what size team you may have built up, go on your way as you aren't doing anything for your team but bringing them down.

Attention Whores

You know the ones I am mean, the people who will do anything for attention. It's amazing to me the lengths that people will go to, to do harm to others and/or talk bad about them. It truly makes me realize how lonely and insecure they really are.

Alot of the people I am talking about are sahms/wahms because I see how catty and rude they can be on message boards I used to frequent. I would think that these ladies would have more to worry about than bringing others down. So many of them have home businesses and of course children/husbands, but yet rather than spending their time and energy towards that they waste it away belittling others.

These ladies get their kicks from making others feel bad, from jumping on bandwagons of others. There is one yahoo group in particular that truly makes no sense to me, but if you are in for sitting around with henpecking ladies, join them. Rather than work their business and try to be successful they sit and try to bring others down. The purpose of this group is supposed to be to give/get info about other reps, however it turns into a bashing fest of the person or a company. God forbid that person sticks up from themselves or someone from the company that is getting bashed comes in to stick up for them. Then the ladies turn on that person and bash them for being in the company etc.

Well you know the saying, birds of a feather? That truly fits the ladies in those groups.

Why are people are so dense or desperate, maybe both?

For the life of me I can't figure out why people think these data entry jobs that's going to pay you $300 to $500 a week are legit.

Let's look at reality, how much money that would be per hour. For $300 a week, you would have to work 40 hours and make $7.50 an hour. For $500 a week you would have to work 40 hours and make $12.50 an hour. So we are talking $24 K a year for a $500 a week job, not gonna happen for someone working at home.

Now that's providing that these people who want to work at home can or want to work 40 hours a week. If not at 20 hours a week $300 a week would equal to $15 an hour and$500 a week would be $25 an hour...don't we all wish!

Sorry to ruin the fun, but this kind of job is not going to happen. There are people with college degrees not making this type of money, so in all honesty why would you think a stay at home mom could?

The people who post these "jobs" are scammers and are playing on your desperation to want to work at home so bad that you will do anything, include paying for a job. The number one rule about a work at home job is : you will NEVER EVER pay for a job, they will pay you. I know you have seen those jobs on various sites; craiglist, hotjobs, monster but they are scammers.

Here's a sample ad: Data Entry Work at Home. Make $300 to $500 a week, no experience necessary. Some of them will claim no fees, guarantee money, but they are all lies.
Once you read the basis of this ad and you respond to their email they will reply with in order to make sure we know you are serious about this we need to ask for $$$ ( this varies from $29.95 to $5.00 )for training supplies. Oh yes and the number one catch: one time non refundable fee.

The sad thing is that so many people fall prey to this because they think oh its only $5.00 or it's only $15.00, well yes it's only that much, but imagine 200 people fall for it. That scammer just walked away $1000.00 at $5.00 per person.

Your training supplies in case you are interested some in the form of an email telling you how to place ads just like the one above. Simple scam yet so many fall for it.

Don't be the next victim.

Traditional Mom

I am by defintion a traditional mom. I bottlefeed, use disposable diapers, spank if needed, my kids sleep in their own rooms in their own beds and I use Cry It Out. Does this make me a bad mom? Hell no, it makes me a confident mom who does what is right for her family.

I have no beef with those who want to follow attachment parenting because that is what works for them. I do have beef with those who try to tell me I am a bad mother or look down on me because I do the things of a traditional mom.

I think that positive reinforcement is great when its used in the right situation. IMO kids don't just learn from that, they learn from discipline ( and I don't mean spanking) I mean taking care of the situation. Time outs, spanking whatever it is but you must be consistent.

I have seen many times where 2 kids are playing and kid number 1 takes a toy away or hits kid number 2. Mom of Kid 1 comes over, that's not nice, lets not do that and walks off. Kids resume playing and or fighting again.

How would I handle that situation? I would remove my child from the situation, give timeout and explain why. If you continue to let them play its basically sending a signal that there is no consequences for their actions. If you don't teach them this young they will continue to do so as they grow older and the harder it will be for you the parent.

I love watching SuperNanny, she really tells the parents like it is. I watch that show and can tell you the number one reason they call for help....is they don't discipline their kids or teach their kids consequences for their actions.

Just some food for thought.

Welcome to View From A Blonde

I know many are wondering what possibly could a blonde have to say that could be so important? Really not much but I am here to share my views and opinions on many things.

You will find many post from me about working at home, about being married and raising kids, since that is what I do. However you will find post about current events, about having friends and other random thoughts.

I am a honest person and you may not always agree with me, but that's whats beautiful you don't have to.