FWD: FWD: FWD: FWD: FWD:

Ever get those forwarded emails or see those posts that seem to take on a life of their own on Facebook?  Of course you have.  I have yet to find a suitable filter that magically makes my 3rd cousin stop sending me some money wish or angel-gram that I must hurry and send to 10 of my friends.  Oh, and by the way, Mr. Bill Gates, I'm still waiting for that free computer that we were promised if we forwarded that test message you were tracking.  Man, there are a lot of those things out there.

Recently, I saw a post on Facebook that I decided to repost (yes, because I agreed) about being a Mommy.  I changed it to "parent" as I thought the Daddy population needed some love too.  This is what it said:

Do I work? YES! 24 hours a day. Why? Because I'm a MOM. I'm a parent, a cook, a cleaner, a teacher, a referee, a nanny, a nurse, a handyman, a maid, a security officer, a dentist, a secretary, a negotiator, a chauffeur & a hairdresser. I don't get holidays, sick pay, or days OFF. I work day & night. I'm on call at all hours. Now tell me my job isn't a real one! Re-post if you are blessed enough to be a MOM...

As a stay-at-home mother I often find myself feeling a little bit like I'm not as hard working as some others.  I am.  I just get to do it in PJ's if I want.  Whether we work 9-5, the swing shift or we don't get paid for what we do we are all working for one goal.  We are raising adults.  I heard that the other day too.  We aren't raising children but we are raising adults.  I thought for a minute.  Of course.  When you think about it we aren't looking to create a perpetual preschooler or a forever fifteen year old (I know I cringed at that thought) we are raising the next generation.  While some of us leave the home to make an income to help provide the needs and stability for our future adults; others of us are home making sure the toilet isn't super gross for guests or that there is always a supply of fresh socks.  Mind you, the working parent is doing it all.  They bring home the bacon and fry it in the pan....they also have to make sure the toilets aren't super gross too.

There are so many of us out there.  We have our differences but our biggest similarities are universal.  We wear a lot of different hats, accomplish a workload befit several people and we want the best for those little buggers that mess up our toilets.  We are parents and we don't punch a time card!

Lessons learned as kids....but lost on adults?

Wait your turn.

Share your toys.

Eat your vegetables.

Don't pick your nose.

Say 'please' and 'thank you'.

Don't make that face or your face will freeze that way.

Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it has been.

If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all.

When we were younger we had others [attempting] to set our moral compasses.  As we grew and developed into adults we had those guiding forces watching out for us.  Once we are aged to majority, we are often left on our own to sink or swim.  Have we learned those lessons?  I think sometimes, yes.  Then I think of how far some of us have to come.

We are a McSociety.  We like to get what we want when we want it.  I think it is hard for us to wait our turn.  We work hard and often want things immediately.  We are a rushed society, so sooner is often better than later.  I think we forget that good things come to those who wait.

We might not play with toys like those of childhood fancy but we certainly have upgraded.  We have cars, sports items/vehicles, computers and game systems, etc.  We have all this and we still find it hard to share our toys.  Is it a human instinct?  We act to protect what we have...mine, not yours.  I know I work with my little one to get the "mine" way of thinking deterred.

Eat your vegetables.  I still don't like lima beans.  They are just gross.  I think we would all be better off if we had our daily serving suggestion of fruits and veggies but who doesn't love a crispy cheese drizzled puff of corn?

Don't pick your nose.  Well, you know who you are.  It is that fellow road traveler stopped at a light and you catch a glimpse of their private behavior.  FYI, the windows in your car are see through for a reason.  Just saying.

Saying 'please' and 'thank you'.  You would think it was harder for our kids to choke out those words but I notice less 'grown ups' saying these simple yet thoughtful words.  If someone holds the door for you, it is okay to say thank you.   You might even surprise someone.  If you throw in a smile while doing so then you might have made someone's day too and it didn't cost you a thing!  And if you are like a friend of mine, Mary Ann, then you add a charming compliment into the mix and you have completely disarmed that stranger and really changed their day.

Don't make that face or your face will freeze that way.  I have some living yet to do but I am here to tell you it just doesn't happen.  I have made those faces many times and I'm pretty sure that it is just a scare tactic.  A few more case studies are in order I think.  It's better to be safe than sorry!

Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where that has been.  I will just say that this remains to be true but for different reasons these days.  This is solid advice so go with it!

If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all.  I think that this is a lesson that some never learn.  Try as you might to instill that in some but it just doesn't stick.  Sometimes words have consequences.  It is important to think before you speak.  Give it a try.  You might find people warm up to you more.

The Cupcake Mommy...

What makes me the "Cupcake Mommy"?  My kids will tell you that it is NOT a delicious dessert on the dinner table everynight because I don't do that!  I don't eat desserts.  I wasn't raised with desserts on the table and I guess when I'm making the meals it doesn't translate to me whipping up a daily or even weekly treats.  I have found that I like to create and to decorate sweets.  I can be a from-scratch-baker but I'm not always.  I make a mean chocolate cake from scratch but many times my sous chef is Betty Crocker.  She's a handy friend in the kitchen along with my KitchenAid mixer.

I've been fortunate enough to be able to create for others.  It all started with me wanting to make my kid's birthday cakes and making them special.  They have all had cakes or cupcakes for their birthdays made by me.  There have been a few exceptions...the year we went to McDonald's for one of the kids.  No outside cakes allowed.  Uggg!  A decorate your own cupcake party one year.  I have to admit, that party had so little prep-stress!  And then there was the year that we took birthday parties away.  You heard me right.  They still aged but there was no party and cake to mark the occasion (they won't soon forget that lesson learned!).  That was last year and I can tell you that the kids are already chomping at the bit for their next birthday.

I started as anyone would.  Remembering the times that my own mother was creating something for my sister and me growing up.  It was sometimes tough for her when we got older.  I don't eat cake often and certainly not frosting.  I'm not a fan at all.  I will eat cake but usually cake in the buff.  I should mention that I am a twin so we had to agree on flavors, etc.  A true triumph if we agreed...that wasn't always the case!  I like that I don't give my kids a choice at this point.  You get chocolate and vanilla 1/2 and 1/2 no matter if making a sheet cake or character cakes.  I just have to do a bunch more work.  It is self inflicted so no one to blame there beyond me!

I am thinking about my January baby now.  I have plans to work on for that cake.  I guess I hope my kids remember fondly one day me baking for them...even when I seem crazed and there is flour flying every which way.  I know that I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I like making them happy so this year, I'll let them eat cake!

Greetings and salutions!

"Salutations."
"Salu-what?"
"Salutations."
"What are they? And where are you?""Salutations is my fancy way of saying hello."

....and I feel like Charlotte, a little anyways....I'm weaving words on a different kind of web.

So greetings and salutations to the readers at The Ballston Journal!  I'm thrilled to be a part of the blogger community assembled there.  I think that some of us are high thinkers and go-getters while perhaps one of us is just trying to escape the major turmoil of the day!  I'll give you one guess as to which one I consider myself. 

I am a mother to 4 kids and I never find myself lacking in the excitement department.  I could use more nap time for sure.  That would be amazing!  I am a life-long resident of Ballston Spa.  I have seen it change so much over the course of those short few years that I have walked the Earth (that's to say I'm much younger than the years reveal me to be).  Ballston Spa is a fantastic community and where my husband and I decided we wanted to raise our family.

I hope that you will come to love or at least appreciate the craziness that is my life.  The funny moments, the moments that make you cry, the moments we all share and of course the ones that I write about.  I'm the Cupcake Mommy so I might even bake for you along the way too.

Under my skin...

If only it were a sliver!  I know how to excise that annoyance.  A sharp needle and a bit of poking, some pulling and with luck it is gone.  But some things that get under your skin linger, fester, burn and spread like an insidious infection. 

You see, I'm a pretty straight shooter.  You rarely have to question where you stand with me.  I tell it how it is.  I hate cheats and scammers.  I can't stand watching charlatans benefit from the generosity of others when clearly they are looking to scam or defraud.  It is like the season brings out the best and the worst in some people.  The best in people when they would gladly give to others as they know what need means to others.  The worst in people when they take because they know others give freely to those in need.  I have heard of people coming up with a new scam every year...a new story with a new year I guess.  There are cases of real need and then these people readily take when they have no business doing so.  I wonder if they think people are still high on the holiday spirit clinging to them like the ornaments dangling on drooping tree branches yet to be packed away.

Quite frankly it makes me sick.  I give to legitimate organizations throughout the year and during this season.  I am just sickened when I hear about people taken advantage of when they were trying to do something right by another.  I hope some day those who prey upon the kindness and generosity of others find their karmic payback some day.