This week one of my new faves is the app called SquareHub. It is a private app for the whole family to keep each other up to date or randomly check in with one another.

Each person gets their own account by either emailing them an invite or adding them yourself. To get in, you use one group name and give everyone the main password.

Once everyone does that, they can set up their own PIN number, profile pic, etc.

There is a “Family Feed” similar to a FB style newsfeed but it is only seen by the people you invite.

I am loving this app. You can chat, share pics, update each other, add events and even pass out “reward stickers!”

And the photo editing software is pretty awesome, too. Check it out & tell me your thoughts!

I need your support & motivation – and if you feel inspired to join me, the more the merrier!

So I challenge you, I challenge me – I challenge you to challenge me! Let’s do this! Post results, post quotes, post pics – whatever you think can keep us all going! Facebook will be our easiest way to keep up, so make sure you follow there: www.facebook.com/pinkowlmomma

Those are the child like words I uttered after reading Glennon Melton’s blog post called “Don’t Carpe Diem.” She is the founder of the blog www.Momastery.com, and if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. She is the sole reason I started blogging. Her words move me – and thousands of others. She is easy to relate to. Her writing makes you feel like you are sitting down with an old friend for coffee. The more I read her posts, the more I realize she is not only a blogger I aspire to be, but the PERSON I aspire to be. She is so wonderful, so evolved on many levels. I just read one of her posts about a man she encountered on a plane. A man who was huffing, puffing and radiating negativity. A man that I probably would have given my left arm to avoid. But not Glennon. She opened her heart and her eyes to him & his story, and I can guarantee neither of them walked away without feeling the positive change that took place. The one SHE invoked.  She is selfless, giving, loving, understanding – and all around way nicer than me. Her Flash Love Mobs have done amazing work in shorts amount of time. They have given back so much. And it all inspires me. And amazes me. Carry on, Warrior Momma Monk. Carry on.

I have a degree in Professional Writing & Editing, so blogging should have been a natural thing for me to do. But oddly, I just never thought about it. I was too worried about getting married, finding a career that warranted all of my efforts in college, and basically just living life. I never stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, blogging could change my life. Could become the dream job I always hoped for.

Admittedly, back in 2000 when I graduated, the majority of bloggers were either doing private blogs as more of an online journal, or just blogging in small, niche areas that most people never saw. But these days, blogging is huge – maybe even a little trendy. And lots of people have hopped on the blogging train. Lots. Like thousands beyond thousands. Maybe even millions.

Before I started my blog, I did a ton of research and realized I may not be able to afford to live my life on just blogging – yet. Or ever. You never know in this crazy world. I will keep on, like my Warrior sister Glennon. Along the way, I am discovering lots of other amazing bloggers out there, people I am looking to as my inspiration and direction. I would be remiss if I did not mention two other bloggers who have made me stop and remember that I can still change the course of my life just by doing something I love.

If you are on Pinterest, chances are you follow Michael Wurm, Jr. from Inspired By Charm. He is basically a Pinner extraordinaire, but he is also a blogger, business owner, freelancer and so much more. I got to meet him last week and it was one of those moments that changed me. He and I hit it off instantly. I felt I had known him forever, partly because of his Pinterest celeb status (hellllooooo 3.6 million followers!), partly because he is just that kind of guy. The kind that is relatable, down to earth, easy to talk to – yet he has the vision and talents to take him places. Big places, places beyond being a Pinterest extraordinaire. Michael needs his own show – watch out HGTV, I have your next BIG THING! So if you have not stopped by his blog, you can find him at www.inspiredbycharm.com. You will love him, I promise.

The last blogger that has really made an impression on me is Brittany Gibbons. She is another self-made success story. Started her blog years ago, now she has a Curvy Girls Guide, is the Spokesperson for Lands End plus size line, and just shot a pilot for her new show. Yes, you read that right: a pilot for her new show. On tv. TV people!!! She has taken her blogging to levels most of us only dream of. I could not be happier for her, more proud of her – or more inspired by her story.

These three bloggers (and many, many others) give me hope that I can achieve great things too. That my dream could possibly be a reality. I have finally realized I will lever be as evolved as Glennon, as crafty as Michael or as hilarious as Brittany, but I can try to be a better version of me. A better blogger, a better mom, a better wife, a better daughter, a better sister, a better PERSON. Thanks for joining me on my crazy ride.

xoxo

This past week, my daughter stayed home sick one day. When her twin brother came home that day, he was so excited to tell her she missed a new game. Not to worry, he assured her, they would practice it every day.

Practice? I thought. Hmmm…odd choice of words for a game. He continued to describe it to her in detail. I overheard bits and pieces while I was driving them home. “And we hide under the tables…” “And we squeeze together realllll tight.”

Delaney asked another question and Cooper responded with: “yeah, and we are going to practice the raccoon game every day!” I chuckled and corrected him: “You mean you PRETENDED there was a raccoon there, right buddy?”

“No, Mommy, we PRACTICED. (he said that slowly, apparently for my benefit) If a mean raccoon ever comes into our school, we all have to run under the tables as fast as we can, Miss Jen will turn off the lights and we have to squeeze together real tight so both the teachers can fit under there too. Then we have to play the Quiet Game. That way the MEAN RACCOON won’t see us or know we are in there! And he won’t be able to find us! So we are going to PRACTICE that every day Mommy. PRACTICE.” He said it twice just to be sure I got it this time.

And I did. I got it. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach and my eyes filled with tears when I realized what they were “practicing.” I am so grateful their little preschool is teaching them what to do in case a tragedy like the one in Sandy Hook ever happened here. But I just never thought this was something that would hit my radar screen this soon. My sweet, innocent 4 year olds will know what to do. I cannot believe the world has come to this, as I am sure most people cannot either.

I just pray that one day we will not need to worry about any mean raccoons entering our kids’ classrooms.

“One example of this abundant bloggy love is the Liebster award which is not exactly an award in the big fancy way, but is more just a little acknowledgement from one blogger to another (11 others to be exact) to say, “Your blog is great”.  It is specifically for blogs who have 200 followers or less, so it’s an awesome way to give a shout-out to up and coming bloggers.

8. I worked in an upscale children’s clothing store after that. I always told the twin moms I was so jealous. I wanted twins – a boy & a girl. That is exactly what I had.

Especially when it comes to parenting.

I first noticed this about a year ago. My kids were about 2 1/2 then. Something (I can’t remember what) frustrated my son. He immediately made this guttural, growling noise. I looked at him in shock and called my husband to let him know our son was now mimicking his immature behavior. I proceeded to lecture him on the importance of controlling our tempers around the kids and how I have been telling him for years not to have such a temper. Good thing I caught this quick!

Half an hour later, Bailey our dog was eating a wet pull-up and I instantly yelled “Bailey! Urghhhhhhhhhhhhh!” (this was followed by a moment of silence.) CRAP! I just made the exact noise Cooper made – the one that I lectured my husband about! Is it me that they are getting this from too? (I say “too” because I know for a fact that my husband does make this noise – apparently we both do.)

Hmmmm…I know I have a short fuse and a bad temper. I am also impatient. But my kids are supposed to be better than me! That is part of the difficulty of raising kids – making them better than you, but all the while trying to raise them well and correct your own bad behaviors. No wonder parents are exhausted! No one ever talks about the part where you have to try to squash your bad habits!

I now realize I must make that guttural, growling noise at least 100 times a day! WTF is wrong with me? I get mad that my kids don’t stop misbehaving after I have asked them 4 times – yet here I am, cannot even control my animalistic (and no, that is not a word. But it completely describes the sound) noises!

Another case in point: at TJMaxx the other day, I was ignoring Laney’s request to go straight to the toys. Instead, I was idling through the shoe department, trying on all of the hooker-style shoes I cannot really walk in but love to pretend. Out of nowhere, I hear her little 3-year-old voice say: “I’m starting to get angryyyyyyyy.” In this high-pitched, sing-songy voice. I turn and look at her.

“At me?” I ask incredulously.

“Yesssss. I told you I want to go to the toyyyyyyssssss.” she responds in that same sing-songy voice.

Apparently I must say that, too.

I am trying so hard to better myself – not just as a parent, but all around. I know you cannot just be a good parent without being a good person. Granted, we all have flaws and no one is perfect. I get that. And I also get that we cannot raise our children to think they need to be perfect or live up to unrealistic expectations. No worries. I get all of that.

But in order for my children to learn patience, I need to be more patient. With them, with my husband, with everyone. Another lesson I learned just this week is that I must complain about 75% of the people driving. Anytime I am driving and make my now-famous guttural noise, one of the kids pipes up from the back seat:

“Do they not know how to drive either, momma?”

Or when a young kid almost drove his bike right into oncoming traffic yesterday, I gasped and slammed on my brakes. Laney (who misses NOTHING) says: “He does NOT know to pedal!”

I could not help myself – I started cracking up. Instead of complaining, I just told her:

“No, honey, he just needs to be more careful. He could get hit by a car.”

I am learning. It is slow. I am a definite work in progress. Hopefully my kids will not just have my bad habits, but my good ones too.

And when I see them talking, petting & kissing our dogs with the sweetest, most endearing voices, I know not only my bad habits are being imitated, but some of my good ones, too. And that imitation is one of the best parts of parenting.

She informed me her daughter is in tutoring this summer. I must have had a perplexed look on my face, because she went on to explain. “Yes, her G’s are slanted when she writes them. And her E’s sometimes have 4 lines instead of three.” Then she looked at me pointedly, as if those were the most obvious reasons as to why her three-year old is being tutored all summer.

I just said “oh” while she continued on listing a few other letters and the issues her daughter had with each one. I felt this overwhelming urge to start cracking up. It was bubbling up and was about to overflow. She was so serious about it, I knew I had to remain solemn.

After we parted ways, this conversation really stuck in my head. I kept thinking about my three-year olds, and I know they do not even know how to write every letter of the alphabet, much less have an issue with each one. I began to question myself, my kids. Should I be working with them more? Should I be worried they do not write every letter? Should I even be worried about this? I mean, we all want our kids to be smart and successful, but at what cost?

Maybe it’s just me. I want my kids to be kids. We all know that the older we get, the more responsibilities we have, the more work we have, the more we have to worry about. I want my kids to enjoy endless summers, know what boredom is, and have a blast. I look back on my childhood summers so fondly. The days seemed to last for weeks; the weeks for months. Summer was something I always looked forward to. Playing Red Light Green Light, Ghost in the Graveyard, having lemonade stands.

Not sitting in a classroom at three years old perfecting their slanted G’s.

What do you think? Is life so competitive now that our preschoolers need an upper hand? I know it is good to help our kids, give them any advantage they can get. Red shirting is also gaining popularity these days; some people find it controversial. There are countless articles and conversations on it, experts weighing in on every angle. My kids will probably be “red shirted” and I am not doing so for sports. I just do not want them to fall behind or struggle because they would be the youngest.

But tutoring in preschool? When is enough enough?