The beginning of another year has passed, and with it, all the promises of change, betterment, resolutions … you know how it goes! I think that every day I resolve to author a blog post, and every day I think “I’ll have to get to it tomorrow” – and my world has become full of tomorrows.

I know I need more focus. I have no idea who my audience is. I never even check the analytics to see if anyone is reading this at all, and maybe it’s time to start doing that.

My next level. That is the blog topic for the week, as declared by Chris Brogan, blogger, author, business mentor and all-around good guy, so I thought I’d use it as my inspiration. I like the way Chris writes. I like the fact that I learn so much from him about Google+ when others have pretty much written it off, I love that he’s not ALL business ALL the time, and I wish I could find my copy of Trust Agents (the book he co-wrote with Julien Smith), because I think I need to read it again.

So, why AM I here? Why DO I blog? I think that I started when blogs weren’t really serving a purpose other than to get all your thoughts down in one place. When blogging was literally electronic journalling, and I’m fairly sure that’s why I could care less if anyone reads it or not. Having said that, I am going to use this as a means for me to keep myself accountable to myself. And that may, or may not work!

Since last time I blogged I’ve worked on setting up a home-based business – I’m a Virtual Assistant – and you can find out all about that over at BN Virtual Solutions. I have a business coach, with whom I trade VA hours for coaching, and I’m working on launching a business that will benefit our local economy through encouraging our local residents to shop a small, independently owned businesses. That is RelyLocal.com.

Add to that a successful local group of entrepreneurs on Facebook, and that’s pretty much how my time is spent lately!

The girls? Doing just great! Paris just missed Honor Roll by one “C” grade, and Ciel made Gold Honor Roll. Ciel still loves her clarinet, the Beatles, Dr. Who and reading. Paris is growing up way too fast and can’t quite decide what she likes, but she loves to cook!

But where were we? My next level. My goal was to be off unemployment by Christmas, and I didn’t make it. So. March is the month that I’ll be earning enough money to fully support myself and my family and I will no longer be reliant on unemployment. That’s my next level. I know I’m growing daily, both personally and in my business, so expect so see more blog posts, and more success, from me!

Those are the words, but that’s not the subject of this post – though it could be very soon. (shhh, it’s a secret … for now!)

I’ve been both lauded and criticized for my method of doling out allowances to my two younger girls. Here’s how it works: each of them gets a dollar per year of age, so Paris currently gets 12 dollars a week and Ciel gets 10 dollars. I provide their food, clothing, shelter and what they need for school. Beyond that, they’re on their own.

If either girl is invited to a party, she has to decide whether to go based on whether or not she has money to buy a birthday gift. They each have a phone – their choice – they pay their own phone bills. Ciel recently HAD to have items from ThinkGeek, so she had me order them online and the amount will be reimbursed from her bank account. Because every girl needs an Adipose Stress Toy, right?

The purchase of candy or other treats is now totally in their own hands! As is the acquisition of “cool” stuff – for instance – we were lucky enough to receive back packs and school supplies through the Back to School coalition this year (and a huge thank you to all involved – donors and volunteers – you certainly make getting these kids back to school less stressful, finance-wise!) However, the girls had their eyes on Harajuku Lovers book bags from Target, so they had to use their allowance to purchase these, as they already had book bags.

But here is my problem. I obviously pay for all this stuff at the time of purchase, and – despite my best intentions – I don’t always recoup the money right away. Or at all. Seems lik there’s a little more diligence due on my end?

How do you handle your kids allowance?

Image courtesy of sushi♥ina @ Flickr

Usually, that would mean she’s up to no good, but not this time. She’s engrossed in Dr Who. Episode by episode, series by series  - thanks NetFlix!

I don’t see “my” Dr Who on there – the one I grew up with, and for all intents and purposes, the best. No Jon Pertwee. No other doctor comes close. Oh, they tried to match the curly hair with Tom Baker, but he just wasn’t Jon Pertwee. And I don’t even remember the first two Doctors who came before Pertwee.

I remember running around as a child, legs stiff, arms outstretched and just as stiff, with my mechanical voice saying “we will exterminate, we will exterminate”. Man, we thought that the technology that made those daleks was just the bees knees back in the day! Sure, they were shaky and jerky, but they moved on their own! WOW! And look at how far we’ve come now. It’s really not that long ago – in the scheme of things – that C3PO was a skinny man in a robot costume and R2D2 was a little person in a robot costume, but, I digress.

Dr. Who was a mainstay in our home, in fact, besides the errant locust in the bath towel, and smashing two bottles of milk together, it’s one of the very few memories I do have of my childhood.

Dr Who, Season 1, according to Netflix, was 2005.

Dr Who, Season 1, according to Those In The Know, was 1963. I was just 2 years old, and was living in Germany at that time, so I highly doubt that I saw those early episodes. (They didn’t do reruns back then!) Fast forward to 1970 – the start of the Pertwee era  - and I was, indeed, watching.

I’m no Dr Who expert, I just enjoyed watching it as a child, and now I’m glad my child is also watching it.

Ants dining on Terro on our kitchen counter

“Mama! It’s ant swarm!” she yells as she runs from the kitchen to the living room. “Come quick! You should see how many ants there are!”

I know that ants are a problem in our house. They have been since we moved in, and no matter what I do to get rid of them, they return. And linger. And annoy.

I’ve been using Terro to try to control the ant problem, and it does work to a certain extent. They just always come back. And in that time frame where it seems like they have gone, they’re really just somewhere else in the house. Of course, location is largely dependent on where the girls left their last can of soda, or whether or not they cleaned up the Nerds they spilled, or if there are crumbs under the kitchen table that have gone unnoticed.

I don’t know if I’ve stumbled on something here, or if it’s a well-known fact already and I just wasn’t privy, but I really find that the more I clean with my wonderful new Shaklee Basic-H, the fewer ants I see. I blogged about Basic-H over on my VikkiWiki site and I’m starting to wonder why I was so stubborn about trying it when I first heard about it. But that’s just me. Stubborn. Hey, my Chinese astrological sign is the Ox … Metal Ox, to be precise.

I  have to admit, I’d rather have ants than flies, but I’d really prefer neither!

And, back to the “ant swarm” that disturbed Ciel so much. What on earth could have initiated such a swarm? Turns out it was about 10 ants around the half-full can of root beer she had left on the kitchen counter.

<sigh>Kids!</sigh>

Here’s the latest from Ciel. It’s called “My version of Cinderella”

Gypsie discovers a colony of magic ants

Once upon a time, there was a family, 10,000 years from now (when magic was new), which included Ashley, a 10 year old girl, her step-brother, Matthew, and step-sister, Kayla, both 16 years old, and finally mom and Stepdad.Oh, I forgot! All animals in that time could do magic. Guess who could predict the future? Gypsie the cat. (what a coinsidence.)

Well, anyways, her parents were fighting. Nobody was happy. Her parents were even planing a divorce. They tried and tried and nothing worked. Suddenly, Gypsie was digging a hole (she acts like a dog sometimes) and found a colony of the rare magical ants! But sadly, when Gypsie said she needed help, they said they needed proof. Gypsie didn’t like touching bugs, and the nearest stick to pick them up was in the neighbors yard. (Covered with dog spit.) Luckily, she could talk. She asked Ashley for a jar to strap on her back, and a stick. So, when Gypsie was prepared, she snuck the ants everywhere. Ashley told the ants to be careful. They all got exited to help. But, Ashley was getting her parents to play Monopoly (not that they liked it) And to her surprise, she got them happy again, not the ants. When the ants found this out, they all grunted and went home. They all lived happily ever after.

The End.

I should add that I have not altered punctuation or spelling, and as a copywriter, that’s probably one of the hardest challenges for me to overcome!

I also totally take responsibility for overcooking the photo. It was hard to define the ants, and Gypsie’s details.

I love my family. I love the creativeness that flows, and I love the wild imaginations. I hope they continue to flourish.

Raising my two youngest daughters to respect money is a becoming a challenge.

My approach toward their weekly allowance probably differs vastly from most parents views on the topic; though, on hearing my rationale, many parents I’ve spoken to agree that it’s a good idea. Paris is 10 and Ciel is 9. They each receive their age in dollars, per week, in the form of an allowance. They spend it as they wish – books, toys, candy, treats – all I buy is the food they eat and the clothes they wear. If they want to download music, then they need to buy their own iTunes card. If they want McDonalds, they pay for what they order (unless it’s an “emergency drive thru”, where our evening is just so busy I don’t have time to make dinner. In this case, I pay as it’s my choice), they buy their own gifts if they attend a friends birthday party, and so on.

Paris saves her money, and when she really wants something, she will buy it if she has the money. If she doesn’t have the money, she’ll save until she does.

Ciel is not so thrifty, and doesn’t believe in saving her money. It burns a hole in her pocket (or bank account). She wants what she wants and she wants it now. She won’t wait for something while she saves for it, she’ll try every trick in the book to borrow money, have someone else pay for what she wants, get an advance on her allowance … whatever it takes.

We just left Borders after a full on battle of the wills. Ciel had just bought a book last week, “The Name of this Book is Secret” by Pseudonymous Bosch (of course it’s a real name!), and finished it in a couple of weeks. She was itching to get the next book in the series “If You’re Reading This, it’s Too Late“, so I offered her the 33% off coupon I had received in an email from Borders.  She hounded me until I agreed to take her to Borders. Paris checked her bank account, and had $36 to spend, so she was happy to tag along.

Once at the store, we found Ciel’s book, and the girls roamed around the “Independent Readers” section while I grazed on the inspiration fodder in the Art & Design section. Once they had settled on the books they wanted to buy, and I had my fill of inspiration and color theory, we headed to the checkout. Then a fairly big box caught Paris’s eye and she was soon rushing back to return Babymouse #12: Burns Rubber to the shelf in favor of an origami gift set. This then meant a whirlwind tour of the bargain bins, where Ciel found a book about dogs that she absolutely needed.

“Mom, I need to buy this book.”

“No, baby, you already have a book, you don’t have enough money for both.”

“But I can owe you.”

“No, I don’t have enough money to give you your allowance early.”

Wednesday is Allowance Day

“I bet someone does.”

“Oh yeah? Who’s that?”

“G-ma”

“Grandma’s not here.”

“But she’d give me money. Why won’t you?”

“Because that’s the way allowances work – it’s the same as getting paid. You get your allowance on Wednesdays, just like I get paid every other Friday. If I spend all my money before I get paid again, then I can’t buy what I want to buy. That’s just the way it is.”

“It’s not fair.”

And the bemoaning continued all the way …… to the end of the parking lot! Once she opened her new book and started reading, she had totally forgotten about the dog book that she would die without.

I don’t mind going over this scenario, I really don’t, but it seems to happen every time we go into a store!

Photo credit: sxc.hu/Claudio Jule

Since their father moved to Oklahoma two years ago, my girls haven’t really had an authoritative male figure in their short lives. Of course there’s Grandpa, but Grandpa has to be a grandpa – that’s just what grandpa’s do, right? I firmly believe that boys need a man in their lives to teach them all the “manly” things they need to know and I also believe that girls have that right too.

Wouldn’t it be a perfect solution if a wonderful organization like Big Brothers, Big Sisters could match “bigs” and “littles” of different genders? Sadly, today’s society forbids such a practice as this … at least along traditional lines, but what if a “big brother” could be introduced as a family friend? A friend who would accompany Mom and the “little sister/s” to the park for a picnic. A friend who would come out to the lake to spend the afternoon fishing. There would, of course, be a perfect platonic relationship between the adults, and the children could have the chance to form a bond with a male figure.

Is that just a pipe dream? Maybe. Who knows.

The real reason for this post is to sing the praises of two wonderful men who have made a difference in our lives. Both my girls have male teachers this year. Paris has had male teachers for the past 3 years, but this is Ciel’s first experience with a man at the head of the classroom. Let’s call them Mr D and Mr R.

Ciel comes home from school with stories about Mr R and things that he did at college or stories about sports, or how he spent his vacation, or stories about his boys. Mr R, we thank you for making teaching your career choice, and thank you for all you do for your students.

Paris’s teacher, Mr D, is another influential male figure – and, of course, Ciel is hoping that Mr D is her teacher next year! I love that my girls know something about their teachers home lives. I honestly couldn’t tell you one personal detail about any of the teachers I had in my years in school. Except, maybe, that our chemistry teacher was the head mistresses son. (Just in case you’re a little confused here, I went to school in England where we have head masters and head mistresses instead of principles!)

So, please Mr D and Mr R, keep on doing a great job, and take pride in the fact that there are some little girls in your class from single parent families who really look up to you and respect you, and are watching your every move, soaking up all the information you give them, and then coming home to tell their mom all about what they learned that day. Not just the regular curriculum, but the “life curriculum” too. Hey, it’s a big job, but I know that you to have the task in hand, and you have my utmost respect.

Thank you.

(Regular readers of my blog will know that it’s my usual practice to name a post with a song title that goes with the post. Please know that for this post, it’s purely the title that’s the match. The lyrics have nothing to do with the post!)

They disappeared through the double doors into a sea of kids. After a few seconds I couldn’t even see them. I had just handed my girls off to a group of strangers and would not see them for six hours. The urge to shed a tear was there, just like it was on the first day they set foot inside the school. The little ball of angst was there in the pit of my stomach …

… will they remember where I said I’d meet them?
… will they stick together, as they had arranged, or would circumstances pull them in different directions?
… would they remember the directions they were given to get to their registration station?
… would they know who to go to if they have a problem?
… would they be able to do the activities they had planned on doing?
… will they find the bathrooms or will they just try to hold it all day?
… would they remember they ordered vegetarian sandwiches for lunch, or would they take someone else’s ham sandwich?

but then, I remember that my kids are resourceful. They’re resilient. They’re smart. And, by crikey, they’re not 5 years old any more! They’re 9 and 10. Of course they’ll be fine! They’ll have a ball!

The girls are attending the SIT Conference, Students Involved in Technology, at Heartland Community College. It’s run by kids, for kids. If you’re an adult and you want to attend, you either have to volunteer or you have to register – no hand holding here, dear!

When Ms. Riccio, the library teacher, offered Paris and Ciel a scholarship to the conference, they were so excited! “It’s going to be just like when you go to a conference, Mommy!” They had to pick their lunches when they registered online, and then they have to pick the sessions they go to. I downloaded the list yesterday and I couldn’t believe the range of choices! Everything from Webkinz (and FarmVille) to making your own robot. Srsly? Robotics, green technology, geocaching, design, video, animation, and Ciel’s chosen field of interest: Forensics. Are you kidding me? My girls were wishing that this was held over about five days so they could attend all the sessions they wanted! Wizard 101, Club Penguin, Zoo Tycoon, Petz5, Webkinz and Farmville could take up one day just on their own!

I really can’t wait until 2pm when I pick them up to find out just what they thought of the day, and hear all the new programs they want to download, and how Ciel no longer wants to be a vet, but a forensic scientist! Really, I just want to hear all about Billybob the Monkeybot & Techno-Pranks – yes, they signed up for that one!

Make sure you check the video today, this is classic Aussie new wave from the late 1970′s. Sheesh, am I really that old?

This afternoon, as soon as I picked the girls up from school, we drove over to Peoria to go to PetSmart. Ciel picked out her Robo dwarf hamster, a habitat and all the other accoutrements a baby hamster would need.

Paris, who is usually so patient, asked about a guinea pig. She would like a guinea pig and she no longer wants to wait until her birthday. So, there were expressions of disgust, the stomping of feet, and some general mouth downturning, and she rode home in silence. Ciel, on the other hand, could NOT be quiet. She hounded me to let her take out the cage. No. She hounded me to let her take out the hamster. No. She hounded me for the time. Two minutes later than the last time you asked. She hounded me because we weren’t home yet – she just hounded the bejeebers out of me!

Once we did get home, we assembled the cage, realized that some of the extras she bought wouldn’t fit either in or on the cage. She managed to get the hamster out of the take-home box and into the exercise ball, and we finally got the cage assembled and set up with the bedding, the aspen, the food and water. Then Pucci arrived on the scene (for the uninitiated, that’s the cat).

She stalked the cage. She didn’t touch. She just crouched and looked. Ciel didn’t like Pucci looking at Kiki. She shooed her away. Pucci hissed and bit Ciel as she tried to move her away from the cage. I could see this was going to be fun!

Ciel asked if she could keep Pucci shut in the computer room. I explained that when we go to school/work during the week, we cannot keep Pucci shut in there, it’s just not possible. She will eventually realize that she cannot get to Kiki, and will stop stalking her. I’m convinced of it, I just had to convince Ciel of it!

Then the unthinkable happened. Ciel had taken Kiki out of the cage (again – despite my pleas to let her settle in) and, in the process of transferring her from the exercise ball to the cage, Kiki dropped to the floor and was off and running. I’m just SO glad that Pucci wasn’t around to see it, or we’d be Kiki-less by now!

So, those were the happenings of the evening. And Paris is still grumpy.

Welcome, Lanie!

Lanie is Ciel’s birthday gift from her Grandma & Grandpa McEwan and me, and though Ciel’s birthday isn’t until Friday, Lanie arrived today and she bugged me and bugged me and bugged me until I let her open the box.

Lanie is American Girl’s “Girl of the Year”, and she’s a nature lover. She comes with a laptop computer, a few outfits, jewelry, a sparkly hair pick and a couple of books. Oh! And a pet rabbit. It seems that this may be an emerging tradition … the Girl of the Year for Ciel’s birthday. Well, that put Paris’s nose out of joint. Her birthday isn’t until October, and the Girl of the Year is announced in January. That means that Ciel will always get it first, and if Paris were to get one then Ciel would be mad because Paris would be “copying”. So, we thought long and hard, and decided that Paris would get the American Girl historical dolls. And, of course, Ciel has to have her say in the plan … she will be the one deciding which doll Paris gets.

Now all we need to find is a hamster …

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