Scents and smells always bring back very strong memories for me. The scent of pineapples and coconuts remind me of childhood summers spent at Puerto Azul; the sulphuric smell of boiled eggs conjures up pictures of that rickety wooden bridge that we used to drive over on the way to school. On gray and rainy afternoons, the ground and roads here give off the same damp, dank smell that the grounds and roads in my birth place used to give off...funny how that is considering the fact that I was born halfway across the world.
We were a cologne-toting, perfume-using family. Joy was my Mom's trademark scent and so was White Linen; Halston was my Dad's, as was Polo. Us girls doused ourselves with De Ne Nes and Nenuco. I love how by simply sniffing bottles of these colognes and perfumes, I could go back to places long left behind, and times long gone. Scents to me are like time machines that allow me to traverse decades.
And true to form, decades later, I find myself still using bottled scents to define who I am at that time in my life, and to mark moments in my life. I'm no olfaction expert or perfume connoisseur; all I am is emotionally responsive to certain scents. My daughter's baby cologne is Baby Bench. Practically speaking, she really doesn't need any scent-enhancers because she is just delicious-smelling the way she is. But still I use a dab or two on her every so often so that on days when I miss her when she's gone off to back-pack in Tibet, I can pick up a bottle of Baby Bench and revisit these times when we would sit in front of my dresser together, arguing about why she cannot wear sandals in March.
When my husband and I first started dating, he was a cologne-virgin. He relied on his after-shave for that freshly-showered scent. His first full bottle of cologne was from my Mom, ironically, which she gave to him during our first Christmas together. I wonder how my Mom knew what to pick for him... because that scent is totally him. I love how that scent smells on him. Almost 10 years of marriage later, I still melt when he comes to kiss me and I get a whiff of Eternity.
It's come full circle, this obsession (another free Calvin Klein endorsement) of mine with scent. And I don't believe it will ever stop evolving and revolving... from Joy to Eternity.
Friday, April 13, 2007
MBA: Mompreneur in Business Administration
I don't have an MBA - well not the kind that one gets from a university. I don't even have formal training in website design or administration.
Everything I know and everything I've learned, I've gained through self-study and research; through listening and talking with others who know more than I do. I am a self-taught MBA.
One of the most helpful things that I've learned as a mompreneur is what I call The Management Equation. I didn't come up with it - I learned it from the orientation session for self-employment benefits.
It goes like this:TIME MANAGEMENT + RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT = MONEY MANAGEMENT.
As every mom and mompreneur knows, time management IS key to getting things done -- all the things that we need to do, done in a timely manner. It is no easy task to meet deadlines on time when you have a toddler or two or three who also needs your attention right away. So we prioritize and reorganize our time and tasks. I reserve the things that can wait until after my daughter has gone to bed for my night-work-hours and only tackle the must-do-during-business-hours during my official office hours at home (official to me and my girl, that is) or when my daughter is in school (which is when I schedule my meetings).
Relationship management encompasses all the relationships that we have: personal and business. As busy as our days get, we need to make sure that we remember to nurture our relationships. Return our phone calls, answer our emails, setting dates and meetings and playdates and lunches and just-hanging-out times. After all, the people who have invested in us -- emotionally and personally and financially -- are also the people that we care about, and we need to take care of them too.
Finally, when we are able to get the addends right and are able to manage both our time and our relationships, then we get the sum of the equation and we succeed...we can have the pleasure of managing some of that money.
Of course, this isn't ALL that we need to do and know in order to succeed in our businesses, but without these management skills, I imagine it might make navigating the road to success trickier than necessary.
Everything I know and everything I've learned, I've gained through self-study and research; through listening and talking with others who know more than I do. I am a self-taught MBA.
One of the most helpful things that I've learned as a mompreneur is what I call The Management Equation. I didn't come up with it - I learned it from the orientation session for self-employment benefits.
It goes like this:TIME MANAGEMENT + RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT = MONEY MANAGEMENT.
As every mom and mompreneur knows, time management IS key to getting things done -- all the things that we need to do, done in a timely manner. It is no easy task to meet deadlines on time when you have a toddler or two or three who also needs your attention right away. So we prioritize and reorganize our time and tasks. I reserve the things that can wait until after my daughter has gone to bed for my night-work-hours and only tackle the must-do-during-business-hours during my official office hours at home (official to me and my girl, that is) or when my daughter is in school (which is when I schedule my meetings).
Relationship management encompasses all the relationships that we have: personal and business. As busy as our days get, we need to make sure that we remember to nurture our relationships. Return our phone calls, answer our emails, setting dates and meetings and playdates and lunches and just-hanging-out times. After all, the people who have invested in us -- emotionally and personally and financially -- are also the people that we care about, and we need to take care of them too.
Finally, when we are able to get the addends right and are able to manage both our time and our relationships, then we get the sum of the equation and we succeed...we can have the pleasure of managing some of that money.
Of course, this isn't ALL that we need to do and know in order to succeed in our businesses, but without these management skills, I imagine it might make navigating the road to success trickier than necessary.
Fall Seven Times...Stand Up Eight
"I don't like to fall Mommy! I want to never fall again!" Straight from the mouth of my babe.
As I go over to hug her and wipe her tears, and whisper "I know, I know; that hurts and it's frustrating..." I think to myself, "I want to never fall again too."
And before I knew it, I had actually said it out loud.
Panic...did I just say the wrong thing?
Then she looks at me, and she says, "Why do we fall down if no one wants to fall?"
"So we can learn to get up and go again," I say to her.
"But I know how to get up already!"
"I know you do; but we get better at getting up every time we fall."
...fall seven times, stand up eight...from a Japanese proverb.
As I go over to hug her and wipe her tears, and whisper "I know, I know; that hurts and it's frustrating..." I think to myself, "I want to never fall again too."
And before I knew it, I had actually said it out loud.
Panic...did I just say the wrong thing?
Then she looks at me, and she says, "Why do we fall down if no one wants to fall?"
"So we can learn to get up and go again," I say to her.
"But I know how to get up already!"
"I know you do; but we get better at getting up every time we fall."
...fall seven times, stand up eight...from a Japanese proverb.
To Daddy, With Love
I wish I could take back the words that I know hurt you more than anything that I could have said.
I wish I could thank you again for the things that you gave me and the things that you did for me.
I wish I could feel your rough hand on my cheek one more time.
I wish I could run into your arms when I'm feeling sad and afraid and overwhelmed.
I wish I could pick up the telephone and call you when I miss you.
I wish I could show you how proud I am of who you are and who I am because of you.
All I can do now is do all that you did for me for my own child, and wish that you will see that I am paying forward all that you gave to me.
I wish I could thank you again for the things that you gave me and the things that you did for me.
I wish I could feel your rough hand on my cheek one more time.
I wish I could run into your arms when I'm feeling sad and afraid and overwhelmed.
I wish I could pick up the telephone and call you when I miss you.
I wish I could show you how proud I am of who you are and who I am because of you.
All I can do now is do all that you did for me for my own child, and wish that you will see that I am paying forward all that you gave to me.
Top 10 Lessons By A 4-Year-Old Mom
That's me - a 4-year-old mom. Sure I'm 36 years of age, but really only a 4-year-old mother. As I always say, when a child is born to a first-time mom, a mother is born too. So here I am four beautiful and confusing years later; and I do feel like I am wiser somehow. At least I like to believe so.
10. Never leave home without a bottle of water, wipes or paper towels, and an extra change of clothes, no matter how old your child gets. Especially if they're the throwing up kind. Or you can just hang out with friends (like Pinky + Dani) who never leave their homes without an extra change of clothes and the like.
9. Work will always be there and it will never, ever get done. Neither will the laundry. Nor the dishes. But the sun is only out for a limited time so might as well go out and enjoy the day.
8. Leaving the clean laundry in the trunk of the car overnight preserves their freshly-laundered scent. At least that's my excuse.
7. It sucks to always be told what to do - when my daughter bosses me around, I realize that she's just mimicking me and I make a mental note to hold my tongue and let her be as long as she isn't getting hurt or doing harm to others.
6. Washable paint isn't always that washable. Ditto with markers - except the Crayola brand which are come off more easily than other makes.
5. If you breastfeed long enough, you and your child can actually reminisce together and talk about those times...we did and I can't believe how much she remembers.
4. If you inhale their scent deeply enough, you can find traces of the newborn baby smell that you will never forget.
3. There is nothing more heart-wrenching than your child saying to you, "I love you too too much, Mommy. I love you more than you love me!" when you're upset at something they did and in the middle of giving a consequence.
2. Nothing ever really prepared me for motherhood, but having grown up cocooned by my own mother's selfless love has made me into a better mom than I ever thought I could be.
1. I may be raising a child, an adult in my daughter, but everyday and every moment that I am with her, I am aware of how she in turn, is raising me as a mother.
10. Never leave home without a bottle of water, wipes or paper towels, and an extra change of clothes, no matter how old your child gets. Especially if they're the throwing up kind. Or you can just hang out with friends (like Pinky + Dani) who never leave their homes without an extra change of clothes and the like.
9. Work will always be there and it will never, ever get done. Neither will the laundry. Nor the dishes. But the sun is only out for a limited time so might as well go out and enjoy the day.
8. Leaving the clean laundry in the trunk of the car overnight preserves their freshly-laundered scent. At least that's my excuse.
7. It sucks to always be told what to do - when my daughter bosses me around, I realize that she's just mimicking me and I make a mental note to hold my tongue and let her be as long as she isn't getting hurt or doing harm to others.
6. Washable paint isn't always that washable. Ditto with markers - except the Crayola brand which are come off more easily than other makes.
5. If you breastfeed long enough, you and your child can actually reminisce together and talk about those times...we did and I can't believe how much she remembers.
4. If you inhale their scent deeply enough, you can find traces of the newborn baby smell that you will never forget.
3. There is nothing more heart-wrenching than your child saying to you, "I love you too too much, Mommy. I love you more than you love me!" when you're upset at something they did and in the middle of giving a consequence.
2. Nothing ever really prepared me for motherhood, but having grown up cocooned by my own mother's selfless love has made me into a better mom than I ever thought I could be.
1. I may be raising a child, an adult in my daughter, but everyday and every moment that I am with her, I am aware of how she in turn, is raising me as a mother.
Ziploc Freak
I'm an organization freak. I get off on it and when my stuff gets disorganized, I get overwhelmed and even depressed. If I could file my vegetables and fruits, I'm sure I would. (Un)fortunately, my kitchen is too small and my fridge too inaccessible for such inane an activity.
My daughter's snack bag, however...ahhhh totally accessible and totally organizeable. I Ziploc everything in that little pink bag - it's my way of "filing" the food in there.
Using Ziplocs of different sizes of course:
My daughter's snack bag, however...ahhhh totally accessible and totally organizeable. I Ziploc everything in that little pink bag - it's my way of "filing" the food in there.
Using Ziplocs of different sizes of course:
- snack size Ziploc - love these cute little baggies! Perfect for a tiny serving of fruit, or cereal. Or a spoon if I decide to be so mundane as to actually separate the yogurt sppoon from the yogurt, which will go in the...
- sandwich size Ziploc - fits a single-serving of yogurt, or the tiny Glad container of yogurt if I'm feeling zealous and thrifty enough to buy big tubs of yogurt and scooping it out into the tiny Glad plasticware. Also fits a sandwich (doh!), a couple of mini bagels, or a tiny banana. Love putting yogurt in a baggie because if there isn't a trash can nearby, then the whole yogurty-mess goes back i the baggie. Paper napkin is also always packed in here.
- Mini-freezer Ziploc bag - drinks go in here, or a big banana, or a container of cut-up fruit with a plastic fork or a plastic toothpick. And snack bars.
- Daddy freezer Ziploc bag - my absolute favourite thing in the scheme of organization! Love it almost as much as my file folders. Big drink cups and all the other Ziploc baggies all go in here...then in my purse if I'm not planning on carrying her snack bag. Extra change of clothes also fit in this amazingly versatile baggie. And bath products of all sorts. And bigger servings of food... I could go on.Pathetic, aren't I?If only the rest of my life and home were as easy to organize and keep in order.
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