Sparks and Butterflies...

But aside from that, she's still completely normal

You do YOUR job, and I’ll do MINE

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As any parent knows, mornings can be rough.  Kids need to be fed, dressed, hygiene attended to, the various items of the day – lunches, homework, jackets etc. all settled upon.  Depending on the number of children, this can look like a zoo.  Now, add the fact that it’s morning, and people are moving slower.  Add the idea of one bathroom for four people.  Poe (being unemployed) and I (being a home business owner) have the advantage over other working parents in that we don’t have to get ready right that second too.  We get up way before them… But that’s more for our sanity, and so we’re not in our grumpy morning attitudes when we get them up.  I’m able to get a start on my workday and know what fires have cropped up during the night.  Not to mention ingesting coffee prior to the stampede.

So – Poe and I are both in our pajamas for the most part when dropping kids off.  Then we can come home and get ready ourselves, without playing referee with our kids.  And you know what?  This works for us.

Enter this idiotic thing…  School Bans Parents from Wearing PJ’s at Drop Off.  Whatever.  Seriously.  You know what?  If I’m in MY car, I get to wear whatever I want.  If I’m on foot, I STILL get to wear whatever I want.  What’s important is that my children arrive to school fed, clean, rested, and prepared.  When I was working outside the home, and I had to be ready to go at the same time as the kids, it only made our morning preparations MORE chaotic.  I like the way I’ve got things going now.  I think something else that’s interesting to note is the complete disdain the principal seems to have for parents in general – regardless of their attire.

Seriously?  Stay out of my business.  Concentrate more on educating my child.  That’s your job, right?

A gig – Want to read?

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As you all know…  I have a business, Vineyard Virtual Services.  I am a Virtual Assistant who caters to freelance writers and small business owners.  As part of that, I also freelance write/ghostwrite.  I usually can’t share that stuff, as it’s not my own byline.

However, at one of my gigs, I’m a one of the writers on the company blog.  I write as MicheleW, so the owner said she was happy for me to promote posts when they happen.  I’ve been writing there a few months now.

Fun and Function is a special needs resource company.  I would say they are more geared towards the Autism spectrum and Sensory Processing Disorder, but there’s something for everyone if your child has special needs.  I write about various topics in the blog from the perspective of being a parent of kids with special needs.

All this to say that there’s a new post over there!

Help from my Friends

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I know several of my online and offline friends deal with kids who have special needs.  I’m one of them.  I’m writing an article for one of my clients, and I would love to hear your stories on the fiscal impact it’s made on your family.  State paid?  Medical Insurance?  District paid?  Out of pocket?  Private care?  I’m looking for the myriad of routes you’ve taken financially to provide special needs care to your child.  Comment or email.  Thanks!

My Husband is Pissed Off

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Below is a guest post of my husband, Poe.  He’s a little ticked and asked if he could write on my blog.

Hello there, this is Poe… Sparks’ husband.  I heard a discussion on the radio this morning that prompted me to request this “Guest Post” on my loving, beautiful, talented wife’s most professional and stylish blog. Full disclosure, this post is going to have to do with sports…kinda.

I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but the use of the words “Super Bowl” has been absent from almost all forms of advertisement not directly generated from the NFL.  While I understand this from a purely monitary point of view (not really,) I have always thought it to be petty and selfish in the extreme.  The use of the title “Super Bowl” in an ad for pizza, or a new TV does nothing to detract people from actually watching the “Super Bowl.”  If anything, it’s free advertising… but I digress.

This morning I was informed that a number of businesses in New Orleans received letters from the NFL informing them that their use of “Who Dat” in the advertisement was a violation of trademark laws as “Who Dat” was an official NFL trademark.  ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!  That has got to be the most out of touch, conceited, petty, and just plain dumb policy I have heard in a very long time.  That is like some official for the Olympics saying people need to use “The Game Overseas” or “A Group of Countries Playing Games Against Each Other.”  Just stupid.  As if New Orleans does not have enough to deal with, now this.  This is the first trip to the “Super Bowl” for the New Orleans Saints and the “Who Dat Nation” – and the NFL pulls something like this. Seriously, is “The Dog Pound,” “Raider Nation,” or “Cheese Heads” trademarked by the NFL too?  It’s like me trying to trademark “Dude”. (Ed. note – my husband has trouble in conversation NOT using “Dude.”)

I am sorely disappointed in the NFL, so much in fact that I will not be watching the “Super Bowl.”  (Ed. note – my husband is an AVID, RABID football fan, so this is big.) I just wanted to vent and this is, I think, one of my best options.  Thank you baby!

Poe

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