Building Your Team (a Lesson From Pop Culture)

I found myself taking lights and garland off the tree the other night. Mr. Magoo, now two years old, was still up after a late evening nap. He had been watching me go back and forth around the tree as I unwound and untangled string after string of lights, and when I was on the far side of the tree he would say, "I can't see you, Mom." And fake surprise on my return to his side of the tree. 

We all need...

He finally laid down with his covers at about midnight. I worked on. The newborn - Marble - had fallen asleep as well and laid nearby on a Boppy pillow on the floor. I have always enjoyed the "mid" shift, from before I was in the Navy so many years ago. Comes from being part of a big family, I guess. It is a somewhat magical, thought-producing time of night when everything is quiet, there is no one asking questions or looking for attention and your mind can wander.

MLM vs Direct Sales - What's the Difference?

This post is a little about my successes and "failures" in from-home businesses; what works and what doesn't, and why that might be.

I've been in and out of various from-home businesses since I left the Navy in 2001.

• First I worked with Pampered Chef and filled my kitchen with some great tools that I still use today. When we moved to Maryland, I decided I didn't want to start that over. 
• I jumped around for a bit earning pocket change doing mystery shops (generally not worth the money for the time spent. Seriously, Folks!) so I tried starting something of my own in 2007.

Flying in the Right Direction

I saw a flock of birds riding the currents yesterday. Birds have always fascinated me - we've all heard of the way geese work with their V-formations, the fresher goose taking the lead and falling back when tired, two geese staying with an injured goose, etc. These were some other, smaller variety of bird. I'm not sure what type because they were too far away from me. Their formation was more like a ball - a ball of birds. What was interesting to me is that they stayed in their "ball" formation even when the wind blew them about this way and that, never running into one another, seemingly never losing their place in the rest of the group.

How often do we move this way in society? Accepting what is supposedly our position in life, not jostling for a better position within our own social circles, and enjoying the ride? My growing "flock" of birds often jostle for a better position - more like dogs in a pack, I suppose, than birds working together. If the birds don't work together, they will end up crashing into one another and bring the whole flock down out of the sky.

When my children are given a job and they act more like a flock than a pack, they manage to finish the job fairly quickly. I love those moments and cherish them. The last time we raked the leaves and bagged them up, we were a flock. I didn't have to yell - everyone grabbed a tool (rake, shovel, bag, etc.) to get the job done, and we floated on the breeze.

Getting their beds made this morning was a whole 'nother story. I found myself praying for serenity and asking God for help to not yell and scream to get the pack in line. They snarled and bit (at one another, not me!) vying for who was going to be top dog, beneath the Alpha. Needless to say, more work was needed in fixing the situation - if they're working, eventually harmony comes - or bedtime. Either way is a win-win situation for me and for the family.

As we get closer to our 25- 30 person Thanksgiving dinner and as families all over these great united States work to make feasts, may we all strive to be more like the flock of birds than the pack of dogs (and God give me patience when the Dogs come out!)

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