MaternityShare

On the Path to Becoming Indispensible

Christine — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:40:05 +0000

I am on my second listening to “Linchpin: Are You Indispensible” by Seth Godin. I started reading the ebook but could not find enough time to sit still to read it. So, I bought the audio version too. Money well spent. Because I finished! And am doing it all over again because there is more to learn. I am changed by my first listening. I expect to be changed even more and further along my own path to becoming a Linchpin. I am processing it and practicing living it and then falling back into fear then getting up and trying again. And I am loving it. Partly because I am loathing the status quo.

My main goals:

social good: to be a better member of society and an amazing mother and guide for my son.
enjoy rewarding work (this will actually feel like a gift!)

Being a Linchpin is challenging. But, the alternative is painful. I hate being what you may call a cog. I want to feel great about who I am and what I do. I want to tell the truth, point out new ways to go, and most importantly really enjoy my time, my life-time.

I wish someone could make it easy and tell me what to do. But that’s how I have been trained. Now, its time for me to try out new things, gain and follow my insights, learn from the process and to give gifts.

Does this sound like babble? If so, I either need to learn to explain myself better or, I guess you have to read the book. And, you get to make out of it what you want to. Anyone can do it. The only thing holding you back is that you have to choose to do it.

So, today, I have hidden behind avoidance of the work I want to, need to accomplish by:

listening to the audio book longer than I felt was appropriate for me today.
cleaning my house
writing this blog post, even

Now, its time to get to work. I am about to change lives. Most importantly, my own. I hope to see you out there.

GO. Make something happen. ~Seth Godin

Your “About” Page Really Needs an Update!

Christine — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:48:09 +0000

I just realized that my “about” page for for this blog was about 5 years out of date! Wow, that was a trip down memory lane… back when I was on bedrest for 10 weeks due to preterm labor while pregnant with Will.

He was only born “3 weeks and 1 day early”. He has been a very healthy little boy. Now Will in a Montessori preschool and growing so fast!

Here is an update to what’s “about” me these days:

Hi, I’m Christine. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I moved here from Portland, Oregon July 2005. I have since worked at the Apple Store (where I met my husband), a yoga studio, Lululemon, DeepRoot, and TaskRabbit. I also used to teach bellydance and perform with the troupe Gypsy Caravan of Portland, Oregon.

I am now in the process of re-inventing this blog and myself as my 3.5 year old son has just transitioned into (nearly) full-time preschool.

I’m hell-bent on becoming a linchpin, living the well, rasing an awesome child, and social good. I also dream about dance and how I will revive it both in sharing the knowledge and collaborating with other dancers (both in class and in performance).

What moves you?

Yours,

Christine

Contact:
email me at: christine [at] maternityshare.com

Failing to Fail Properly

Christine — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:20:44 +0000

Fail until you SUCCEED via http://fatfithealthy.tumblr.com/

I had to sweep the floor so that I could do yoga before I got started on my work. Then I had to check my email, my Facebook, and download Kickstarter gift from Beats Antique so I could have some sweet tunes to work to. But, actual my work is not getting done – and everyday this routine keeps repeating itself, the worse I feel.

Why am I stuck in a this cycle of avoidance? It SEEMS like I’m getting stuff done. But, that stuff is not what I need to get done first to show improvement in what I REALLY want to be doing.

My friend Almine posted a picture to Facebook today of a rock climber against a beautiful background so high up that only birds could (or so I would have thought) see that view. The caption was “Fail until you SUCCEED”. That image coupled with the spirit of Almine inspired me to post it on my own Facebook page so it would sit there as a reminder.

Okay, so, I know I am failing right now (because this blog post is not the work I am supposed to be doing), but, I don’t think that is what she meant by it.
In order to successfully fail I need to do my work. Put one foot in front of the other and JUST DO IT.

So, here I go. I am ending this post (which at least I can tally as writing practice) and moving on to the work I keep putting off: social media for an amazing new start up. I hope to be bold enough to post here about it here very soon.

Now, time to fail until I succeed.

Will, Framed by Paint the Moon

Christine — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:35:19 +0000

These wonderful frames are a free download as one of the many delights that come with Liking the Paint the Moon’s fun, friendly Facebook Page. I wanted to try them out and, loved them so much I had to write about them right away. (Ok, I should have photo edited my photographs before putting them in those lovely frames but I will just have to learn that part next!)

I found the Paint the Moon site (that offers Photoshop Actions and Textures) after I stumbled upon the wonderfully charming blog Dear Button by the multi-talented mama Annie Manning. Both sites are filled with eye candy and are vibrant communities that are pleasure to be a part of.

Please go check out these wonderful sites. Annie’s love of life, her family and, making the world an even more beautiful place is a gift for us all. Enjoy, and be inspired!

http://paintthemoon.net/

http://www.facebook.com/paintthemoonphotography

http://dearbutton.wordpress.com/

Evernote Improves Lives.

Christine — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:37:22 +0000

I have been working to streamline the information in my life and one of the ways I have been doing that is Evernote. I am offloading taxing information to my trusted friend:

Ah Evernote. Cross-platform, pictures, cool organizational features, and SEARCHABLE! I use it on my phone, computer, and iPad (anywhere I have internet access – or not – because you can use it OFFLINE too.

It has fast become a friend. And, a crutch. I realized that when I reached my capacity for my free account and ran into problems with workflow and sharing in the last two weeks. So, after a few days of denial, I broke down and went PREMIUM! $45 a year (you also have the option to go for the $5 a month plan if you just want to dip your toe in ;)

I will keep you up to date on how it goes. But, I am excited. Now I have lots of even cooler features available to me.

Some of my favorite features from that you can acces via the FREE version:

use smartphone to take pics of stuff (invoices, flyers for a show, sign up sheet at school to share with papa, etc, etc, etc!) LOVE THIS FEATURE!
create notebooks to file your stuff in (ex: receipts, journal, school info, health benefits card, and MORE MORE MORE!)
file sharing. Ooo-lala, not only can you keep info for yourself, you can share it with anyone you want to. Or, keep it private. Up to you.
search: search your files for your stuff by using keywords
clip articles and/or pics from the web (I store them in my “Read Later” file which is handy when waiting in lines.)

My upcoming adventures in the land of Evernote are as told to me by my confirmation email from the Evernote team:

WHAT MAKES EVERNOTE PREMIUM GREAT:

Your monthly upload allowance has been raised to 1GB

Your maximum single note size is now 50MB

You can access previous copies of your notes

For Android, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users, access your notebooks offline

We’ll make your scanned PDFs searchable

You can send up to 250 emails to your Evernote account per day

Any images you send into Evernote will be given priority treatment by our recognition servers

You will now receive premium support

I will report back on my experience.

In the meantime, check out some other great tips and resources on using Evernote by these smart mamas:

Aimee Giese, who is an entrepreneur, graphic designer, web developer,
and lifestyle blogger wrote a blog post for the Evernote blog: 6 Ways Lifestyle Blogger and Working Mother Aimee Giese of Greeblemonkey Uses Evernote, says “I love technology, but I’m slow to change.” But you wouldn’t know it reading her list of inspired uses for Evernote.

Orange Marmalade Mama had lots of thoughtful and practical uses. She included video and tutorials too.

Gentle Sane Respectful Bedtimes

Christine — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:33:41 +0000

Bedtime is hard. And it seems to just get harder.

My son is 3 1/2 and he knows everything. He is also an expert deal maker and very stubborn (wonder who he got that from?).

Well, here’s what I aim to do about it: treat him with respect. Well, I also want to treat me with respect too… and, I know that he just won’t agree with that. At least not all of the time. But, I have to for two reasons:

I am going insane because I am not asking for the respect I need in all my relationships, not just with him.
He needs me to model self-respect so he can practice it too.

I am challenged by this and need to give more thought to how I will walk the self-respect road (which also means I will be working with Boundaries). Oh boy.

So, in this quest I am on the lookout for tools and inspirations to help instill a calmer transition to bedtime. Ones that will help us wind down together. Ones that support a bonding experience where we are both engaged in a peaceful activity with creative elements.

Today I came across one such tool in the form of a beautiful little iPad and iPhone app by shape-minds.com called Nighty Night! HD.

This story will be a wonderful tool for the wind-down period before bed. It is beautiful, peaceful, and simple. A very friendly narrator introduces and closes the real feature of this app: kids get to put the animals to bed! First they can play around with each animal by touching them.

I haven’t had a chance to show it wil my son yet. I will report back with his review, but I found it to be a lovely work.

I can see the potential for a custom expereince. Here are just a few ideas:

CREATE A TUNE by playing around with the little sounds that are produced when you touch the three fish swimming around in their pond before you put them to sleep. (I had a lot of fun with this when I played with it.)
A STORY WITHIN A STORY: You can give the animals names and make up a story about how their day went at school or whatever topic is on your child’s mind.

I recommend letting children play with this book in their own way at first, then, one-by-one, introduce ideas like the above. This gives kids the opportunity to really grow with this book (or any other book or toy) and to discover the multifaceted goodness that is there just waiting to be discovered.

I can’t wait to give Nighty Night! to my son tonight. I will bring it during our bedtime routine and present it right after bath and before we read books (the old-school paper kind).

Enjoy!

Noisy Neighbors

Christine — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:01:15 +0000

This morning, at 6:53 AM, I received a text from an unknown number:

Good morning to you too. Who needs an alarm when you kid is like clock work. 7am. Everyday.

I assumed it was mistakenly sent to me. Someone must of been replying to a friend making a loving joke about the joys of parenthood. Right? I replied with a question mark.

?

No.
It was my downstairs neighbor, so said the relpy:

Sorry, this is your downstairs neighbor, Rick.

I had given Rick my phone number the last time he came upstairs to let me know my son’s noises were annoying him (Will was playing xbox at the time). I wanted him to be able to text me to let me know if it was too much to take. For my part, I am working with Will to bring about a true understanding about how his actions effect neighbors and how he can do them differently. I actually try to make them fun like “walk like Spiderman.”

But, nothing seems to stick. He tries to be quiet but then he forgets when he is following his natural urge to learn and explore the world around him. I totally understand this – its ingrained in the human child to do this – but, I believe that there must be a way to develop a routine that builds in an awareness of how we act.

I felt I ought to reply to Rick. I wanted to acknowledge him, give him a quick status update to show progress and intent (I also hoping to inspire compassion), and to add a note of positivity. So I texted back this:

Ah. Goodmorning, Andre. I stress about this constantly and am working to ease the noise. I hope you have a good day.

SOLUTIONS TO TRY OUT:

Before 8am we walk with extra soft foot steps. — BUT HOW? Words alone have not had much effect. So, this morning I introduced a visual que to indicate times of extreem quite as well as one for times of “normal inside noises”. This still needs work. I could use some inspiration here! What has worked for other families?
Streamline the morning: get as much of the morning routine prepared the night before so we have less to do. This way I can either get him out of the house sooner to play or, I can give him undivided attention to focus on play as well as guiding him into a routine of BEING EXTREMELY QUIET (we will see to what extent this is possible… again, he’s 3).
Move. – Unfortunately, we can’t take this easy way out anytime soon.

Even before I got Rick’s texts this morning I was feeling stressed about Will’s inability to remember to be quiet as well as his other antics that kept me from getting us ready in a timely manner. So, when I realized that this text was addressed to us, I was pissed. Here Will was being a handful, and there my neighbor was plying his poisonous wrath on us again.

Have a heart, guy. Children are a challenge. And a gift.

Will is pretty great, and, I’m trying. I would appreciate it if you would have compassion and give me constructive feedback so I can do the best I possibly can without you being pissed at me and me being pissed at you. I was so frustrated that I took it out on Will. That only made matters worse.

I love Will so much and am working to raise him as best I can with tools like Positive Discipline and Montessori and with the following in mind: social good, compassion, empathy, altruism (just to name a few). The way I felt today was just horrible. And, its not just this, I am feeling challenged in other areas of my life too. Sometimes I wish for more of the ignorance I sometimes see in other people. It seems it would be less painful.

But, I know it wouldn’t. That would just be another kind of pain.

So, as I lean into “the ring of fire” (borrowing a term from life coach Martha Beck), I try to learn from it. I am ever on the path to being a better person, a better parent and being a force for social good.

—
Note:
I have used a different name for my downstairs neighbor out of respect for him. I’ll just call him Rick.

Lost Wallet – How to Protect Yourself

Christine — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:29:11 +0000

I lost my wallet.

Now, I am learning all the intricacies of keeping my assets and identity safe. I am passing this along this crucial information so that you can too.

I thought I had it all covered but, when I googled what I thought was last on my list: “how do I report a stolen wallet?” (to hopefully find an easy way to do it online) I discovered a site created by the FTC that had a checklist of the things you need to do to “keep it safe”. Here are their steps to take to cover your heiny.

A lost or stolen wallet or purse is a gold mine of information to identity thieves.
If your wallet or purse is missing:

File a report with the police immediately and keep a copy.

Cancel your credit, debit and ATM cards immediately.

Get *new* cards with *new* account numbers.

Call the fraud departments of the major credit reporting agencies.

Ask each agency to put out a fraud alert on your accounts.

Report the loss to the fraud department at your bank.

Review your credit reports regularly and have them corrected when necessary.

Report a missing driver’s license to your state’s department of motor vehicles.

If your keys are missing change the locks on your home and car.

GOOD LUCK!

~~~

Extra Reading to take care of yourself after your wallet goes AWOL:

Credit Reporting Agencies

Equifax
www.equifax.com
1-800-685-1111

Experian
www.experian.com
1-888-397-3742

TransUnion
www.transunion.com
1-800-888-4213

Identity Theft

www.consumer.gov/idtheft
1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the federal clearinghouse for complaints by victims of identity theft. Although the FTC does not have the authority to bring criminal cases, the FTC assists victims of identity theft by providing them with information to help them resolve the financial and other problems that can result from identity theft.