Payday

Work product

Yesterday I was frantically trying to figure out the finances.  Today is Payday.

I have two people inside me:  One went to college and wanted to take the world by storm.  I can definitely be a workaholic, and have been.  I love putting out a superior product with superior service.  The other person inside me has wanted to be a mom since as far back as I have memories.  I sort of run that the same way:  I'm a workaholic, I want to put out a superior product, and I want to serve them well.  The first one pays a lot more than the second, though.  And I have that tug of war that many (most? all?) women have as they want to contribute financially to their home but want to be everything to their families.  I do have a business (or three) running from home, some more successful than others.  But my most important job and most beloved job title remains Mama.

This morning I woke up to a Mama job bonus.  A million-dollar bonus.  In the night, my daughter had put something on Twitter.  For those of you unfamiliar with Twitter, you can put a hashtag (# symbol) in front of something you write on Twitter and it becomes a way for people to search for that thing.  So, if I wrote, "Just burned the roast. #foodnetwork," then people can go to #foodnetwork on Twitter and see the posts from everyone there, and the people at Food Network can comment on them (hopefully helping you with that roast).  So, here's what I woke up to:

#thingsmymomtaughtme independence, confidence, hard work ethic, success, empathy, faith, loyalty @DanetteSteimle <3

#thingsmymomtaughtme always stay classy, no matter what

She could have written anything at all - you should read some of them.  A personal fave was from a teenage boy: #thingsmymomtaughtme A jealous woman does better research than the FBI.  (Props to that mama!)  But my girl wrote things I yearn for her to know.

It's these things that are a mom's payday.  And it made me think of things my kids did that made it Payday for me:

Ty wrote the most amazing and sublime essay based on his childhood.  Some of the things that he imparted to me will stay with me forever.  He's written me poems, encouraging letters, and sweet cards.  And he never never pulls away from a hug first - even if he has to leave.  

Holly finds ways to write the most loving notes to me:  Texts, Facebook, little notes on the counter (attached to Voodoo donuts!), and now Twitter.  She shows up with her blanket, pillow, and water in hand and announces we'll be watching a show together now.  

Austin never misses kissing me right before he leaves the house and right when he comes back in the house.  He asks me about my day.  He opens my doors, carries my packages, and always offers me his arm when we're walking anywhere, even in front of his buddies.    

In my type-A way, I dwell on the finances of my family.  How can I make them go further?  How can I bring in some?  How can I pay that?  But today is Payday.  I will simply roll around in my bonuses today.  Today I will be content and so very, very grateful.


What does your Payday look like?

Experiments In: Needing Help

You probably already know that my husband and I try to find fun ways to teach our kids life lessons (Experiments In: Watching What You Say).  Another of these was the Stairs Experiment.  It's one of my favorites.  

You must have or find some stairs.  The only requirement is that the portion of staircase you use be higher than the tallest kid - he can't be able to reach the top by reaching from standing at the bottom.  After you find an adequately high staircase, about 4-5 steps or so, put your husband (brother, mom, dad, sister, friend) at the top.  Just standing there.  They are to not talk; say nothing, just stand there quietly.

We put Daddy at the top.  I gathered all of the children at the bottom of the staircase.  

I showed them a $10 bill.  I waved it around a little.  I'm like that.

Then I told them, "First one to reach the top of the stairs where Daddy is waiting without touching any part of the staircase, including the walls, railing, steps, etc., gets the ten dollars."

Now, you may think that the kids would just stop and say that this is impossible and then it's over.  I've done this experiment many times, and every single time the kids try to figure out how to get up there.  Particularly if you have older kids.  They even put their heads together to collaborate - something I tell them they are certainly welcome to do.  You'll see why. ;-)  They will jump, hop, try to fly (this is why it's important the landing at the top is taller than the tallest child).  

And inevitably... "We give up!  There's no way to reach the top.  It's impossible!"  

I turned to Daddy, waiting patiently and silently at the top of the stairs, and said, "Come down and pick up Ty."  My husband walked down the stairs, picked Ty up and piggybacked him up the stairs - without Ty touching any part of the staircase, including the walls, railing, and steps.  Then he went down and piggybacked every kid up the stairs.

I called them back down, gathered them together, and told them, "Sometimes in life, when you need to do something difficult, you will need help.  You will need someone else to carry you through it."

In our house, Daddy represented God, and we told our children to rely on Him.  To allow Him to carry them through the tough stuff, up those hills of life.  But we also reminded them that, along with allowing God to carry them, they would also need to rely on parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, teachers, mentors, doctors, nurses, etc., to carry them through.  

Allowing other people to help me, personally, has always been a unique challenge.  Type-A people don't like that very much (#understatement).  Giving my kids a visual, experiential view of this was important to me.  Even though I was on the "giving" end of this experiment, I still bring up the picture in my mind when I need to let go and allow God and others to help carry me through the valleys.  

Well, that and my kids, having learned this lesson well, always come carry me out.

Fave Foods

The spread last Christmas.

I was asking my husband the other day to make his famous jambalaya when I realized how often someone in the family asks him to make it.  I started thinking about how often we do that - eat the same meal over and over because it's our favorite - and I came up with two meals that we eat really often; like, every other week.  It kind of shocked me to really think about how often we eat these things, but it was also comforting to think about our family loving these two really different meals.    

The Favorite Foods Criteria:
1.  Every member of the family must like it.
2.  It must be relatively easy to make.
3.  The ingredients must be mostly on hand (no running to the specialty Norwegian-only store in the next state for some obscure spice).
4.  Bonus:  The recipe is one that is a whole meal in itself:  The ingredients include meat, veggies, and a starch - or no meat if you're a vegetarian.

So, in the spirit of sharing, here are the recipes for Daddy's Jamba and 7-Layer Chinese Chicken Salad.  They are easy to make, easy to alter the ingredients to fit your taste, easy to double, taste amazing, and your family will love them.  Don't expect leftovers.  

Easy Cajun Jambalaya

2 t olive oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

8 oz kielbasa, diced

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1/2 c celery, diced

2 T garlic, chopped

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1/2 t onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

4 c chicken stock

3 bay leaves

2 t Worcestershire sauce

1 t hot pepper sauce

2 c uncooked white rice

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Sauté chicken and kielbasa until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Season with cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, or until onion is tender and translucent. Add rice, then stir in chicken stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce.

7-Layer Chinese Chicken Salad

Salad

5 cups shredded romaine lettuce

1 package (3 oz) Oriental-flavor ramen noodle soup mix

2 c finely chopped cooked chicken

1 can (11 oz) white shoe peg corn

1 large tomato, finely chopped

2 med green onions, finely chopped (2 T)

1/2 c coarsely chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Dressing

2 T sugar

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

3/4 t grated ginger root

1/4 c vegetable oil

3 T white vinegar

In bottom of large 3-qt serving bowl, arrange lettuce.  Discard the seasoning packet from soup mix; coarsely crush noodles.  Layer noodles and remaining salad ingredients over lettuce in order listed. 

In small jar with tight-fitting lid, shake dressing ingredients until well blended.  Pour over salad.  Serve immediately.  

Family:  What meals did I leave out?

Readers:  What are your favorite meals?  Send me your recipes!  

Experiments In: Watching What You Say

When my kids were growing up, I would try to find fun ways to teach life lessons.  One of these was The Toothpaste Experiment.  I have performed this experiment many times to many groups at many ages.  It's timeless.  And I'm betting many of you even know what I'm talking about and have performed this experiment, too!  This is how it's done:

We sat our 5 kids at the dining room table and put paper plates in front of them.  We sat travel-size tubes of toothpaste on the paper plates.  

"Okay, kids, now open the toothpaste and squeeze out as much toothpaste as you can get out of the tubes."  Having no idea whether this was the "contest" part, they squeezed and squeezed until they couldn't get anything else out of the tube.  

"Are you done?  Did you get it all out?"  I was assured they did.  

"Okay..........first one to get all of the toothpaste back in the tube gets ice cream!  All of it - not one drop can be outside the tube."

There were some determined little faces as they tried their best to get that icky sticky stuff back inside the little hole.  Toothpaste covered the paper plates and their hands up to their wrists - and sometimes their faces as they scratched their heads trying to figure this out.  

At some point, everyone will give up.  We all know it's impossible to get all of the toothpaste back into, well, anything.  

As I passed out damp towels, I explained.  "Just like you can't get that toothpaste back into that tube, once you say something out of your mouth, you can't suck it back in, either.  You must be very careful of what you say to people - to their face or someone else.  You must be careful what you say about people - to others or on the internet.  You cannot take those words back.  You cannot suck them back into your mouth.  And...and this is the hard one...you must be careful about what you think about people, as this will eventually form your words.

Those are the things you can't do, but what if you do hurt someone with your words?  You must ask for forgiveness.  No exceptions.  And it doesn't at all matter whether you intended to hurt them or not.  If your words hurt them, you've hurt them, no matter your intentions.

Now, let's go get that ice cream and chat about this."

And we'd go to Baskin-Robbins, order crazy-colored cones (only children can eat bubblegum ice cream with actual gum inside stacked on top of fudge brownie), and have some of the best conversations around those tiny round tables that are never big enough (right?).  "Janie said something that hurt me.  Does this mean I can go make her ask for forgiveness?"  "What about if I'm repeating what someone else said?  Does that count as me hurting someone?"  "What if somebody takes my words wrong?"  "Can I have more ice cream?"  

I have done this experiment while teaching Sunday school, youth groups, and the varsity cheer squad at cheer camp.  Though I will admit that, the older your subjects, the more creative they will get with trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube (make sure to give uber-clear instructions that ALL of the toothpaste has to be back in the tube and that they cannot rip open the tube to get it back in and that using the stuff that's left to make lipstick doesn't count as "creative points"), everyone - everyone - will get the message at the end.  

And, most importantly, they'll remember it.  "That was a toothpaste moment, wasn't it Mama?"  Yep, baby, it was.