It has taken me all weekend to be able to sit down and put thoughts to keyboard, so to speak. The tragedy that has occurred is so heartbreaking, I find it too hard to convey what I am feeling. I know it is same feeling everyone has.

That night, I kissed my son goodnight and gave him the biggest hug. He felt the tear on my cheek from the sadness for the other mothers & fathers who wouldn't be hugging their children anymore and he asked me, "Mama, why are you crying? I love you, so no reason to cry!" and he hugged me back so tight. 

I went and knelt by the Christmas tree, prayed so hard and then broke down and sobbed. I cried so hard for those parents. I tried to picture the sweet faces of those babies and wondered how anyone could look into those little faces and pull the trigger.

Like others, I was so angry, so hurt, so devastated. How do we keep our children safe? I didn’t want to let my son out of sight. So I turned to the only thing I knew to do and that was to pray.  

My prayer now is - Thank you God for blessing me, please protect my son from harm and please comfort those who are experiencing my biggest fear.

There are many heartfelt tributes floating around the web as well as good advice on how to talk to your children about scary events, in addition to advice on how we can keep them safe.

The one piece I can give is no matter what age your children may be, always make it easy for your children to come to you to talk. Let them know that when it feels important, to let you know that they need to talk. Then make sure to stop everything, sit down and truly listen. Address their fears, don’t dismiss them and help guide them through. As parents, we have so many responsibilities, including all we do to keep them safe, but we also need to support their emotions and give them a safe place to express them.

Hold them tight and tell them how much you love them everyday – it never gets old. 

Prayers and best wishes to you and your families,

Julie

Join Us for Our Project MAHMA Call this Week

Tune in to hear how others have lost weight, improved their health and succeeded at achieving their dreams all in a short informative call.

What Is Project MAHMA?

Project MAHMA stands for Moms at Home Making a ... Difference (and a whole lot of money!)

Project MAHMA is a coalition of Shaklee families across North America who stay at home with their kids and earn income by helping others live healthier and more independent lives.

Project MAHMA was formed as an opportunity for moms and dads to:

• Have the very best for their family's health, well-being and financial future
• Realize their personal potential
• Make a difference in the lives of others
• Do it all AND stay home with their kids

Call Information

Saturday, December 15, 2012

8 a.m. Pacific | 9 a.m. Mountain | 10 a.m. Central | 11 a.m. Eastern

DIAL: 212-990-8000 (PIN: 6262#)

Tune in this Saturday for another inspiring Project MAHMA Call. 

Our moderator is Project MAHMA  co-founder Jude Peskuski (Senior Key Coordinator, TX). Jude is the proud mom of two wonderful boys, John and Jay. She began what she refers to as her "Sesame Street hobby" back in 1981, earning $500 a month. 

As Jude says, "Shaklee has been the vehicle for me to have more dreams come true than I ever imagined. I've traveled to Hawaii eight times and visited Australia, Hong Kong, Europe and the Western Caribbean on the Imagine 2010 incentive cruise!" 

Today Jude, along with her Project MAHMA co-founder husband, Jack, earns a six-figure income* and loves contributing to people's health and well-being and making their dreams come true.

Joining Jude for the call this Saturday are:

Jack Peskuski (Jude's husband), Project MAHMA co-founder (Senior Key Coordinator, TX), who will share the businessman's perspective on Project MAHMA.

Maria Burton (Senior Coordinator, TX). Maria was considering going back to work in the corporate world when she was presented with the Shaklee opportunity. Now, four years later, she's celebrating another successful year full-time with Shaklee! 

Maria's background is varied and interesting. She has a BBA, spent seven years at an Architectural firm, and worked in Substance Abuse Prevention as well as Product Sales for the Girl Scouts. She is very passionate about health and wellness and is currently a Reiki Master Practitioner. She is committed to removing barriers in health and well-being so that others shine at whatever they pursue in life.

Jessica Allen (Distributor, TX). Jessica is a wife and a stay at home mom to two young boys. She's known about Shaklee all her life, and in fact, grew up in the town where the vitamin plant used to be. About a year ago, Jessica started a mission to get her family healthy and toxin- free with Shaklee products. She is passionate about sharing solutions for better health and financial freedom with other families!

Judi Hill (Distributor, TX). Judi has lost over 85 lbs with the Cinch® Inch Loss Plan**.  She is one of three winners of the 2011 Dallas-area Cinch Contest and now she inspires others that they, too, can be successful in adopting healthy habits. She leads a group called “Greatest Winners” to success and shares Project MAHMA with families she talks to about Shaklee.

Chasity Lewallen (Member, TX). Chasity is a proud mom of two – Zachary (9) and Charity (6). She is passionate about health and leads Zumba® Fitness classes for seniors and young people. Chasity’s passion to inspire others to be good stewards of their bodies has her excited about her own experience with Shaklee products.

Additional Information

ALTERNATE CALL IN NUMBERS:

In the unlikely event that you experience a busy signal when trying to access the call this weekend, please try one of these alternate call-in numbers: 1-212-990-4000, or 1-212-990-2300. The PIN for both of these lines is the same as the main number: 6262#

ARCHIVES:

Project MAHMA calls are archived for future listening. Go to  http://www.shakword.com and click on the tab, "Project MAHMA" (left hand side of page). The log in and the password are the same: shaklee. The most recent conference call will be featured approximately 7 days after the call takes place.

For more information on Project M.A.H.M.A., to learn more about Shaklee products or to join us, you can contact me via online listed below or simply fill out our Contact Form

Find us Online at:

Product Info & Ordering Website: To Be Healthy

Our Health & Wellness Blog: youtobehealthy.com

Like us on Facebook: To Be Healthy

Twitter: You To Be Healthy

Pinterest: YouToBeHealthy

Google+: Shaklee ToBeHealthy

Always Safe, Always Works, Always Green - See why we work when others don’t – The Shaklee Difference

Another Mom Was Nice To Me Today

Today as I was standing in line to return something at Target, my four year old son was displaying his displeasure at having to be there by misbehaving a bit. 

Don’t you just love it when all you want to do is run a quick errand and end up standing in line with a cranky kid? Nothing brightens a day more than having to correct your child in public and watch them unravel right before your eyes.

It seems that when your child is acting up in a public place you feel like everyone is looking at you with their cold, steely eyes and whispering their disapproval of your mothering skills behind your back. 

You shake it off, knowing that you are overreacting and they probably don’t even notice. Yes, I know that what others think is none of my business and most of the time I don’t even care what others think. It’s just that when it’s your kid that’s acting up you feel like you’re the only one with a misbehaving child. You know it’s a ridiculous thought, but it’s a feeling that just kind of comes over you as if someone was pouring hot goo over your head.

My son wasn’t acting too badly, but I did have to put him into time out for a short time to get him to settle. As he gave me his mean eyes look from his time out spot, the woman in front of me chuckled and said her six year old son gives her the same look.

Instantly I felt this sense of relief as if the store’s doors flew open and a warm ocean breeze hit my face. This nice woman went on to say she had four boys and they all did this and seeing my son do the same made her laugh a little bit as she thought of her own boys.

I thanked her for sharing that thought with me as sometimes you think you are the only one. She laughed and told me something I already knew, but so desperately needed to hear and that is, “Nah, they all do that.”

Those few little words carry so much meaning to a mom in the thick of correcting their child. We all know this to be true and we all know our children don’t act like this all the time. We also all know that every parent has to take their turn with the misbehaving child in public. It just always seems to be your turn at the worst possible moment, doesn’t it?

I loved the fact that this woman didn’t judge me, she remembered her times in the spotlight and offered some kind words and few laughs to make this mom feel a little better.

It’s a good thing she did because 5 minutes later as I was walking out through the store I heard another mom criticize the way my son was looking at her young daughter. Neither child was looking where they were going and came close to running into each other, they didn’t, but my son did turn to look at her is all. This mother made a snide comment and I ignored it. I chose to concentrate on what the nice mom said and I’m so glad I did.

I put my arm around my son and we walked out with our heads held up high for all the cameras to see.

So the next time you see a mom in the thick of a parenting moment in public, go up and tell her that your kids does or did the same thing at that age and smile. It may be the nicest thing you do all day.

Twelve Days of Christmas (Boys Edition) from Mob Society

If you do nothing else today, you MUST read this hilarious post about one mom's version of the 12 Days of Christmas. 
Whether you have boys or girls or a mix of both. Or if you can remember once what it was like to be young around Christmas time and feel the need to say, "Sorry Mom" you will love this.

Twelve Days of Christmas (Boys Edition)

Remember to share the love. Lets "Like" each other. I'm Not a Supermom

My husband underestimates my ability to fix problems with cars.

We both drive old cars, his being worse than mine.

Older cars come with a lot of little squeaks, bangs and other various annoying noises.

These noises really drive my husband nuts. He’ll fix one only to have three more pop up.

When he was complaining about them I told him I know how to fix them really easy. 

I told him he needs to do what I do – turn up the radio! And Presto! No more annoying noises.

This morning my son was getting into some trouble by backtalking a little when asked to pick up cars. 

I have what is called a "penalty box" where sometimes toys go for a week  as a form of punishment. 

When I mentioned that some cars would be put into the penalty box if he continued talking to me that way, he said, "You know what? Next spring, that penalty box is going into the yard sale!" 

I just about spit my green tea all over the kitchen counter.

Enslaved Children Freed After Being Forced to Make Christmas Decorations

I saw this news video that shows where a group of children were recently freed from a prison of child labor where they were forced into making cheap Christmas decorations for us here in the U.S.

Here is the link: Enslaved Children Freed After Being Forced to Make Christmas Decorations

Please read the article below the video s it provides more information.

I was horrified to hear this. It’s not the first time I had heard of child labor, but watching this video made it more real for me than just reading about it. I may never pick up another Christmas decoration without thinking of the little hands who may have made it.

To think that these young children are being stolen or sent off by their own families, enslaved, trafficked, abused and forced to work 19 hour days in terrible conditions made me cry.

I thought of my own child and how fortunate we are. Why is this allowed to continue? Instead of fighting over oil, land and religion, why aren’t we using our powers to free these children, who are all around the world and educate people?

Starvation, homelessness, slavery, abuse – all things that still continue today in the 21^st century. And we think we’ve come so far.

How sad and disappointed God must be with us.

How Do You Explain Why Santa Doesn’t Visit Everybody?

Now that my son is 4 going on 5, he is very inquisitive. When we talk about Santa coming, I mention that we also need to go through the toys and donate ones to other children who aren’t so fortunate. We do this every year to not only make room for all the new things he is getting, but  to also teach him about giving to others less fortunate.

My husband agreed and stated that we need to be generous and give to those children who may not get toys for Christmas.

My son asked the question we should have seen coming, but didn’t – “How come Santa won’t bring toys to them? We’re they bad?”

Ouch. My husband and I look at each other and stammer through some lame answer like, “Well, they may just not get as many as you do” or something like that and changed the subject fast till we are better prepared to answer a question like that.

But how do you answer that question?

I want to teach my son about others who are not as fortunate, but how do you teach that kind of empathy without getting too detailed or "spilling the beans" so to speak?

How do you explain Santa not getting around to some children without contradicting yourself?

Add your Boy story to this wonderful link up at The M.O.B. Society. M.O.B. stands for Moms of Boys. 

This site is a great place to be if you have boys. Find inspiration, friendship and understanding from moms who are right there with you in the trenches of raising boys. These women understand all the joys, hard work and sometimes discouragement you are going through.

So check out this link up, visit other sites and maybe link up one yourself!

Today I Am Thankful For:

The freedom to vote.

I am thankful for the ones who fought for that freedom and for those who still do today.