Girl Talk

I had a few firsts last week. I went to Chicago, stayed at a Hilton, attended a Pampered Chef National Conference, rode in a taxi and attended an executive banquet. It was all such an awesome experience.

I was also away from my family for four whole days, which is a definite first. My youngest, Alison, would not even speak more than a hello and a goodbye till the third day I called. Shelby wanted to know everything that I saw and did every day.

The drive to Chicago included Linda Aiken of Jonesboro and Carrie Trego of Trumann, and they were entertaining. I drove for the first 300 miles without even realizing I had driven that long. I had no idea of how to get to Chicago, so I relied heavily on the girls and Carrie’s GPS.

I was in awe at how organized the whole thing was. We stayed at the Chicago Hilton and Pampered Chef arranged to have a line of buses at our beck and call (it seemed) to take us back and forth from the Hilton to The McCormick Place. There was a bus leaving every 15-30 minutes.

The McCormick Place is huge with lots of big rooms and little rooms and a theatre, and sets right there at Lake Michigan, so pretty.

It was so neat the way they had everything arranged right down to the nametag that we all had that told us exactly where we were to be, at what time, on each of the three days. They even fed us breakfast and lunch two days, and then we had the executive banquet at the Sheraton Hotel. They put on shows and gave out so many awards - vases, jewelry, etc., and also gave us a couple of the new fall items.

I will be making plans to go again next year, for sure.
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My little girl, who just turned seven last month, has been so afraid for the last couple of days. She has been asking me if someone will break into our home and hurt her and her younger sister.

This has been asked of me since Saturday evening when we were going to the Walnut Ridge Community Center to watch some friends dance at the Main Street Dance recital. As many know it was vandalized very badly, destroying trophies that were to be handed to the young ones who have worked so hard all year, along with numerous other items.

I think it is so awful that anyone could do such a thing and ruin the night for so many people – Miss Amber has worked so hard teaching these dancers and preparing for the recital. The dancers have also worked so hard to get each move down. Many people spent hours and hours on getting things ready for the event not to mention the expense. The night was also ruined for all the individuals who were going to watch the performers.

I hope there are not any other little girls or boys who are frightened as my little girl.

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What makes children the way they are? I am just baffled at the differences in our girls. Shelby, six, has always been pretty well mannered, never causes much reason for discipline – usually a talking to and an explanation was all it would take for her.

Now Alison, three, she is an entirely different story and has always been. We can talk until we are blue in the face, put her in time out and wear ourselves out going back and forth putting her back each and every time she would get up before her time is up. Putting her in her room does not work well unless you physically hold the door shut until she stops throwing her fit (which I personally hate). And there is spanking. I will admit I believe in spanking when it is necessary, but if you can discipline without it then that is better.

Seems whatever we do is a fight with Alison. We are not able to get through a meal without some kind of outburst from her. It can be anything from sissy sitting close, to Shelby got the plate she wanted, something was put on her plate that she does not like to her drink was put in the wrong cup.

She is always doing something to hurt Shelby like scratching her face, hitting her with a toy or pushing her out of a chair and now she has started pinching. This is something I have a hard time spanking for because it seems as if you are saying that is okay to hit.

I have wondered if what some have said about things you go through while you are pregnant affecting a child in this way are true. While I was pregnant with Alison I had to keep a child with ADHD a lot, and my dad was diagnosed with cancer and had to live with us for his last six months. In addition one of my older brothers stayed with us through my dad’s illness, and then a younger brother the last two to three weeks. Plus we had visitors every weekend for the last two to three months of dad’s life. Alison was four months old when dad died.

If anyone has any ideas or words of support they would like to share with me, they would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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My girls are so cute!! They surprise me everyday with things they do and say. At six and a half years, Shelby thinks she is so big that she can do about anything she wants to, she loves to take care of her little sister (even when she is not needed).

I think that the three and a half years between the two is just right. They play very well together – for the most part. The other day Shelby was reading Alison a book, and Alison was listening so well. Shelby would be reading with such emphasis and then in an exciting spot she would reach over and tickle Alison. I was so proud of them. I watched all of this from around a corner where they could not see me. If they had seen me watching that would have been the end of that quiet time.

On one occasion they were playing in their bedroom that they share – they were climbing on the little recliner, then to the nightstand, then to the upper trundle bed and then jumping on the bottom trundle. They were having a great time laughing and carrying on until they noticed me standing there with the camcorder. They just looked at me and yelled “MOMMM.” I promise they didn’t stop for long. Back through their little maze.

Never a dull moment.

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There are many who have had to take on second jobs to help support their family or make ends meet. I fell into my second job in the summer of 2006. I chose something that would let me set my own hours and do what I wanted.

I chose Pampered Chef for many reasons, including the flexibility, the income potential, the discounts on products, the free products and the incentives.

This weekend at the Iron Mountain Festival I will have my first Pampered Chef booth. I will have lots of Pampered Chef items on display, and I will have information on how you can earn free Pampered Chef products. I hope to see you all there. And please stop and see me and tell me you read my blog, Girl Talk.

Also, watch the Main Street Dancers, starting at 1 p.m. Both of my daughters will be performing. Shelby’s class will be dancing to Hannah Montana’s “Life’s What You Make It” and Alison’s class will be dancing to “Teddy Bear Picnic.” I am just hoping that I will be able to see them from my booth.

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My girls are now six and two and a half. They are both in dance class. They love it. Shelby started last fall, and after watching Shelby in class and doing some of her dances, Alison started this spring.

With my husband and me never being ones to be in front of big crowds, we were a little worried how the whole recital thing would turn out. First, we had Shelby’s first recital in December. Would she go on stage, would she freeze or would she cry the whole way? She did great. She surprised me by actually smiling and doing her moves really well. She couldn’t wait to be on stage again.

Then Alison started lessons. Sometimes she would dance in class with her group and then other times she would be in her own little world and not do anything.

In June, we had both girls on stage. So I had to worry all over again. I was not worried at all about Shelby. I knew she would do as great as she did before and possibly even better since she had been there before. But what about the temperamental two-and-a-half-year-old who screams at the drop of a hat and who won’t do anything you want her to? How is she going to do? Will she get out there? Will she just stand there?

Well, of course, Shelby got out there and danced and smiled. Alison had to be coaxed a little at first, then she started shaking her stuff. She had the audience laughing with each great big twist that she did. She did great. In one dance she even had to stop and tell me as I stand backstage “Look, Mom, I’m dancing.” I gave her a great big hug after each dance and told her how proud I was of her.

They both are asking us when will it be time to go to dance class again. We tape the dance class and the recitals so they keep in practice. They love it. Thanks, Miss Amber.

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I think it is so great that parents do so many activities with their children – ballgames, dance, clubs, etc. What I don’t understand is – how do they do it? There is so much to get done in a given day: get up at 5 a.m., get ready and get the kids ready to leave the house for school and work, working, errands, picking kids up at 2-3 different locations, get home between 5:30-6, supper, dishes, homework, kids' baths, your shower, go through mail, laundry, tidy up the house – not to mention trying to keep a nearly two year old (in my case) at least a little happy so you can get anything done — by the time this is all done it is getting close to midnight. And then you start it all over again the next day at 5 a.m. And that’s if you can even get this stuff all done. How do you fit anything else in?

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