Tag: dad

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Father’s Day: Planning Early

Every holiday poses a challenge for me.  Not only do I struggle with my time management around shopping and preparing, but I also often struggle with just the art of gift giving.  Especially for my husband.  You see, he is a very independent person who (although spoils the family) doesn’t really give any holiday much thought for himself.  This is true at Christmas, his Birthday, and also Father’s Day!  He never has any wishes or wants when it comes to gifting.
Do you know one of those people?  The type when you ask what they want and their answer is inevitably “nothing” or “I have everything I need”.  Although the latter may make some swoon, it gives me palpitations.   Not the ‘in love’ cutesy palpitations but the kind that leave you freaking out.  You see, I am one of those who want to give a gift and acknowledge the person.  Furthermore, I want the gift to be something they desire and deserve.
The ultimate irony of this whole thing is that every time I do get an idea of what I want to get him, he comes home with it! Yep.
Every.
Single.
Time.
There was the ice fishing shack incident, the trail cam incident, the latest movie incident, and the various tool incidents.  I now just assume he somehow reads my mind and right when I am about to purchase something for him, he pounces first.  We laugh about it.  Well, he laughs and I chuckle to the best of my ability.
So assuming this will happen again this year, I set out on a trek to find something for him and along the way wanted to share some great ideas with you.  I needed to start planning this early so that if I need to make a last minute change, I will have enough time.
Below, you will find some ideas I am looking at for my husband.  He is more of an outdoors kind of guy and so this genre of a gift guide suits him best.
Here are some unique gifts for the career oriented Dad:

Last but not least, here is a gift guide for the sports lover in your life.  There are some ideas in here that cross over to the career gift guide as well.

I hope some of my ideas help you plan what you are gifting for Father’s Day.  So far, I know one thing for sure that my husband will be getting come this Father’s Day.  I will make him his favorite Bourbon Pecan Pie.  It is absolutely out of this world delicious!
I will share that in my next post…

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Finding Your Balance

The Balance of Work-life & Home-life

Sometimes in life, you may suddenly realize a whirlwind around you.  Everything is happening so fast you are feeling out of control.  You are spinning on the wheel of life and the spinner is starting to go faster than you can keep up.  Sooner or later, one of two things will happen.  You will either keep pace with the wheel or the wheel will oust you.  Most likely, it will be the latter.  It’s not for a lack of trying but in all honestly, life nowadays happens at the speed of light.  Whether we are talking work-life, home-life or both, it’s coming fast and furious.

Has this ever happened to you?  It certainly has happened to me.  I spent a lot of time running to work, running home, running here and running there.  So much so that I can honestly say, I felt such intense pressure and disappointment.   I mean, is this it? Is this what I have been working so hard to accomplish?  What was I thinking!  My work-life out-balanced my home-life significantly.  Commuting time, early meetings, late meetings, and travel.  This delicate balance between work-life and home-life was thrown off and homeostasis was nowhere to be found.  I would run home every night, cook a late supper, clean up, put my daughter to bed and then sit catatonic on the couch.  I would have offers of help but I wanted to somehow feel as though i was contributing to the household.

My Why

While I was sitting there attempting to be part of the family, my mind would race far away.  What did I forget?  What do I have to prepare for tomorrow?  What disaster am I walking into tomorrow? Consumed.  Catatonic.  Cathartic.  Just a few words that come to mind.  This was not sustainable for anyone- especially me.

Finally, a break came whether I liked it or not, whether I agreed with it or not.  Perhaps, it was the best thing for me.  Overtime, I have realized that I needed to re-evaluate my goal and my purpose.  I need to understand that I have a self-worth and I must be able to maintain a better balance.  I have to do it for me and for my family.  Yes, there are busy seasons of work and of home, but overall these two parts of us working Moms (and Dads) need to be able to come together for the benefit of all- including ourselves.  Recognizing this is the first step- perhaps the most important step.

I wanted to write my blog as a journey through this process and share with you what I have learned and what I continue to learn on a daily basis.  Please join me.

Welcome to my Guide!

 

 

 

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