Ideas

Has this gone too far?

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Seriously? An iPad potty training chair. What has the world come to? While I do not have kids, I have worked with plenty of children, (daycare and babysitting) who were being potty trained. A good book often did the trick. I am sure there are a zillion ways to engage a child, and train them, as well as a zillion ways children respond. They are all different right? Yet, have we gone too far with an iPad potty chair?

My mind has visions of children growing up in grade school, high school, college, and then in the workforce, that can only do their business while holding an iPad. I mean I already have a husband that does his business with the news on his iPhone, and if that is dead, the default is a magazine. I am also an offender, I catch up on Candy Crush in the bathroom. (The only place I am truly a captive audience). No, I am not ashamed to tell you that I give a few mind-numbing moments of my day to Candy Crush.

Having said all that, I cannot even remember how I was potty trained, most likely I was given a book and told to come out when I was done. If we start early with iPads on toilets, where does that lead us? Does that become a security blanket? Why are we not teaching kids to come up with dreams, tell stories, sing songs, read stories, as well as teach them to sit and be. Maybe that form of meditation on the potty is just what the little tykes need in this non-stop, technology seeking world.

What do you think?

#saynotoiPadsonpotties

Boss or Bossy? Ah, the stereotypes.

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No one likes to be judged. Especially if you are being judged because of your gender. It is 2014. Does it still happen? You betcha. Should it still be happening? Hell no.

When I saw this Pantene commercial, I hardly thought about what they want you to think about, the individual’s hair. Yes, if you really look it is shiny, glossy, and looks great. Yes, you see it subliminally. Yet, at the moment, I do not care. I like an ad that can make me think, that can make me put myself in their shoes. That is telling a story, and making an emotional connection with their consumer. Does this commercial hit you in the gut, or make your cry? No. But, it does make you think.

How many of us have felt gender stereotypes in the workplace? I definitely have. Am I taken seriously because I am a woman? Not always. Do folks think I come off as a bitch when I might be firm and aggressive about a situation? Sometimes. Would they feel the same way if it was a man who was firm and aggressive? Probably not as much as they would a woman. Am I biased? Maybe. Why might I be biased? Only because I have felt what it is like to not be respected in my role by men, and sometimes even women. Gender stereotypes at its finest. You will see what I mean when you watch this quick Pantene commercial.

#Don’tletlabelsholdyouback

Suck the life out of your day

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It is a good thing. Yes, when you can crawl into bed at the end of your day, and know that you have truly sucked every moment out of your day. You have been present.

I like to think of it as absorbing every molecule of life. The good, the beautiful, the ugly, the stinky. Absorb. What an interesting word. It makes me think of a sponge and how when it attracts water to it, it expands and becomes absorbent. When it does not have liquid, it contracts and dries up. A sponge is such a great analogy to sucking the life out of your day. If you do not fill your day with items of interest and engagement you start to wither and dry up.

Think about all the things in your day that you are passionate about, the things that inspire and give you energy. Did you come up with what that is for you? Is it helping people, pushing them to see life differently? Or is it designing the best new innovative product? What energizes you? Whatever it is, when you feel that passion and energy, that means your sponge is filled. It has absorbed the energy, and there is an urgency within you.

Urgency. Now that is another topic of interest. When you feel passion for what you are doing, when you are engaged, you feel a sense of urgency. You want to make things happen. You want to move people to look at their life differently. You want to launch that new technology that will change lives. You absorb and suck the life out of your day. You live and breathe all that you stand for, and you make things happen.

Suck the life out of your day.

Bobby Pins… Really?

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How is it that I am as old as I am and I never, ever knew that there was a right way to use a bobby pin? How is that possible?

I was on Pinterest the other day and happened on a site that had different hair how-to’s that every girl should know. The very first on the list was how to wear a bobby pin. I guess all these years I have been wearing them upside down. Sometimes it is the little things that can have a life changing impact. See, I usually go for a run with my hair back in a ponytail, and then all the stray hairs get held back with a bobby pin on each side. Partway through my run, my bobby pins often slip out and I have to put them back in. Until last week.

Last week, I learned to use a bobby pin in the appropriate way, and now they stay in place. If only I had known years ago, maybe I would not have needed to use so many bobby pins. AND, the bigger question is, why does the longer side up mean that hair will stay in place? It does not make sense to me. So when did you learn to use a bobby pin in the correct way? I imagine there are other things in our lives that we are never taught to do and the Internet has allowed us to learn things from the most mundane to the most profound. Obviously, bobby pins do not leave the profound impact on our life, but it was still an aha moment for me.

Sometimes you just have to turn something over for it to work right.

Scrooge + Piano Guys transform

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The holidays are really not my thing. Maybe it is a by-product of growing up so quickly. From the age of twelve, holidays only just sort of happened in my family. My parents were divorced, and my mom was sick, so whatever happened, happened.

Due to the fact that most years Thanksgiving and Christmas either barely happened or did not happen at all, I have a bit of a Scrooge mentality about the holidays. Yet. Yes, there is a yet. Every once in a while I will hear a song and it will hit me hard. Tears will pool in my eyes and I will be infected by the music, the emotion, and the moment. So when I found this video by “The Piano Guys” I was impressed, and had to share it with you.

Hopefully for any of you that feel Scrooge come out at any point in the next few weeks, you will come back to this video. I think you will be impressed, it will calm the Scrooge in you, and for those of you that love Christmas, you will just smile and get in the groove.