What does it mean to be part of the "sandwich generation," exactly? Well for me, it means a lot of juggling: juggling between running my nine-year old daughter to Girl Scouts and making sure my 90-year old mom had something to eat for dinner, since she likely only ate toast. Juggling between picking my daughter up from school and running her home, only to trek across town again to teach the class I teach twice a week at a local college, and then back home to help her with homework before bedtime. And making sure to check her homework, check to make sure my mom took her meds for the day, and check my email before powering down for the day.Oh yeah...and trying to find time to check in with my husband for at least five minutes while we're in between running the kid, grabbing dinner, and keeping the house going. Even though I just have one child, I sometimes feel as if I have more, given that my mom now needs more care and that we also have three furry children!
I know I'm not alone but sometimes it feels that way, and that's why I decided to create this blog as I know there are others out there that face the same frustrations during their day. I blogged for about three years as a 'mommy blogger,' sharing mostly info about my daughter when she was little and, as a communications major and someone who has enjoyed writing since I was young, I missed that life got in the way and the blog went by the wayside. My hope is, too, to keep it real and share not only the good but also the 'bad' and the 'ugly' of how life can sometimes get.
You see, my colleague and I were just discussing the fact that advertising and marketing often looks too "slick" and perfect...the perfect airbrushed faces, the stock photos, the stories with the great outcomes (and we work in that field so we have first-hand experience with agencies asking us to consider using stock photos in our ads and marketing materials rather than the ones we use which aren't perfect but are perfectly real!). But life isn't always perfect like that...it's gritty. It's hard. It's often challenging. And once we let down our guard and act more real, we also become easier to relate to, since others are often facing the same challenges as we are.
I welcome your comments and shared experiences as we get to know one another on here. Talk to you soon...now off to Facebook for awhile and unwind in the silence while everyone is sleeping!
