The Hard Truth {Misophonia}

January 25, 2017May 26, 2017Leave a comment

Misophonia, literally “hatred of sound,” was proposed in 2000 as a disorder in which negative emotions, thoughts, and physical reactions are triggered by specific sounds.

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As per Wikipedia this means you literally hate sound. Now, if you are a mom with two busy, very loud “munchkins” it can literally drive you up the wall. I became aware of this funny feeling deep inside me after I made the huge decision to stop being a working mom and just be a normal mom, staying at home, enjoying and getting to know my children.

One day, on a sunny afternoon, we had a play-date and my son’s best friend, a very sweet little girl, came over to play. She was the sweetest little thing with the highest pitch voice I’ve ever heard, and that day I totally lost it. I locked myself in the bathroom for the most of the afternoon, histerically screaming they must keep it down, be quite, stop yelling, stop running, etc, etc. and all they did was being kids. Since that day I can’t stand any loud noises, anything from a lot of people talking, the tv being on to loud, kids playing and screaming and running around, my husband playing with the dogs, even the washing machine spinning….all is just too much and it literally feels like my head wants to explode. I cannot work or concentrate when people are around me talking, fiddling or even eating. I thought I was going crazy, so….I did what I do best….I started researching, reading, asking questions. And guess what, there is nothing wrong with me….well…there is actually a brain disorder called Misophonia…it means your brain aren’t equipped to handle a lot of loud noises and then it does what it does best when in distress….yes, I’m talking about the fight or flight reaction….In my case I literally start to scream at anybody, I get like an anxiety attack, I can’t breathe and feel like there is a time bomb in my head that’s gonna go off any minute.

The worst of the worst is that your family doesn’t understand this. They think your ‘funny’ or ‘weird’ or just having a bad day. This is probably the most lonely disorder, as nobody gets it.

Portrait business woman screaming at street car traffic

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So, to all the moms out there that feels they’re going crazy…you’re not…I get it….we just not emotionally equipped to deal with any loud noises.

For more info visit Misophonia Online website.

Slowing down & enjoying the simple life

January 25, 2017January 25, 2017Leave a comment

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I just read that there is a new book on the market that everybody should read. It’s called THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK by Mark Manson. In short, he focuses on the fact that life is hard, and that you must rather learn to deal with it and not just expect everything to be positive, to actually ignore the let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected our society. We’re busy spoiling our generation, by rewarding them gold medals just by showing up…and that ain’t on. Life is hard, and the secret is that you must enjoy, appreciate and be grateful for what you have, who you are and where you live.

The simple truth is that we are busy chasing things that aren’t real. Hence, my heading “slowing down & enjoying the simple life”, everybody is searching frantically for the best, most beautiful house, best clothes, fastest car….and if it isn’t working just go and buy a new one. We are teaching our children that everything is replaceable, that money can fix anything, and being the most beautiful, with the best hair due, best make-up and best-manicured nails are the things that make us happy….guess what, that isn’t true.

So…this year I’m pressing pause on a lot of things and rather live out my toolkit gained over the years. I’m sharing it with you, hoping that you will be able to take one of them home and live a better, happier life.

Define your goals and share them with family, friends and colleagues so that they can understand you.
Plan, plan, plan – set goals and review them. If you don’t have a plan how would you know when you get there?
Always be yourself – no-one else is better qualified.
Be happy – the purpose of life is happiness and the key to happiness is in your own hands.
Always continue to learn – you’re never too old!!
Say ‘I’m sorry’
Keep demanding excellence for yourself
Just be happy!!!

Furry+Love

November 23, 2016November 23, 2016Leave a comment

To explain the life with your pets is to ask someone to imagine living without a BFF (best friend forever). You can’t really explain it if you are not a pet owner. In my case, I have 10, ranging from very big to very small. They keep me busy, they keep me young, and they are always there for me. Apparently, they have a lot of health benefits too, especially if you are alone, sick or selfish. If you are alone they are always there for you, they never judge, they are never jealous and they are ALWAYS happy to see you, sometimes even more than you are happy to see them. Yes, you do also get annoyed with them, especially if they jump on your white bed with their muddy paws, or if they dug out your newly planted rose garden. But, even though you get cross with them, you can’t live without them.

I’ve heard that some hospital recently agreed to allow senior, or terminally ill patients to have their beloved pet with them, and it helps them through their struggle or pain. AMAZING IDEA!!

When you own a pet you are not allowed to be selfish. They need food, water, comfortable bedding and constant playing and exercise. It forces you to care for something else besides yourself, and what people don’t always tell you is that you can actually have long, meaningful conversions with them, and they will help you during those hard times.

I was not even married when we decided to get the children, Ice and Chikita. We did a lot of research, before deciding which type of dog to get, and in the end, we’ve decided on a Siberian Husky called Ice. She was the most gentle animal I have ever met, her eyes really spoke to you. 6 months later she just had to have a sister, and then we’ve adopted Chikita. Yes, for those of you who doesn’t know you don’t actually have to buy a pet from a breeder. You can adopt them, and give another life a chance to happiness.

(If you’ve missed it, I’m begging everybody out there that if you decide to get a pet, adopt, don’t buy)

Ice and Chikita lived with us for 13 years, and they were the best companions anybody can ask for. My children met them and were able to get to know them, and grow up with them for a little while before old age took them away from us.

To this day, we still miss them and my kids still ask about them, even though we now have two new very energetic furry kids. So, all I ask of you is to love them, care for them, feed them, and give them a warm bed to sleep in, and you will have a BFF for life.

It’s 5:00 pm, again!

November 21, 2016November 23, 2016Leave a comment

Don’t you absolutely hate 5:00 pm? In our house, I call this the ‘crazy hour’. This is the exact time that my 7 and 5-year-old decide they will die an excruciating death if they don’t get something to eat immediately and to top it off they become these very energetic bouncing balls that cannot sit still for just 5 min so that I can whip up something delicious out of the cupboard.

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Well, if you are anything like me, cooking dinner with a couple of loud, bouncing children is basically impossible. You see, by 5:00pm my energy levels also reached their all-time low, as, like all mothers, I’ve been running around from one corner to the next trying to adhere to everybody’s needs in our household, including feeding the donkey, the horse, the bunnies, the birds and two dogs and cats, as they also look into my eyes for their daily bread.

The worst of all is that I’m not the best cook in the world. So cooking dinner, or basically any kind of nutritional meal is a lot of effort and planning. I literally need at least 2 days in advance to plan, and sometimes even cook dinner. And these little buggers have the habit to sneak up on you…if you open your eyes it’s dinner again, and I haven’t even opened the pantry to see what there is to use for dinner. 9 out of the 10 times the dish that I have in mind and the ingredients in the pantry isn’t the same, so a trip to our local market is also on the to-do list.

After a lot of effort, we will have a nutritional meal on the table and would enjoy it, then the chaos starts all over again…bath time….The act of bathing the kids isn’t so bad, but getting them out of the bath is a mission. My kids LOVE water, doesn’t matter in which form or shape…drinking a glass of water, running through the sprinklers, swimming in a pool or bathing. It literally takes me the same amount of time to get them out of the bath as it took me to bath them.

At last, it is time for me to sit back, relax and have a little bit of me-time. As my children, I also love a nice bath, and this is the only real thing that recharges my batteries. I love that warmth of the water that unfolds me, and I love the clean feeling after you’ve washed your hair. And I come to realise to survive the next day of making dinner, feeding all hungry mouths and just be the best mom that I can be, I need that little bit of me-time, even if it is just 30 min in a warm bath.

My Beach House

November 20, 2016November 23, 20161 Comment

As mentioned in one of my previous posts I would love to have my own little beach house one day in the future. I love staring at the ocean and just be…not really thinking of anything in particular, or sitting on a patio with a very long book to read.

Here are a few ideas I will keep once the beach house is bought.

As we believe in living a ‘green’ life and giving back to nature what we so generally receive every day it must definitely be a wooden house. I quite like the darker wood against a white sandy beach.