Outside of daily CloudThoughts, and weekly Monday Motivation, I don’t post much else however this calls for a SPECIAL POST:

deydreaming.com was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award!

It was a total honor, and it (also) brightened my being. Lol. That was for you Just-Bacon 😉 —thank you dearly for the nomination, your impact on my being goes beyond words🙏

Being nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award means that I must answer the 11 questions posed by Just-Bacon, then list 11 questions of my own, and nominate 11 other bloggers to pay it forward. 

The Rules for Sunshine Blogger

• Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link back to him/her.

• Answer the 11 questions provided by the blogger who nominated you.

• Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.

• Notify the nominees by commenting on one of their blog posts.

• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your Post

Just-Bacons 11 Questions for deydreaming

1. Who is your favorite comedian? Awe man, tough question, there’s a lot of good comedians out there, let’s see…Ellen Degeneres, Louis CK, John Atkinson…

2. Are you a righty or a lefty? Is there such things as a bothy…? I try not to give one hand too much attention over the other—they both mean a lot to me.

3. Can you pat your head and rub your belly? No, not really. I tried this earlier and have been working on it since grade-school—it’s a skill that confuses me.

4. The ground starts to shake: what’s your first thought? Oh shit, let the adventure begin!!

5. If you have a pet, what are some of the weirdest things you’ve ever said to it? If you don’t have a pet, what are some of the weirdest things you’ve said to yourself? Ha, thank goodness that I have a pet for this question! I talk to OMtheKitty all the time and weird is just our standard language, ie: “good kitty going potty in the toilet” or “mama go potty on the toilet then it’s kitty’s turn”

6. What’s your favorite part of your morning routine? (Other than hitting snooze and going right back to sleep.) Other than dreaming the most vivid and lucid dreams?! Steaming some tea and saying my gratitudes—while reading my own website: deydreaming.com and remembering to seize the day as much as I possibly can.

7. Have you ever started your own business? (And do you have any tips for new startups?) Yes; follow your own roadmap, enjoy your own grass (be grateful for how green and luscious it is or how yellow and crusty…either way), always tend to your own garden, and do what you love to do—know thyself, stay true to thyself. Remember it’s a mountain, enjoy the climb and enjoy the view otherwise what’s the point in conquering it…savor the little bites (enjoy the BACON!!). 🥓🤤

8. If you had a baby koala, what would you name it? I read Kala baby, so Kala…? Or Smuffie. Or, Surya Namaskar sounds good too.

9. If you had to choose, chicken or beef? Beef; less killing, more grilling. Plus they kill all baby male chicks—so, chicken schmiken!

10. Which would you be most comfortable doing in front of an audience on a stage: singing “I’m Gonna Be” by the Proclaimers or dancing the Cotton-Eye Joe to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”? Sorry, no idea what “cotton-eye joe” is and not search engining it either—I already know I wouldn’t care which I did as long as I, and everyone else, was having fun.

11. If you had to choose: Coke or Pepsi? No choice, just Coke. Or Sierra Mist. Or better yet, water!

My Nominees for the Sunshine Blogger Award:

1. 7daysPresent
2. Wrong Hands
3. Deydreaming
4. the #1 itinerary
5. Angela Prendergast
6. Deborah Brasket
7. 8th Wonder Entertainment
8. Breath Math
9. Living what you love
10. Unbreakable Queen and last but not least…
11. Cristian Mihai

My Questions for My Nominees—if they choose to participate (no pressure!).

1. What were you looking at the moment that you discovered this Sunshine Blogger Award nomination?
2. Chipotle or Burger King?
3. Have you ever meditated?
4. Do you have a glass ceiling?
5. If you could fix one thing about the world what would it be?
6. If you could fix one thing about yourself, how would you do it?
7. Do you practice daily gratitude?
8. Ice cream or popcorn?
9. Are your dreams vivid, what’s the last dream you remember?
10. What is something you should thank yourself for?
11. Who is your number one best friend?

Thank you for reading (or participating), this has been a lot of fun! I hope you enjoyed this SPECIAL POST, for the Sunshine Blogger Award —all the best for the weekend!

I love watching TED-talks. This one just became my newest fav.

It was filmed over three years ago, in June 2013, yet I only just discovered it and it inspired me to write this.

Plus, lately, a big topic of conversation among my friends, family and clients has been women in power. Perhaps the recent presidential election brought light upon the issue and opened up a way for dialogue to happen, or it’s just something that I’ve been struggling with and keep coming back to so I’m talking about it.

I’ve come to find out that there is still lots of ambiguity around being a high achieving boss babe, and even more so around being a successful lady while having a successful family. 

The world is still very much a “man’s” world…

Though women are now expected to also be able to provide bread for the household, the expectations around the kitchen, laundry, cleaning and caregiving really haven’t changed.

The housework and the caregiving is still mainly a woman’s job…

Is it any different in your life?

Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to have wonderful role models showing me just how beneficial it is for children to have both parents participate equally in the role of caregivers.

No, it wasn’t my parents. They aren’t the role models. My mother was a stay-at-home wife and my father a very traditional breadwinner. The awesome people I’m referring to are the wonderful parents of two lovely children that I used to babysit.

Years later though I no longer babysit they are still dear friends, and I get to see them every few months. I get to hangout with them and I’m able to see just how well-adjusted these two children have grown up to be.

Their parents were both involved in caring for them throughout their early childhood years. They both put in equal time and effort. I got to witness just how beneficial that is for children.

It all has to do with equal parenting.

Now, that’s what I want for my family. And, that’s what the norm should be for everybody. The roles of caregiver, household manager, all the responsibilities should be equally shared —but are they…?

Looking back I can’t think of many more examples of equal dual parenting —other then that one wonderful family that I used to babysit for… okay, that’s looking back: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches, parents of friends, other babysitting clients. Nope, nothing.

What about now? Many of my friends have started families… well, the females work and take care of the home and kids. The guys just work. Maybe the guys also hangout with their kids but it’s actually more like “play-time”, and when the kids are sick it’s most certainly always the mom’s job to take care of them.

Alright, so perhaps my friends just didn’t pick the right partner —but we’re Millennials!  It should be common practice for us to practice teamwork  —aren’t we the generation that’s open-minded, progressive, and unbound by the rules of the past…

The fact is that many of us are still bound by the rules of the past. Though we are open-minded and seemingly progressive we tend to look to our parents and grandparents to show us how to run our relationship with our partner, our family dynamics, and our household.

Should we be doing that?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. And because things are so ambiguous now we really must make an effort not rely on automatic responses for things, we must analyze everything, and question why we do anything. And, we must continue this dialogue.

Thoughts?