DivaMomsNYC

Archive for the ‘Humor’ Category

Older Entries

New Blog

Posted by: on: December 3, 2010

Hello everyone I know it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted. I hope everyone is well and I promise to update you all soon. I am asking that you check out my new blog on wordpress called TheDivaThatDoes.

Peace,
DivamomNYC

Going Back to How It All Began

Posted by: on: August 6, 2010

To those of you who have followed my blog I would like to say Thank You! I have been working for the last 2 months on figuring out a new venture for myself and I have a launched a Gourmet Gift Business. About 7 years ago I had a very successful gift Basket Business but it outgrew my 1 bedroom apartment and I didn’t have the money nor the resources to expand so I called it quits and took a 9-5, A few weeks ago I brought in some chocolate covered pretzels as a treat for my coworkers and it has been a real success. So it made me think about what I had left behind years ago and the joy I used to get from creating something, and coming up with out of the box gifts for people. So I have decided to return to that. I have a website in the works http://treatsbythediva.com, and I have been taking orders via word of mouth, phone or email TreatsByTheDiva@gmail.com I am so excited to be back in the busy of making something that makes others happy including myself! I thank you all for the support, I will continue to write on this blog and keep you up to date! You can check out the Facebook Page Treats By The Diva for news and contests!

Thanks Again,

Ms. T. Crawford

Treats By The Diva

Tags: , , , ,

Summer Venture

Posted by: on: July 4, 2010

I know it has been a very long time since my last post and let me apologize! I was dealing with a serious dose of a life for the last few weeks. Things have calmed down a little bit and I’m off from work for a while so I have some time to focus. I have been working for a really long time on coming up with a plan to transform myself back into the Entrepreneurial risk taking woman I used to be. For the summer I have 2 projects I will be working on, the first is establishing myself as a Fashion Stylist. I already have a couple of clients that I am working with. The second is http://DivaStyleNYC.weebly.com which is my online clothing store. So far it has been doing pretty well and I have built up a small following, the thing about working for yourself is Marketing and Self Promotion which can be a job in itself. I am curious to see what comes from both endeavors, I have always loved Fashion but thought since I couldn’t draw my hopes of being a designer were stupid. I really enjoy picking out clothing and accessories and dressing other people. I will keep you posted on my developments and I hope to see you as a customer! Feel free to check out the goods and sign up for the mailing list http://divastylenyc.weebly.com 

Happy 4th of July!

Sad Inspiration. . . . .

Posted by: on: May 26, 2010

So I have been agonizing over what to write for the last few weeks because I have felt uninspired. There have been so many things going in my life whether its been work related, or personal that have literally left me mentally drained. To be honest it has left me spent, to the point where I haven’t been able to think about anything else. 

Last Friday I was off from work because I needed to take care of something with my son. (Something I will get into in a later post). After our appointment we returned home to just relax and my son tells me that he read on Facebook on of his classmates died. I am dumbfounded because I had just seen the child the day before. So I call the school, and the information is confirmed. I am in shock, then I was told to turn on the news. Now I’m confused. What happened? I ask. I’m told again turn on the news. I put on the TV and there is the face I see everyday, speak to, hear her voice in the hallways, or her laugh. My next emotion was pain. She was murdered.. stabbed to be exact by her mother’s boyfriend over 20 times. I can’t even put into words what I feel. I still can’t. What makes this situation unique is because I happen to work in my son’s school so not only do I have a special relationship with him, I have relationships with a lot of his friends and other kids.

How do you explain something like this to a child? As an adult I don’t even understand it. There are so many questions that are now left unanswered, so many things that could have been. Emonee was a bright girl, full of life and full of spunk. She was mature in a lot of ways, in some ways more than girls older than her.  I am glad I never shut her out. I am happy that my door was always open for her and anyone else that wants to walk in. I will miss her laugh, I will miss the questions she would love to ask me about love and boys, I will miss seeing her argue with her friends and making up 5 minutes later. 

I treasure these things with a heavy heart, but I am thankful.I wish I could write more but I physically can’t put 2 sentences together at the moment. I promise to keep you informed about my efforts to continue helping children and keeping Emonee’s spirit alive. If you have not read the tragic details of this story  you can read the story here http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/nyregion/22stab.html

Love Your Children and Others

DivaMomNYC

Weekend Review

Posted by: on: April 26, 2010

This weekend has been quite interesting to say the least. I made a new friend but I have also been looking for a new place to live. If you have ever had to look for an apartment in New York I’m sure you understand where I am coming from. I am literally at my wits end. Why is it so expensive?I am not sure where I will end up given what I can afford but I’m still looking. Wish me luck!

DivaMomNYC

Some New Yorkers Like Me are Struggling to Pay Rent while others are. .. . .

Posted by: on: April 19, 2010

bitching about Door Man strikes in their building http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/nyregion/19strike.html The title of the article says “New Yorkers Brace for Doorman Strike”. I am a New Yorker and to be frank I am not bracing for shit. This part of the New York Lifestyle affects me in no way whatsoever. I have lived in New York my entire life and like most I think it’s a great city, I think it’s a great place to vacation. To live here is another story. You have average rents for studio apartments starting at $1,000 a month in a semi decent neighborhood,crime is ridiculous, jobs are scarce and there are just too many people here. As a single mom its hard enough trying to pay rent my last apartment in the ass of the Bronx was $1,200 a month not including utilities, food etc. I now live in Brooklyn in a not so normal living situation which may be changing in the next few weeks. I work for the Dept of Education and my salary is about $37,000 a year. After deductions I take home about $1,500 a month. That is barely enough to support myself as a single person yet to also have a teenager. But I do it. Thats the one thing NY has taught me and that is how to survive and always have a backup plan. I am on the fence now about leaving the state because I can’t afford to live here. Depending on some information that should come in the next few weeks I will have to decide where to move to next in NY or leave the state completely. Here was my response to the NY article “As a Native New Yorker who works in Education and makes only $37,000 a year and sending a kid to Private School. I have been more than creative in trying to find a decent place to live in NY. $40,000 is nothing in NYC to live on. The opening paragraph states how much these people are needed. If you have the money to pay for convenience than Pay IT! Some of us don’t have the luxury, means or to be frank the desire. Only in NY could you make $40,000 a year and be poor!. I long for the days when I see my son through HS/College and I can take myself around the world and open up doors for those less fortunate!” I mean every word of this statement I would love nothing more to drop everything fit what I could in a backpack and travel the world helping children, and people who will never know such privileges of having a doorman, a place to sleep that is their own, or even a book or pair of shoes. So call me bitter, jealous, envious I could care less what I am is a human being who has spent my life sacrificing for others because that’s what makes me feel good and instilling those same values in my son. With all of the natural disasters going on in this world, and people having no respect for life, nature, the planet we need to pick our battles and choose wisely. So these doormen deserve a living wage and if that means they have to strike to get it I hope they do it! In New York it’s an everyday occurence of people struggling for basic necessities. The fact that people are actually shrieking at the thought of opening their own doors, maybe having to go to the post office to pick up their packages, or greeting their own children after school doesn’t stir up one bit of empathy from me. I pick up my own packages, I take my kid to school, I raise my own child and have done it for the last 15 years, I do my laundry, I grocery shop, I bathe myself, I open my own doors, I swipe my own Metrocard, I feed myself, I cook for myself, I dress myself, I think you get the point. I think the part that bothers me the most is people who have never been to NY will get the impression this is all our story and it’s not. NY is a hard place to live, love and earn a living. Don’t believe the hype!

DivaMomNYC

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Maybe we hate on our kids Video Games because they were better than ours?

Posted by: on: April 13, 2010

I have a 14-year-old son and there are 3 things in his life he can not live without. Food, Video Games, Video Games and oh yea did I mention Video Games? Growing up I was addicted to my Atari2600 I played it for hours on end. Whether it was trying to get to the end of Pac Man, or racing through the crappy graphics of Pole Position I loved my Video Games. I am an only child so other than books, TV and school Video Games were my entertainment and escape. Now fast forward 20 years video games have exploded! The graphics are a thousand times better, the scenarios are realistic, you can even play with people and not be in the same room, or the same country for that matter. Way cooler than rescuing the princess from Bowser any day. There have been a lot of studies conducted on the effects that these games have on children. A lot of the best games are violent, and have strong language thus the warning labels. I have heard of cases of kids playing games for days straight without any sleep. This is a damaging occurence, kids need to sleep. I have asked my son and several of his friends why they play video games and the answers I got were quite interesting. Most said the games offered a release for them now as an adult let’s think of some of the things we do for a release from stress, work, etc I don’t know about you but Sex is the first thing that comes to mind along with drinking! I didn’t say every adult does these things I just said the first things that came to my mind. Next they said the games offered them entertainment well that’s a given. They like the fact that in these games they can do things that they can’t yet do in real life like drive, go to clubs etc. I asked about the violence and does it have an impact on how violent they are? They said no. The fact that they play these games and a lot of the games are violent it actually has the opposite affect on them in real life. They also said that the games give them confidence. I asked in what way? With some games you are allowed to get achievements which allows you to earn gamer points the more points you have in a particular game the better you must be so you get bragging rights and other gamers envy you. So in real life you could be Nerdy James Smith but in Borderlands you could be Slayer718 (gamer tag) basically an alter ego. I don’t think all games are bad a huge part of why me and my son can discuss certain genres of music is because of a playing RockBand and Guitar Hero together. After all how is the time they spend on games any different from the amount of time we spend on Twitter, Facebook or Blogging? I will agree that as with anything else they should be monitored and played in moderation. Also the content of the game should be at the discretion of the parents. So next time you get at your kids for being on the games think about what you are doing at that moment? Were you yelling from the computer or while you were tweeting on your blackberry? Think about what video games you were playing at their age. Lastly for a second think “What if what they do in video games were actually what they were doing in real life”? Maybe once in a while play with your kids and see if you share the same thoughts and feelings when you play these games regardless of the result at minimum you will open a new door and coversation.

Peace,

DivaMomNYC

Tags: , , , ,

Inspirational Diva- Maryanne Reid

Posted by: on: April 8, 2010

What is your name and where are you from?
Maryann Reid from Brooklyn, NY. My parents are from Jamaica.

Do you have any siblings?
Yes, 2, older bro, younger sis

What type of child were you?
Busy body, active, curious, sometimes withdrawn, but always bubbling with new ideas and questions.

What is your most memorable job?

CNN. I was a production assistant years ago. Never had a job that broke me down and lifted me up on a daily basis. They told you in the interview that you would cry. I was like whatever, until I found myself in the bathroom one afternoon! It was active, lively, and a great way to meet people. I learned I can do anything after that!

What do you do that makes you Phenomenal?
Marry Your Baby Daddy Day is an event I created to strengthen 2 parent homes. Because of it, I’ve been featured on 20/20, The CBS Early Show, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Essence, the New Yorker, The NY Daily News and more. It is an all expenses paid wedding to spread the love! You can go to http://www.marryyourbabydaddy.com for more.

Why do you do it?

I do it because I love the see the smiles on the kids faces when they say “my mommy and daddy is getting married!” They already know what it means. It brings excitement to their lives. It demonstrates stability and security for the child and family. And finally, everybody has the same last name! To date, we’ve married 40 moms and dads. I hope that this will show people that black families are strong, believe in marriage, and it will result in a lower out of wedlock rate. Now, the out of wedlock rate is almost 70%.

What is your favorite food?
Mexican and Indian. I love all foods. As long as it is crispy and warm. My favorite dessert is apple pie.

How long have you been a writer?
Since I was born. Didn’t find out until about 10 years ago when I published my first book for St. Martin’s Press. I have written 5 novels for St. Martins.

Why do you like to write?

It brings me clarity and purpose. Helps me make people feel good, too.

If you weren’t successful as a writer what would you be doing?

I’d be a TV news anchor. Hello, CNN!

Where can we learn more about you?
Please go to my daily blog at http://www.alphanista.com or visit my author website at http://www.maryannreidinc.com, http://www.marryyourbabydaddy.com/

What is next for Maryann Reid?
I am working on another book, franchising Marry Your Baby Daddy Day, leveraging my online business, and building the Alphanista brand for spirited, bright, risk taking, bold empowered women. Can you handle that?

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Merchandising Diva Style

Posted by: on: March 29, 2010

Being a diva can be hard work we just make it look easy. One rule a Diva always follows is to be effortlessly stylish. So here are some items for the Divas and Diva Lovers in your lives. More items are coming soon. We have items for the men who love us!

http://divamomsnyc.spreadshirt.com/

Happy Shopping,

DivaMomNYC

Tags: , , , ,

10 Tips to make Traveling With the Kids a Little Easier!

Posted by: on: March 28, 2010

It’s always a great and exciting time to travel. Going to a new place,seeing family maybe hitting the beach for some sun. There are always things to do to get ready for a trip and when you are taking the kids that list gets even longer. As I woke my son up this morning for our trip I decided to write this list so you have him to thank!

1- Let the kids pack their own bag. Tell them how long they are staying and the weather where you are going and let them handle it. You can double-check if necessary.  If the older ones have cell phones, iPods,games etc that they want to take make it their responsibility to charge them an bring whatever accessories they may need. This will teach them responsibility and will make any trip that you are going to take a little easier. Also have them include a sandwich or snack they can take along because prices in travel hubs can get pricey especially if you have a large family.

2- Designate a bag that will contain tickets, passports,keys,emergency cash, contact numbers,medicine etc. Pack this bag ahead of time and put it inside your purse. If you have a husband that can handle the pressure of screaming kids, dirty diapers,and going through TSA without freaking out then make this his responsibility. If not make room in your purse!

3-Take showers/baths the night before and lay out travel clothes.  This saves time in the morning and if your teen is like mine and hates to wake up early have them get dressed before bed.

4-Everyone is responsible for carrying their own bag. If they can walk and talk they can carry. There are many choices for toddler luggage and bags even if it’s not their full suitcase have them carry something. Little ones love feeling empowered give them responsibility no matter how small and for older ones well they just need to know that mom can’t do everything. I can’t tell you how many times I am in an airport and mom has the tickets, the luggage, the screaming baby, and she is still trying to make sure everything gets done! Delegate ladies! Delegate!!

5- Reward the helpful child! If you have more than 1 child chances are you have one that likes to plan or organize make this your helper! And if they do a  good job reward them! This will make the other kids step up and want to take action,let them know they can help out on the next trip.

6-If you are traveling with babies make sure you have diapers, food, formula, blanket, bibs , pacifier,change of clothes, changing pad etc. Make sure to put this bag with #3 the last thing you want is to remember you packed your kids bottles and diapers and its been checked with the luggage. I’ve seen it happen and it ain’t pretty.

7- If you are taking a bus,car,train trip make it a teachable moment, you can play I Spy, talk about geography or famous places. Start a conversation.

8- If you are stressed the kids will be stressed. Kids pick up on our energy try to make sure you get a good night’s  rest, and eat before a long trip. If mama ain’t happy nobody’s happy.

9-When traveling with babies or toddlers be mindful of people around you. If your kid starts screaming or having a tantrum if you can’t calm them down and you have the ability to move around change their setting and try to calm them down. Also if you need to discipline an older child keep in mind you are in a public and captive space. I say this all the time there are people who do not like children and guess what they travel! If you get the evil eye,or even a comment just suck it up. People don’t want to hear that she/he is cranky or missed their nap. Also do not turn the train/bus into your personal playground,bedroom or nursery. I’m on Amtrak right now and there is a woman walking her screaming baby up and down the aisle and looks annoyed when people pass her. There is another who has a toddler that she is allowing to push her toy doll stroller around. The Attendant just told her she has to fold it up and she looks confused as to why. If you want to bring a travel size blanket or pillow that’s fine but don’t turn these spaces into your bedroom away from home.

10- This is the most important! Have fun! Enjoy your family and take lots of pictures!

Enjoy,

DivaMomNYC

Tags: , , , ,

Older Entries

Follow the DIva

Error: Twitter did not respond. Please wait a few minutes and refresh this page.

Categories

Blog at WordPress.com.

Theme: Albeo by Design Disease.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.