Ode to Daisy

Okay, I'm kind of frusterated because I was about two thirds through a post, and the baby just kicked my lap top and deleted the whole thing.

Not cool. But one of the hazards of the job I guess.

I was writing a post about our impending move and how I'm kind of avoiding the details of it. But really, it turned into a post about my deep gratitude to Daisy, the nanny who joined our family in February of this year. She is indispensible.

Having a family and a career is not easy. It's almost cliche to discuss how difficult it is. But what I do know is that I love running my business. It challenges me and satisfies me in ways that I never have been before. I also know that I need to have this in my life -- I would feel empty without it. And frankly I am proud of all I have accomplished.

But I could not run my house without our nanny. Truly, she is the wife I have always wished for.

She keeps the kids well fed, cleaned and happy during the day. I do not need to think about what to make for dinner. It's cooked when I get home. Laundry is not my issue. Daisy does a better job at laundry than I do. My floors are cleaner than they should be in a house with three boys. If the baby has the sniffles, I know that she will give him the extra attention he needs without me having to stay home.

She is soft when she needs to be, firm when she needs to be and instinctive always.

As we get ready to move, I am so grateful Daisy is here to assist. I COULD not have this all organized without her. As I try to balance my busy, BUSY life, I realize that she is not a luxury. She is an absolute necessity.

The Ever-Challenging World of Leadership

Today was a usual Monday: or at least a usual Monday since I started implementing meeting rhythms. A full day of meetings with my direct reports. While I see the benefit of having these meetings, I don't think I have the KPIs/metrics nailed well enough yet that the meetings are as meaningful as they could and should be.

That is the biggest problem I'm having with The Rockefeller Habits: Trying to get the right metrics in place so that our big goals align all the way down to our individual goals. And furthermore, I'm having a challenging time keeping track of who is supposed to be doing what so that I can follow through with each person at the end of each week.

It's definitely a journey -- not a destination -- and a bumpy one at that, but I do see the positive results already. This system gives me a framework of accountability so that the question of whether someone is acheiving their goals or not becomes very objective and something that, they can see without me having to point it out.

Last year I had 2 project managers quit, and I think there were a number of reasons why they left. I blame myself (hey, I am a woman) for most of them.

First, I feel that by not having regular meetings with my project managers I lost touch with what was going on with them, and therefore, when things were bothering them, they just built up and built up until little things turned into big issues.

Second, I did not have any metrics in place for them to strive to acheive, and as such it was very easy for them to just mosey along with out any incentive to try and achieve their goals or the company goals.

Third, I think that by trading clients back and forth between them when their was an issue or complaint, rather than bringing them into the problem-solving process, I pitted them against me because they felt they couldn't trust me.

This year, with my new pms, I meet with them weekly, we have sales targets set up that they need to meet or else they need to justify why they didn'tmeet them. Also, we have open lines of communication, which definitely makes for a better environment.

But truly? I think I'm a pushover. And I think that I have a hard time putting my foot down when someone is not doing what is required of them.

The result is that I get taken advantage of by my employees at times.

What is the answer to that? I don't know.

The Rockefeller-fication Process

So Ken & I had a nice time last night. We went out for scallops and mussels here, and then went to a play afterward. I think I was still aggravated by my day spent with the kids though, and so the whole night I kind of felt, well, tense.

We talked a bit about how overwhelming life seems to be and I think we've come to some conclusions.

First, some back story: I am currently doing a technique/business methodology at the office called 'The Rockefeller Habits' and essentially it's about growth through structured meeting rhythms, specifically a daily meeting,and focused goal setting.

The goal with these meetings is that your staff gets on board with your overall growth plans and through staying focused on their top five priorities, which align with your growth plans, they actually help you achieve the company's overall goals.

I am truly in the infancy stages of implementing this at work but am already experiencing huge attitude shifts from the staff, tremendous buy in from my management, tons of ideas on how to improve our services, and best of all IMPLEMENTATION/EXECUTION of these ideas. If you've ever managed people, you know that the execution is the hardest part.

Seeing such huge successes at work from such minimal implementation of this process has really been inspiring. Perhaps trying to apply these techniques to our homelife could be fruitful. This would involve picking a huge, far away goal (A Big Hairy Audacious Goal), then reverse engineering it down to a 1-year goal, and then 4 quarterly goals. Further, we would have to make a point of meeting daily, weekly and monthly to make sure we are achieving our goals and staying focused.

To me, it sounds a little funny to manage your family the same way you manage your business, but it really does make a lot of sense. Currently, Ken & I seem to just go with the flow most times, and, while we are doing okay for ourselves, there is really no goals or dreams we are whole-heartedly trying to achieve. Implementing this type of system in our lives will, I hope, give us the structure we need to achieve our financial goals, our child-rearing goals, our marital goals, etc.

And, as I sit here in the middle of a day where our schedule includes two separate birthday parties, grocery shopping, lawn mowing, work preparation, all while simultaneously looking after 3 small boys, I have to believe that there is a better way.

There is freedom in routine!

So, all two of my readers, I ask you: How do you manage your hectic lives?

Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my birthday. And I apologize if this comes off sounding like a little pity party, but, you know, sometimes birthdays don't turn out like you plan them and anyway, it's my blog, and I can write what I want.

So, Ken had to work overtime today starting at 7:00 am, leaving me home alone with all 3 boys from 5:45 AM on. I know I shouldn't be scared of that, but honestly, I feel so pushed to the limit sometimes when I am home with the children.

If Ken ever feels like he is unnecessary, he just has to spy on me while I'm trying to get the three boys dressed in the morning. Have you ever tried to give a cat a bath? Now multiply that by three. And that's just what it's like dressing my 2-year old. Ken is VERY necessary. VERY. And did I mention that he is totally necessary? Okay, just checking.

Anyway, so I woke up shortly after Ken left, to the sound of Jason, my 2-year old, whining and trying to pull me out of bed. It was 6:00 AM.

'Gogurt! GOGURT, mommy!'

'Okay, okay, okay. I am turning on the Wiggles and getting you yogurt my little early bird.'

Then little Tyler, my 7-month old began crying and sputtering and, worst of all, coughing and sneezing. Apparently the cold Jason has been fighting has inevitably been passed on to the baby. Great.

So I went to make a bottle, with the hope that maybe I could doze a little bit while simultaneously listening to the Wiggles and feeding the baby.

You'll be shocked to know that the dozing part didn't happen. The boys would not have that.

Instead I refereed some fighting between Kevin, my 5-year old, and Jason, listened to some baby coughing and crying and 2-year old whining, and cleaned up some spilled yogurt off the floor. This was about the point that I realized it really was time to get up, and feed the boys some breakfast.

Freezer waffles were my choice because I believe in the Keep It Simple Stupid method of children's cookery. I did have to promise to cook eggs for Kevin tomorrow, but seriously, it's my birthday -- I do not want to be a short order cook today!

Then it was time to change Jason out of his sticky jammies and change his and Tyler's diapers, get them dressed, and brush their teeth. While Tyler wailed in his crib, Kevin & I brushed our teeth and got dressed.

By this time it was 9:00 am I was already counting down to afternoon nap time. I knew that at this rate I would not make it if stayed home all day with the kids, so I decided to go to the mall.

Going out with all 3 kids requires a lot of prep, so I began the process of loading the baby bag with 3 portions of pre-measured formula, a thermos of warm water, and one made up bottle, 2 sizes of diapers, wipes, a change of clothes for the baby, a sling, a sippy cup for Jason, soothers and a burp cloth and just as I was finally getting all of this organized, my mom called to sing 'Happy Birthday' to me.

She sensed my aggravation I think, because she was kind enough to take pity on me and meet me at the mall and buy us lunch at the food fair.

That is how I ended up at the food fair with my 3 little boys and my mom eating mall chinese food and Safeway mini-cupcakes on my birthday.

And while this wasn't the 34th birthday I dreamed about:



It could be worse.