Bitch you doing a good job.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Hey y’all HEY!

What a week. I had the whole week planned out and that shit did NOT go accordingly. Yes business was AH-mazing and we even took an impromptu trip to the mountains. But BAYBEEEE! WHEW!

Fasten your seatbelt, you are about to hear the side of business ownership that most people will not tell you. Yea, you absolutely can be successful in your business, make a lot of money, look cute, have a happy family and STILL be losing your fucking mind.

This is why I am so transparent with my journey as a wife, mother, and successful business owner. People will have you think that once you have it all together life becomes effortless. That. Shit. Is. A. LIE! BRUH! I plan everything, not even in an obsessive way but very strategically. Meals, vacations, cleaning, school, work, you name it. I know it sounds like A lot to some people but as a mother of 10, wait, a PREGNANT mom of 10 trust me when I tell you, it is necessary. So, I understand that everyone does not function the same so I do allow myself to veer from the schedules to give a little spontaneity. HOWEVER, despite the fact that there was nothing planned for the week the trip to the mountains stressed me all the way out!

First I couldn’t find an air bnb that was close enough to stay so we booked two rooms at a hotel. Let me just say that hotels are so overpriced in comparison to air bnb. 🙄  Like most families, instead of packing, I just went shopping for everyone. No? Just me. 😐. So one of the days was dedicated to shopping for 10 children 😭. LOADS of money but okay, not a surprise. Then, I forgot to pack road food because 1. McRush has to be eating on the road because imma go to sleep as soon as the engine starts running 😂. So the food keeps him occupied. 🤷🏾  2. The children like snacks. Like, ALOT! This means more money spent. 😑  So okay, no biggie, we got it, right? The plan was to shop at a grocery store and cook while on our trip. So we get there and I’m like FUUUUUUCK DAT! I’m not cooking. I’m on vacation too. So we’re eating out. Yup, you guessed it. More money. 🤑 The rooms had two FULL sized beds. Who thee fuck shares a full sized bed? It was official. I was stressed. THIS is why I don’t do spontaneous. But okay. We get to the mountains pit stop and go to the restrooms. Leave and as soon as we get to our location, “mom, I have to pee” BRUH! Over all, the experience was fun and new. It was great for memories but baybee! Imma have to clone myself before I do that again because, I’M NOT!

So boom, we get back, still nothing on my schedule so imma chill out. Right? Wrong! I needed a nap, you know pregnancy kicking my ass. Nah, the RushBunch act like Daddy is golden and cannot be disturbed. Every five seconds somebody is calling my name, diaper change, tattling, whining. So I finally call dad like dude. Get your children! I finally get a moment of peace and 3 minutes in, a client calls with an emergency. Now I’m up until 1 am handling some last minute work. Where errybody at? Sleep.

I was livid. I wanted to cry. Okay, I did. I tried to be spontaneous and surprise the ingrates but no it was still mommy can I all the way there, through the trip, back, and at home. (I cried because it took me a lot to step out of my comfort zone of schedule a and when I did, I was miserable as fuck.)

The bottom line is, regardless of how much you plan, anticipate, or organize, life can get stressful. That is why I take solo vacations, pamper myself, and make sure I pour into me on a regular basis. Because sometimes in life, as a mom, you legit have to say #FDK and take the time to make YOU smile. Because baby, you deserve it! 🥂

To beat their butts or not…..

Posted on by JustAskMaia

I’m not here for a debate so I will just jump right into it.

As a mother to 9, soon to be 10, children, I assure you that this is the most asked questioned we get. It is usually dressed up nicely by those who try to be politically correct or just plain nosey. “How do you get them to behave?’ or “What do you use?”

The answer in my head is, none of your dang business, but I play nice and smile and say “Love.”

Believe it or not children do respond well to it. Now, please do not be misinformed, they CAN get it but it doesn’t resort to that.

I have my days when I want to pull my hair out or simply state to my husband, ..”and we have NINE”. I get headaches and I fuss. Most times I put myself in time out which is usually the attempt to hide in my closet from the littles who have not yet learned my moods and patience level.

Every time, and I do mean every time, we are out in public we are approached with statements like, “I can’t even get my two children to behave, I cannot imagine having nine”. The truth is, if you cannot get your two children to behave then you probably should have stopped at one. I know, that was harsh but you are the parent.

As for me I am the most impatient person I know and I do not accept anything less than your best and that goes for my children as well. If they are wrong, I tell them they are wrong. If they are not doing their best, I tell them that too. If they are acting like a jerk, I let them know that as well. I am really bad at sugar coating things and that goes for my children as well. I pretty much treat my children like I treat my clients. I am not here to feed you fairytales about how wonderful you are and how great the world is. I am here to tell you the truth and prepare you for an even harsher truth called life.

So I suppose by now you are like, answer the question already! So, No. No I do not beat my children into submission otherwise my life would be much simpler. My children are very well behaved in public but let me tell you something, they are absolutely barbaric at home! I mean really, flipping through the house, jumping down the stairs, running around like loose weirdos, but in public, not a peep.

There really is no secret to it at all. Do I believe children should get their butt beat? Yup. I have seen some children that I just want to beat on site, old school with an extention cord but they are not mine so I digress and mind my business like I would like people to do about mine.

Again, I definitely have my days, especially trying to work on my businesses and homeschool whilst continuing to be a good wife and mother. It is tiring and oftentimes stressful. I recently spoke with someone about this issue I have about feeling like I was going to go crazy and she suggested I, get this, get organized!!! What, the nerve! But I took her advice and spent the last week in June creating a slew of schedules that I implemented starting July 1st. And although it is only the second of July, my life has never been so smooth sailing, even before the RushBunch. We stick to those schedules like my life depends on it (because I think it does). This is the second night where nine o’clock hit and all of my children are asleep. This feels like heaven! If I keep this up, this may not be the last Rush out of me yet [LIES].

I am so grateful for her and her wise words to me. Now I am like a child in a candy store; excited to get to bed before one a.m.

My transparency because I am so tired of holding it in.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

As most of you know, in late 2011 my husband lost his job. It was just weeks after I lost mine. With no income and unemployment barely paying bills, we became homeless.

We were homeless for about six months. We lived in our car and McRush picked up odd and end jobs to pay for a night or so in a hotel. We caught a break in a neighborhood that we would rather not be in but it was better than out Durango. We moved in the apartment May 31. On June 16, we received a phone call from my sister in law whom I had never met. She said my brother got locked up and she couldn’t care for their baby and waned to know if I could come get her TODAY. I said yes, she said she would call me back in a few but never did. The next day we were walking into church, yes church, we used to do that, and she called again, I told her we would be right there after service assuming she was not serious again. After church I called her and she still wanted us to come. We went home, changed clothes, and headed to Florida.

We got my niece with a few outfits and a walker. Before we jumped back on 95 to head home we stopped at the store to get diapers, bottles, and milk for her.  she was just three months older than our youngest. We tried desperately to get something in writing stating we could care for her but they never obliged and they wouldn’t come to get her either so we took them to court. They were on drugs and in the streets and frankly a child was just not in their plans. She is 5 now.

This put a slight strain on the relationship I had with my mother because she felt like she should get my niece because she was her grandmother. I felt like it was my duty to grant my brother his wish to keep his child. This ‘beef’ eventually died off, at least for me it did.

Jump to 2015.

For whatever reason, my brother and his wife decided, despite the fact that they have absolutely NO connection with my niece (whom I call my daughter), they were going to have another child. This time they had him in South Carolina. Immediately upon giving birth, child protective services was called in and they lost custody. The child was given to my husband and I upon discharge. Again, my mother felt she should have this child because she is the grandmother and at this point, I was pregnant myself and she thought I had too many children as it is.

Now backing up just a little, we let my niece stay with my mom for awhile (1 year) and when we wanted her to come home she was livid. so keep in mind that added fuel to this new issue which was happening almost simultaneously.

So we now have custody of my nephew. My mom said some very harsh things to me and about me. Most of them were not true and were spewed out of anger. I maintained my respect for her and let her say what she wanted because I am a coward. I have always been a coward. I have let people use and abuse me mentally, physically, and most of all emotionally. I have always been the punching bag and I  never strike back. It has taken me all my life to realize I do not deserve this and that the only way to move forward with peace happiness and harmony is to cut ties. It hurts like hell but for once in my life I have to be truly happy.

In my line of work, I have to motivate people on a constant and consistent basis. I tweet empowerment often, but what people do not know is those tweets are really for me. They keep my going and they keep me in good spirits.

It is time for me to give back to me.

My mother is not the only one. Just know this. I am getting to old to continue to endure pain pointlessly. I implore you to do the same.

-Rush