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! 🥂

Dear covid…..

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Hey y’all. I hope everyone is safe out here in these covid streets.

A lot has happened since I last blogged. Business shifts, financial shifts, and more importantly personal shifts.

After YEARS of working my business o am just now realizing that I need to take care of me too. I mean I bathe and stuff but its deeper than that right. I have decided to hire a cleaning crew to come to the house. And right now I am looking for a Day nanny.

I know people have been saying self care for years and things like “you can’t pour from an empty cup”. My cup has been empty so long that I have just been used to the drain. Being a mom is running a business and in many aspects so is marriage. Then to actually be running a business, being a mentor, and volunteering can definitely take its toll.

I incorporated baths into my regime. Yes, baths. I shower everyday, sometimes twice a day. But nothing relaxes you like locking your bathroom door and sitting in a hot tub… maybe even bubbles. I deserve bubbles right. 😉

But more importantly I am incorporating delegating because just because we can do it all doesn’t mean we should. There are things we need to do,, especially as moms, and Madam Maxine Waters said, reclaim our time.

My babies are healthy and my husband is happy so I think I do a pretty good job. But at the end of the day I am absolutely burned out.

I hired a coach to get my business life together because like I say all the time, if your coach doesn’t have a coach then they are a hypocrite. How can I, as a coach, tell you that you need a business coach but not have one myself. I have had several coaches over the years and its time I added me to the list of things to support. (My coach would agree) I have decided to take an hiatus from the fave of the business to work the back end and hire those who can help.

Covid has caused many of us to transition to virtual meetings and meet ups with our friends and family but what I take it as is we all need a moment to slow down.

I am grateful to be among the many untouched by this crazy thing and I am praying for all those who may not be able to say the same. We have to take control of the things in our life that beat us down like pushing too much or looking for perfection before pursuing our goals. Your happiness should be a goal.

Are you happy?

Is my living in vain?

Posted on by JustAskMaia

In the midst of this dark cloud lingering over my head, I am forced to work through tears shed.

No matter what I am doing, in the blink of an eye, I will find myself crying. I snickered to myself appreciating the fact that I do not wear make up. What a waste it would be right now.

Funny, no matter what we go through as parents we still must be sure our children are living their best life. For me that is forcing a smile with uncertainties lingering like a lone cloud on a sunny day.

Isn’t it ironic how we do so many good deeds and it feels, sometimes, as though they measure up to nothing? I remember when I was a young girl, my mom told be to be sure that my good far outweighed my bad. I literally live by that staple. Yet, I now find myself perplexed as to why.

Why then, do I still endure such unbelievable pain? Why is it life seems a constant test? When the heck is the exam so I can pass already!

I don’t know everything there is to know about life, but I do know this, its yours to live. Choose happiness and pass it on.

I’ll tell you what. When my daughter passed away I no longer took each moment I had with my children for granted. Not that I ever did but every breath seems even more previous to me. That is part of my reason for homeschooling. I always say that God has given me a charge (or 10) and I take that charge very seriously. These are little people who will soon try to find their own place in the world. It is my job to assist them as much, and as early, as possible.

Does my heart hurt every morning? Absolutely.

Do I have butterflies since this incident. Always.

But it will not stop my unwavering love and care. I push through, as we all do.

Am I always going to get it right? Nope.

Is my living in vain. Of course not.

How to homeschool without going crazy 😲

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Today started out a little to early for me. My oldest had to be to work at 7 and while some may think 7 a.m. is not early, first of all, YES IT IS! But more importantly, we are no small family so just dropping him off at work calls for me to not only rise earlier to get the RushBunch together but STAY up. In this house, once I get them up, there is no laying back down.

Getting them up means extra time needed to wash faces, brush teeth, wash, make beds, get dressed and grab a snack on the way out the door. Yes, just to drop #1 off. These tasks usually take me about an hour and that’s if I don’t do the girls’ hair.

I was literally dragging and absolutely moody. In case some of you have forgotten, I am six months pregnant. And while McRush usually helps with the ease of getting out the house, he had long been gone for work.

There are several ways I lift the weight of homeschooling without hassle. Today I am going to share with you one of them. But first, let me just state that every morning they have to write the creed and study their spelling words. That takes no effort from me at all. The purpose in the creed writing is to work on their handwriting, in the event that you were wondering. While they do this, I am making breakfast.

Packet Privilege.

This is something that is an absolute life saver to me. Usually, prior to the start of the year, I print out grade appropriate worksheets for each child. In my case its head start to 12th grade. I make packet that contains anywhere from 5-10 worksheets. I do at least 20 per person, so make sure you have paper for your printer. (In the event you do not have a print, I will get to that.) I put these packets away! Packet Privileges can be earned or used as a “substitute teacher” for the day. 🤗

For days like today when I just did not feel like adulting, it was a substitute. I hand out the packets and let them work at their pace. Here is the thing though, the packet must be more like review work because, as with a substitute teacher, you are not available to “teach” so should not introduce new works you may have to explain. It should also contain learning games like word search puzzles or sodoku. With that being said, that is why I say packets can be “earned”. It can count as a free day to the children. We work on a bonus system. Following the rules of both school and home and doing at least one thing ‘above and beyond’, you can earn a packet privilege for a day.

This is one of the many ways I keep my sanity on school days when I want to call out and binge watch Netflix or even work on my business.

For those of you who do not have a printer, for the younger, elementary school children, you can find workbooks at Dollar Tree for them. Tear out all of the pages, shuffle them and staple. Voila! Packets. For parents with older children, you may have to spend more than $1 but go to Wal-Mart or Target and get the more advanced workbooks (in the books section) and do the same thing. (You can also find these in book stores like Barnes and Noble but you WILL spend at least $20 per book and you know I like my budget 🙂)

I hope this was helpful and hit the follow button for more homeschooling tips.

iRush.

Homeschooling 101

Posted on by JustAskMaia

So you want to homeschool.

I often get many questions and blessings about homeschooling. It is usually followed up by statements like, “I wish I could homeschool but I don’t know where to start.” or “I don’t have the time.” Well I am here to bust both of those questions and many more in this blog to help you get started.

First, in case you do not know, I am a Business owner of a small consulting firm called Rush Consulting Firm. This business is my pride and joy. It is one I built from the ground up and am able to work anytime and anywhere. With that being said, though my schedule is very flexible, it is still a very demanding position as I wear many hats within the company. So while I can bend my schedule like some of you may not be able to, that also means I work, oftentimes, into the early morning hours of the day. I do get tired and I do get cranky but homeschooling is definitely something I am committed to. I have a cheat for those moments that will allow you a moment to breathe and regather yourself while your children still learn even without you around.

I will say right up front that I do not follow any type of curriculum, I do what I call ‘free teaching’. What that means is while there are a plethora of academic platforms to educate your children, I choose, for personal reasons, not to use any of them.

I will admit that I was thoroughly confused as to where to start and what to teach but I was, and still am, so determined to educate my children according to what I now know as an adult as well as where they are currently in the own educational position that I had to put in some creative work and research to better advance the minds of my children.

I will also forewarn you that, I am all about teaching my children self love and self respect in addition to others, which is something that is not taught in the public school, or private school for that matter, education system. I believe in positive affirmations and daily reminders of who they are and what they can accomplish while including their fellow peers.

For starters, I enrolled in Homeschool Legal Defense Association in the event that I incur any legal issues, because I’m going to be honest, as a black woman I am always mindful of my rights as a parent and I am also aware that I am still black. (That is my stance and it is not up for debate.)

Let me tell you why I pulled my children from the public school system.

My oldest son has always been an advanced honor student who had made a’s and B’s his entire life through the eighth grade, when he was enrolled in High School, I was told he had to go to a particular school which was predominately black. In my experience since moving to the south, That usually means less care (teachers not being paid their worth, struggling academically, less resources, etc) but I didn’t know then what I know now and I went along even against my better judgement because my son was smart. Well, turns out, I was correct. While there were a handful of awesome teachers and administrative staff there, my son kept coming home with straight F’s. Now I am no fool, I know my son paid a part in this as well, however, I should have known this school was not going to give my child the push I know he needed to continue to accelerate.

My other oldest was diagnosed with ADHD, I am not even going to get into that whole agenda. But due to this, he struggled in school because the teacher, due to lack of understanding and compassion, would simple place him in the back of the class, oftentimes giving him an attitude for asking questions, and write inappropriate notes on his papers and in his planner.

My oldest daughter was too smart for the level she was in and often would simply be advocated as teachers assistant to help teach her peers in class. I could already see that this was going to lead down a road to boredom and failing grades.

So, I pulled them. All 5 who were currently enrolled in the Public school system. Now there are 7 technically but of course my rule is, ‘If I’m teaching, you’re learning’ so all 9 are in class Monday through Friday with light review work on the weekends. I am free to teach my children on any level I please, because again, I do not follow any curriculum.

How do I do it? Google. Just kidding. That is my starting point however. I literally googled ‘What should my child know by the end of [whatever grade they are in]. I teach all of my children a level up and that is where the weekend review comes in, That is stuff ‘on their level’ to be sure I am not moving too fast and they know what they should.

For my littles, I go to the dollar tree and get the educational workbooks. I take them home and dismantle them into one page lessons. I separate the by grade level and I make packets that consist of 5 to 6 pages (they are front and back, so you end up with 10 to 12 pages of work. I designate the packets into their individual work spaces and in the mornings, they know to grab a packet and get started. You can do this up the fifth grade from the dollar tree but Barnes and Nobles also have activity books up to the eighth grade that you can do this with. It usually takes them anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more to complete these daily packets. Then you can take a break or continue on teaching.

We have a Goodwill here that sells by the bulk. Thank goodness for this because its where I get most of my academic books from. I believe the books are 50 cents a pound versus 2.99 a book at regular Goodwill stores. I have every level of every book you need to graduate your child from high school and probably college. Anything from literature to microeconomics. My oldest even works from some college books we have. My children excel daily and I can see it. That is something I never experienced in public schools. We also use Khan Academy which is available on an app as well as youtube. My children utilize it for a clearer understanding of what I teach in class in addition to jumping ahead.

I signed up for ABC mouse for my 3-6 year old children but it was too easy and they breezed through it in one day, so I cancelled my subscription. I have learned that my children, and I am sure many others, learn much better in a one on one environment. And while I have nine children I teach, They still get plenty of one on one everyday.

I buy index cards and everything goes on them! Colors, shapes, numbers, sight words, alphabets, addition, subtraction, multiplication, sentences structures, you name it and I am pretty sure I have a stack of flash cards.

The state I am in mandates 4.5 hours a day of learning, and I know some of you may say, I just don’t have four hours to dedicate. Well, remember, this does not have to be a consecutive four hours but also this includes self or Montessori style teaching as well, remember those packets?

Also, trips to the grocery store can be used as a math lesson. Trips to the zoo can be a counted as a science trip. A family trip can be a geography lesson. Paying bills can be an economics lesson. So keep these little things in mind.

I have been slow to put this together because I want to make sure I cover most, if not all of your questions. It does not have to be hard. If you have a difficult child, it will do you and him/her some good to spend more time together to better learn one another. They are human too and thus have emotions. Having sessions discussing this could also be counted as a psychology lesson. <—- See what I did there?

So in closing, Be creative, take charge of your child’s growth and development. Trust me, You will never regret it! You will definitely learn as well along the way. And if you have any questions, I am always available. My contact information is on the front page of the blog.

-Rush

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Where we are.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Hello my loves. I have not been blogging as of late because everything seems to be on a whim right now and completely unstructured. If you think your life is hectic, try running a business where you are consistently running other peoples businesses while maintaining your household, homeschooling, packing, and self evaluating simultaneously with 9 children and NO schedule! Ugh. it is literally a madhouse around here. I can’t ever find what I am looking for until I am no longer looking for it but have moved on to looking for something else. Dinner often slips my mind and we wound up eating out, which I absolutely hate. and sleeping in has become a staple for my sanity however I am usually abruptly awakened by screaming hollering babies and children whom have clearly lost their minds because they are running through my house. I oftentimes, lately, feel like I am in a prank reality show.

But alas, all is not doomed. We recently bought a house, in case you did not catch the memo on my personal social media. I have started taking classes on the side to further advance my platform for Rush Consulting Firm, and we have finally closed our Social Services case so no more back and forth to court. That alone was a weight lifted off of me and McRush because though it was not the path we chose to take, we took it in stride. Sometime soon we will be back in court to further finalize the decision for good. I am sure I will get a lashing from family but, you cannot please everyone so, I digress, I only know how to do what I feel is best and have prayed about. (If you have no idea what I am talking about, red back some and you will be filled in.)

Homeschooling.

Homeschooling the RushBunch is still exciting and new everyday. On my extra hectic days we choose the Montessori approach. I always have what they should be learning for the day, usually the week, and they have to work together as a unit to get their works completed. However, I cannot wait until we move into our new home an get situated so we can get back to class as usual. I am trying to convince McRush to paint the wall in chalk paint in the classroom. I don’t believe I am even considering such a task. Years ago I was adamant on not doing such as thing as I felt it would promote writing on wall. But alas, I have evolved. I lift my wine glass and shout, “write away children! Write away”. It is really something how you watch your children grow and evolve only to realize your own evolution in the end.

Speaking of evolution, McRush and I have found ourselves on a new Spiritual journey.

Life really has a way of making you reevaluate life. I love it and I am excited for the growth. I won’t be keeping you updated because (shhhh) there may be a book. I may post a question to ponder here and there for general purposes so be ready to have a discussion.

-Rush

mengirls