*Music Trivia Contest (read carefully!)

When I was a kid, I always thought all parents were pretty much the same. As I’ve grown up and witnessed other families in action, I realized how lucky I am to have my mom and dad. Even with a whole lotta love floating around the house, there’s still a lot of fighting. Just like anything, there are good times, bad times, and just blah times.

This week it was like the battle of evermore hit our house. So here’s how it went down; one morning before work, my mom said to me that she wanted 15 minutes to talk to me at some point. She wasn’t willing to talk on the phone and she wouldn’t tell me what it was about. She said it had to do with our “schedules and lifestyles.” I started thinking about what she meant and it was driving me crazy. I wouldn’t get to talk to her in the evening because she was going out for dinner with her friends.

Let me bring it on home for you. I work 10-12 hour days and barely get the chance to spend time with my son and/or husband. With time being so limited, I need to schedule a lot of things that most people can do on a whim. I’ve had to learn the art of letting go and how to delegate work at home. I get why she felt she needed to try to schedule time with me. Also, my mom and I have never had a 15-minute conversation. Usually our conversations turn into fights after about 15 minutes and it typically lasts at least a few hours. After I left for work that morning, I told my husband to tell me if she says anything it. Being that we’re both direct people, he just asked her about it.

Turns out, she wanted my advice on how to talk to my husband about his schedule and figure out a way to work together so she can be more productive during the day. All she had to say was that she needed help while he was home. She had certain expectations of him that he wasn’t aware. If he had known, there wouldn’t have been an issue. Check out this great pod-cast, “The Danger of Unspoken Expectations.” Something so simple turned into a 2-day long argument. I wonder how many more times our inability to communicate effectively will be the reason for fighting.

I’m not going to ramble on, but I will give you some advice for your life; most of the time, if you have something to say, come out and say it. When you start overanalyzing, you run the risk of overcomplicating something that’s very simple. If you’re dealing with co-workers or people that don’t know you very well, it makes sense to choose your words carefully and prepare yourself. But when you’re dealing with people that you love and love you, just be honest, upfront, and direct.

By the way, I’ve been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin lately so I thought I’d throw in some song titles. There are 10 song titles hidden in to this article. Hats off to you if you can find them all. Here’s a hint – this paragraph doesn’t have any. Can you find all 10? Be the first to comment on this post with all 10 song titles accurately, your favorite song (in general), your email address, and I’ll personally mail you a $10 gift card to iTunes!

 

This contest has ended.