Let's Talk

 Today I just want to sit and talk to you. Maybe let you get to know me a little better and what is to come in this random blog of mine.

Well first off, my name is Regina, for those of you who didn’t know lol, nice to meet you too.

I have been married to my amazingly patient husband for 14+ years and we have been together since we were 16 years old.

We have five “lovely” children ages (ready for this long list, that I sometimes forget. Oh, Lord just don’t ask me for birthday dates including years, we will be here for a little bit) 16 years, 15 years, 14 years, 10 (almost 11) years and 9 (almost 10 years) and yes, I did just count to make sure I had everyone.

Four are our biological children and one of these wonderful children is my little sister’s son who I took in to help raise.

My two youngest children are only 13 months apart (yes, 13 months. If you can do math *which sometimes in mommy brain mode I can’t* that would mean I became impregnated with my son 3 ½ months after giving birth to my 3^rd daughter.

Now let’s see if you were paying attention, which would mean I have *drumroll please* 3 daughters and 2 sons. That’s 3 ½ teenagers and as of February 2024 a VERY energetic corgi, Mr. Harlow H. Basile (now that I see his name, he could be a banker *book idea lol*).

So, it is very much safe to say, I’m fucked, I mean screwed!

But in a good way, right?!

I mean 3 beautiful daughters, sure they're all hormonal and very outspoken, extremely independent when they want to be, and debate queens even when nothing needs to be debated.

My 2 boys, who are vocally talented in the art of yelling at one’s video game, are somehow able to sleep in a room that smells like a gym locker, and did I mention the yelling.

As for me, I just take one sip of burning hot tea at a time (yes, I just burned my mouth with my hot green tea).

Besides a stressed-out mom, I am also a writer. I wasn’t always a writer, at least not in the sense that it was my job. I have always written things from songs to stories to very long journal entries.

Words, written words, have always been my heartbeat.

I know it sounds funny, but it honestly has. I have found myself in many instances when I was at my all-time lowest. I didn’t see the significance of going on with life. Then I would start writing. Whether it was about my feelings or maybe what was happening around me, like a bird flying by, or a butterfly landing right next to me. I realized very early on in life that words held the utmost impact on one's being.

Once the pandemic hit, we all found ourselves scrambling to figure out what’s next?

What that meant for each individual was different. For me it was a big step in my life, I decided to change careers completely and become an underpaid, underappreciated freelance writer.

I had no idea the challenges I was about to face, let alone the amount of work for very little recognition or pay.

I started by launching my very tiny company, Precious Poet Inc. I wanted to focus on a type of writing I loved, which is poetry. I tell my kids that poetry is a song without a melody. I love the way poetry flows, and the stories you can tell in an elegant and emotional way. I love the way it feels when you hear a poem that truly touches your soul.

There were three poets that convinced me that one day I too could have my poetry published. Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, and Edgar Allen Poe. Yes, they are 3 very different poets but also three such amazing writers.

I remember being in school and we were assigned, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. We had to read the poem and explain line by line what it meant. During that assignment, I fell in love with the poem. There were three lines that really touched my soul.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

I chose to take a road I would never have taken before. Yes, it took me 32 years to choose the right road for myself, but I did it.

Being a writer hasn’t been easy.

I make shit money and as a freelancer, I don’t ever get to write about things I’m enthusiastic about. It’s a job, I do what the client asks for and that’s it. Sometimes as writers, we have to do something called “ghostwriting” meaning we spend our precious time writing some amazing content and don’t even get to take credit for it.

So recently I have decided to take another new path.

That’s when I started this blog, Mommy Meltdown.

Every week I am going to try my hardest to post at least 3 new posts a week and they can be about anything.

I might post funny things about my life, serious topics affecting me and possibly others, you might even see some recipes, and you will definitely see poetry and some stories (cause that’s what I do best).

If you take away anything from this blog, I hope it is something positive. Whether it’s a good laugh from the stupid crap my kids say, or a “wow, I’m not alone”, moment, I might even invoke anger in you and that’s okay, my teenagers would agree.

Emotions are a normal healthy part of life.

I suffer with severe anxiety, seasonal depression, and motherhood. I know you hear people say all the time, “We're in this together”, but we really are. I have been so surprised by all the moms, wives, women, and just plain humans who go through the same things I do. There’s a comforting feeling knowing you’re not in it alone.

Even if we’ve never met or probably never will, I feel your heavy load because I have one too. We are honestly in this together, we all live on the same planet, we all breathe the same air, and we are all figuring out life day to day.

Thank you for letting me ramble and I also thank you for supporting me and reading my blog. I have decided to open up and be vulnerable so that someone who may feel like they are all alone knows they're someone else, just like them, dealing with the same shitty stuff in life.

Until next time……...(Enjoy Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken")