Don’t get caught slipping

Posted on by JustAskMaia

And that’s exactly what I have been doing.

In sure u don’t have to tell you that life gets hectic even with plans, structures, and rituals. When you have 12 children like I do, sometimes all of that can go out the window at any moment.

I am supposed to blog every Sunday. I have it on my calendar. I have an alarm set and everything, yet here I am. I think it’s been a month. 🤦🏾‍♀️

It’s not like my business blog, I can time those out. In fact, I do for about a month at a time. And I blog on their daily. The difference is, on Herr, I blog from what my experience is, specifically for that week. With the business blog, it’s based on my knowledge. Plus, the day gets away from me really fast.

With that being said…. what’s up, friends?!

There is so much going on. I pulled the children from public school, so I’m back to homeschooling. I love the flexibility of it, as do the children, BUT they miss the getting out aspect of it, so I have been more intentional about taking daily trips and incorporating it in their curriculum.

In addition, I grew accustomed to having the day to focus on my business, so juggling those too has been a new challenge since I was able to put more on my plate I am now trying to delegate more. I hired someone, but it didn’t work out, so I’m back to square one, kinda.

It’s not stressful, just a lot, but the business is still moving along quite nicely. In fact. I had the opportunity to speak with Atlantic Beach today. It is such an honor, too, because it is the first and only black owned beach in America. If I could lock in with them, I would be so elated. I mean, this place is a legacy. A pearl, a black pearl. If you don’t know about them you really need to look them up. Chefs kiss. And, I consulted with the city of Florence and Jacksonville to help me prepare for this. It’s going to be amazing.

The children are well. Ava and Ian need to get surgery, but they will be fine. I meed to make a doctor appointment for Kera because her eyes ate turning red but not like conjunctivitis. It’s a different red, so I am a little bothered by that.

Isaiah is set to graduate next month, and I am so proud of him. Bella is doing well with her college courses. I feel that o tainted her by putting her on school. High school, to be specific. She embraced a culture that us just not her. She quickly became popular but lost her own identity. Now, it’s lashes, nails, and weave. She was so content with her natural look, and she was the priority now it’s her friends, and I hate it so much. I have to figure this one out because not only is it making me sad for her, but it’s hurting my pockets.

McRush started a transport company, so we are also working on that, plus he assists I’m Rush Consulting Firm.

Mt Marine is flourishing and preparing to get on the real estate game, which is exciting to watch him grow. I love it.

I have been contemplating getting weight-loss surgery. I put myself on a 3 month plan to lose 30 pounds. If I fail at that. I’m getting the duodenal surgery. McRush doesn’t like it, and that’s why I set a 3 month goal. Otherwise, I would have been under the knife. For me, it’s hard to prioritize my weight-loss because im.always going and no matter how much I plan to wake up early, exercise, or eat specific things, I simply get lost on the sauce if life. I’m working on it, though. I’ve lost about 10 pounds so far, so I’m off to a great start. Let’s pray that I can keep the momentum.

That’s about it. OH! I and a couple of other moms started a podcast called chaos and chalkboards where we discuss being a big family, homeschooling, and all the nasty looks and stupid questions we get. Keep an eye out for that.

What have you been up to?

One question I hate to be asked is…

Posted on by JustAskMaia

As a mother who has birthed 12 children, I mean 12 pregnancies because apparently I pulled the short stick 🙄 and I get a lot of questions. Most of them I hate.

I mean, there are so many questions that you can ask me. How much food do I cook in a day? What type of vehicle do I drive that can hold my family safely and comfortably? Are there any twins or triplets?

As a matter of fact, my last 3 births were at home! How exciting is that? Create questions around that. Were you scared? Did you have a water birth? Was there a doula?

Anything

Out of all the lifestyle questions that you can ask, people always go to my sex life, even knowing I am married and the children are his. I occasionally get the “do they all have the same dad?” And I can honestly say that I’m not too mad at that one because, contrary to popular belief, I think people are hoping that they are, so I always feel good about my answer.

But the questions that border on creepy and definitely none of your business people usually try to disguise it as a joke, more than likely because they know that they shouldn’t be asking. Questions like, you know what causes that [pregnancy], right? Or. You all don’t have a TV at home? 🤨

We get a slew of inappropriate questions, but by far, the most disrespectful and inappropriate one is the one I hate the most. This question makes me feel probed and examined even with my clothes on.

“Do the babies just slide out now?”

This is also the dumbest question I get as if vaginas were not a whole damn muscle or kegals didn’t exist. As if your body isn’t known to go back to its natural form or babies ruin your hole experience. Pun intended.

If the babies just fell out, why would my husband still have sex with me? Perhaps he likes feeling like the clapper of a bell? Tuh.

Kegals are my friend. We communicate atleast 3x a day. Mother nature loves me, and with this WAP, I am convinced that I’m God’s favorite.

How’s THAT for inappropriate? 🤣

Black mothers hate their daughters 😒

Posted on by JustAskMaia

There is this deep-rooted question that [black] people dont ask but want to know the answer to.

Why are these mothers raising their daughters but loving their sons.

More directly, why are mothers so hard on their daughters but coddling their sons.

For a long time, I felt that. Many women attribute it to mothers being jealous of their daughters whilst being gentle on their sons and allowing them to be all over the place (both physically and emotionally).

When I was a single mother. I coddled the hell out of my boy as a single mother. So I thought I knew. I was like, yeah, we do do that. But maturing and now raising 12 children with a husband ( their father). I see this differently.

As a woman, a mom, I am made to be gentle, nurturing, loving, embracing, and encouraging. That’s what I do. But, with daughters, it’s not competition. It is being firm with my daughters so they don’t make my mistakes. I have wisdom now. But I talk to them and explain it. Some of our mothers didn’t know how to do that. Their love came out frustrated because they were scared for you. This world will eat our girls alive. I talk to my girls about every mistake I ever made, and I remind them that they will make some as well, probably repeating some of mine. But it’s okay, never feel like you can’t come to me and we will work it out. That’s how life works. But see, some of our mothers didn’t have that, so they don’t know what that looks like, and some of our mothers may still be traumatized by the stigmas placed on them because of their mistakes.

Having a husband and very present father shows me even more that I am doing it right. Because I do love on my boys hard. But their father is there to get them on the path to manhood. That’s not my job. I can teach my sons many things, but how to be his own man is not one of them. Sure, I can teach him to be the man I want…. read that again. I can give him the descriptions and attributes of what I believe a man should be, but that’s molding him into a man for a woman like me. What if that’s not the woman he wants?

I tell this story about my oldest.
I potty trained him, but I could not convince him to pee standing up (he was potty trained at 1). One day, a girlfriend of mine said her husband could watch him. I needed a sitter and usually wound up taking him to work. This man watched my son for 4 hours, and when I picked him up, he was standing and peeing. He said he only needed to show him 1x.

As a mother, it is my duty to raise my daughters and love my sons. It is my husband’s job to raise his sons and love his daughters. This is the beauty of family. It comes with balance. I never have to be told Happy fathers Day because I am a mom. Even when I was raising my boy, I was only capable of being his mom.

We have lost balance because of the bickering and anger of feeling dupes, excluded, and betrayed by a lover only to be left holding the diaper bag. It’s hard, I know. But we have to be open to playing our roles and allowing the other parent to play theirs. This is how we create well- rounded individuals to lead our future.

This is what self accountability looks like. And I’m sure someone will drag me or adamantly disagree, and that’s fine. But I’m not going to argue with you. If you disagree, share it with your own commentary.

This is my FAMILY thought for the day.
You’re welcome. ❤️

Closing out 2023 in 2024 🤦🏾‍♀️

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Typical “me” behavior 🙄

Listen. It was a bumpy end of the year. 3 deaths, schooling transitions, business transitions, and trying to do things I didn’t really want to do, like go back to school.

I’m tired just thinking about it! Somehow, I managed to crawl my life into the new year. 🙃

There has been a lot of strange news happening, but the strangest news of all, to me, is I’m coming into the 2024 year, NOT pregnant 🤪

Seriously, though. I know we did some things, so it won’t ever happen again, but it just feels foreign to be 2 years in (almost) and not have had a positive pregnancy test.

>disclaimer< I am a happily married woman who welcomes all of our pregnancies and births because I can

I will not lie and say it hasn’t been rough. I noticed as I age, my patience thins out just a little more. And baby, if you know me, it wasn’t that thick to start. It’s not like I have NO patience, but what I do know is I have NO tolerance. Whew, a day in my shoes, and you would think I was pretty rough because I can not be around someone who doesn’t think, use their logic, or apply common sense. Like, who raised you?

Well, they say that your children will exercise you in the ways you hate. Oh. My. GOD!

I can’t even ask them, who raised you because it’s ME! I raised them. But why? Why?!

I will point to a spot, and they will look all around the spot. I legit be wanting to cry, like, yall can’t be this dumb. 🤣 Smart as a whip in those books but my god…. I swear I wish I raised them in Philly because they lack wherewithal, and I just can’t. I blame it on their father because ain’t no way, Boi. Ain’t NO way.

These jokers have been testing my patience with everything. School, housework, you name it. So, I decided that it’s time to go back on schedules. If it’s an action, it had a schedule. Eating, cleaning, laundy, vacation, day-to-day. Ev 👏🏾ver👏🏾e👏🏾thing👏🏾. If I could, they’d breathe on schedule.

On another note, I learned that I was gentle parenting all wrong. But I’m practicing the new way, so I will keep you posted.

It’s not New Year New Me.. it’s the same old me 🤷🏾‍♀️

Sorry. Not sorry.

Did you miss me? Yes, you did. Stop lying.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

I have been on a wave of growth doing exactly what I teach my clients to do, and that’s tap into your capabilities. We are so used to running off of our abilities because it’s safe, it’s what we know, but there’s no growth there. Sure, you may get a promotion or recognition, but you maintain this feeling of “coasting ” through life, never experiencing what the world has to offer you.

So aside from working with a city, I know, MAJOR , right! I have also been aiming to sink my business claws onto a new venture. That is so exciting to me because I literally love it yet never considered venturing into this business sector. I’m in the process of awwing him into why I am the best person for the job. PLUS, as you know, I have been working on my book release (no date yet) called Children Ruin Everything, and I got my first review! It’s a good review, too!

Hopefully, with so much restructuring and growth happening, I will still be able to push and get this book out soon.

I just recently came back from poaching in San Diego with the plans of expanding our office there. Now, with this new city as a client, I may need to open an office there as well. I am traveling north next weekend (location not disclosed but I’ll tell you why later) to see what I can get into business wise there. 😉

The children have settled into being in school but I’m pretty sure this will be their first and last year in the public school system although them going to school has been serving its purpose of giving me a little more flex time to do business in the blink of an eye. Next year I am going to hire full time teachers to come in and teach so I know they are staying on track without losing my own momentum.

Anyway. Do you guys want to see the review? Of course you do.

“Kids Ruin Everything is a heartwarming and candid memoir written by Maisha Rush, a wife and homeschooling mother of twelve children. The book highlights how children have a tendency to ruin all the plans you had for life in a positive way, even when you can’t see it as you go through the experience. Maisha shares her personal experiences as a mother, from the challenges she faced in raising a large family to the joys and triumphs that come with it.

Through witty anecdotes and relatable stories, Maisha offers an inviting and lighthearted look into the ups and downs of parenthood. By sharing her own experiences, Maisha offers readers the encouragement and reassurance that they need to navigate the exciting yet often challenging world of parenting.

As Maisha mentions in the book, it’s not uncommon for parents to feel as though they’re giving more than they ever expected yet receiving more than they ever thought possible. Through addressing the difficulties that come with parenthood, she shares the joys and happiness that come with it, revealing how children have a beautiful way of making everything better.

As the title suggests, Kids Ruin Everything is not a book that sugarcoats the realities of being a parent. Maisha doesn’t hide the fact that raising a family can be challenging. From sleepless nights and temper tantrums to constant messes and unexpected surprises, the book offers a refreshing and honest take on the ups and downs of raising children.

Yet, despite the challenges that come with raising children, Maisha shows how it all works out for the best. She writes about the love and support she received from her children, as well as the great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that comes from being a full-time parent. Maisha reminds readers that children are often the biggest blessings in life, as they bring joy, vitality, and love to everything they touch.

Kids Ruin Everything is an uplifting and honest memoir that offers a refreshing and relatable perspective on parenting. Maisha’s lighthearted anecdotes and relatable stories make for an entertaining read, while the underlying message of hope and encouragement will resonate with parents everywhere. Parents will be inspired and motivated to persevere through the challenges of raising children, knowing that the rewards of parenthood are immeasurable, life-changing, and worth it all. I LOVE the way Maisha captivates the audience through her honesty and relatability. Even though I do not have 12 children, she makes me feel like she shares in my struggles and I in hers. This book has made me re-think a lot of what I do and how I approach raising my own family while reminding me not to forget about myself and my goals. It is absolutely possible to have ‘all the things I want the way I want them, now’. “

🤗 come through, ME!!!!! 👏🏾

Oh!!! Did I mention that I was asked to speak at the College of Charleston through their Upward Bound program? My topic is H.U.G.E. Communication focuses on how to maintain good communication with your college bound child.

🎶 look at me know🎶

Who knew this would be my life as I started this company from a helpless place and now I get to share and enjoy the journey with so many others.

Thank you for ALL of your support whether it’s reading my blogs, watching my youtubes/tiktoks/television interviews or gassing me up along the way all the way to booking and hiring me as you business consultant or coach. THANK YOU.

Good question. Easy answer.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

What would you do if you lost all your possessions?

If I lost all of my possessions, I would turn out even better than I am now, and that’s a pretty high bar.

See, I already lost all of my possessions once, and it taught me to have courage, strength, and audacity because no one is here to save you. People are not even obligated to help you.

First, you have to learn from your mishaps, what got you to the point of losing your possessions in the first place, and then learn from them. That means creating a strategy to keep it from happening again. I mean, who really knows how many lives we have already lived just to redo what we have done and possibly get it right this time. Is that what deja Vu is? (sp?)

This is how I know I will be better than I am now. I am a strategist. Even outside of certification, I am a natural strategist. I am always thinking and analyzing, even reconfiguring how something can be done differently, more effectively. I love it.

Now, this is not to say that I WANT to lose all of my possessions, just answering the call on WordPress and giving my opinion.

Take the value you need and discard the rest. ❤️

Mini vacay

Posted on by JustAskMaia

I’m on the road right now and headed back home. I miss my babies. That’s right, I said it. Those same crumb snatching, time stealing, mommy-can-I rugrats I talk cash trash about. 🥰

I have been having a tough time time this past week finding my motivation, so this girls’ trip is just what I needed.

It was my mom, sister, and myself. The first of many to come, I hope. We’re not really talkers, so there was no “bonding,” but we are already close, so it was more about getting away and having some fun.

We slept in, went to breakfast, and hit up some stores for shopping. Of no surprise, most of our shopping was for the household or the children/husband’s. 🙄

It was a much needed break. I’ve had some time to reflect, and I think it’s time for me to do a purge. This next week, I think I’m going to deep clean my house and have a yard sale this Saturday (so if you’re local, come out). It’s not about making money. I just don’t feel like hauling it to the dump, so nothing will be over $10 (I think) 🤔. After that I am minimizing my time on social media. In addition, I think I’m going to purge my client list, so I need to start finding people who will take them. 😬

I have a few goals in mind, and I need to clear the clutter of my life in order to get to them. Did you know that if there is disorganization around you, it affects your motivation and actions? Sometimes, you will feel excited about an idea but completely unmotivated to do it if your surroundings are not organized. In order to move forward with progression, you must be able to move freely. That means mentally and physically.

As a mom of 12 I had to learn the hard way that I must have access to everything at all times in order to work efficiently and to do so there must be organization or else I will spend more time searching instead of acting.

What makes you work and think more efficiently?

I tried to be lazy y’all.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Listen. I love a shortcut just as much as the next person, but authenticity is so important to me, so some shortcuts are just not worth taking.

I have been having an amazing past couple of weeks, and that is why I haven’t been keeping up with the blog. If I’m being honest (always), I could have blogged, but I didn’t make it a priority like I should have.

If you’re new here, HI! 👋🏽 Like 👍🏽 comment 🗣 share 🫱🏼‍🫲🏿 subscribe 📍

I have been aiming to blog every Sunday, and I get really good about it until I don’t, then it’s hit or miss for a few weeks 🤦🏾‍♀️. Well, today, I was like, let me throw something I’m ai and blog that. Simple, painless, and I can go to bed. Chiiiiile 🙄. This is exactly why I teach my clients that ai will not replace them, but it CAN enhance them. This is what I asked ai to blog about..

“Blog what it’s like to have a successful consulting business, married, and having 12 children as a black woman living in South carolina. ” This is what it gave me.

Having a successful consulting business, being married, and having 12 children is not an easy feat for anyone. However, doing all of this as a black woman living in South Carolina comes with its own unique set of challenges.

Firstly, as a black woman entrepreneur, it can be difficult to gain the same level of respect that male or white entrepreneurs receive in the business world. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to build a successful consulting business, but it can be done with perseverance and determination.

When it comes to being a mother to 12 children, it takes a lot of organization and time-management skills to balance work and family life. It’s important to have a supportive spouse and community to help with childcare and household tasks. Being a working mother can be challenging, but it can also be rewarding to set an example for your children and show them the value of hard work and determination.

Living in South Carolina as a black woman can also come with its own challenges, as the state has a complicated history with race relations. It’s important to find a supportive community and surround yourself with like-minded people who will lift you up and support your success.

Despite the challenges that come with building a successful consulting business, raising a large family, and being a black woman living in South Carolina, it is still possible to achieve your goals. With hard work, dedication, and a strong support system, anything is possible.

🙄. Just 🙄. Cause 🤔. NO 😔. This sounds nothing like me and has no depth, not connection, no encouragement, just words. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s good content but not personal.

It is very important to me that I resonate with my people. It’s hard sometimes being all the things to all the people so I try to share my journey as openly and honestly as possible in hopes to encourage and remind people that we all have our hiccups but keep pressing AND take rest. You can do both without choosing.

What you CAN’T do is try to be lazy and have someone or something do it for you because you don’t want to.

I love you like cousins. ❤️

The silent angel

Posted on by JustAskMaia

As much as my husband and I are a team there is still not much he knows about me on a day to day basis. I have no doubt that he married me because I am a phenomenal woman but if he knew I had secret missions and powers it would blow his mind.

It’s one thirty in the morning and I have been battling a headache all day. All I want to do is rest. Not just sleep but rest. Yesterday I gave him a detailed rundown of what I had to do but because he was tired from his workday he barely acknowledged. I don’t fault him for this because he does work very hard and has long hour days and he does try to help before passing out from exhaustion. I joked about taking on another husband to help carry his load around the house. He didn’t find amusement in that. He never does.

I didn’t get to go to an event I was invited to today because I wasn’t feeling my best and the house urgently needed cleaning. My oldest son came home before being stationed out for the next four years and he pulled and sorted through all of his things packing what he was keeping. I then had to clean up bins and piles of what-nots in order to see what was to be thrown away. In addition, someone gave my littles a ton of clothes that I had to sort through, wash and fold. Gabriel is struggling in reading so I spent some time with him on that. My girls are also under the weather so I had to tend to them. Maia is in the midst of being potty trained so that takes repetition. I have a client that I’m working on grants for so I was searching the resources for that. Plus, I am building a portfolio for another client in addition to revamping mine. My 17 year old needed a ride to and from work and my room has been neglected for weeks now.

While everyone is sound asleep I tidied up, took Maia temperature and changed her training pants to her pullout in case she has an accident. I rocked Kera to sleep and put them in their beds.

McRush is battling tinnitus so I nudged him awake to put oil in his ear with a cotton swab. I am still battling this headache trying to keep it at bay to be sure it doesn’t turn into a migraine.

My mission is simple, to keep this house a home. My super power is being able to always show up even if that means little rest. I do it with a happy heart knowing even if they don’t see me do it they know it got done.

I have had a lot going on with the shift in business and how I run the household, mainly the children being in public school instead of homeschool. It’s a crazy transition right now but I am sure once we get the hang of it things will run more smoothly.

I oftentimes wonder, if I had it to do over again, would I do the same things. I like to think that I would but right now, mama needs some rest.

To all of the moms, or silent angels out there. I’m rooting for you. Now get some rest. ❤️

Trouble on the blue app

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Whew. Who knew I could be so popular 😅

I recently ran an ad on Facebook and I had racists coming out of the woodwork for my neck. Don’t worry, I got receipts. One guy called me a diversity hire ” swooping in at a time when people don’t have any money”. WHO doesn’t have money? Listen, if you’re broke just say that. 😳 Another guy went on to talk about how trump was up in the polls. This concerns me how? We already knew his numbers would jump given his general target audience. 🤷🏾 It’s crazy. Then I have people jumping down my throat about my stance on the writers strike and I don’t know why because I support the strike. I just wish they would be able to read the fine print in their contracts so they can seek a better deal.

Either way, the talks, chatter, and disses only bring me more visibility and that is what made me keep my cool. Cause inside I wanted to say a few choice words but I wanted to remain professional because the success of my brand and my business is what I am after. Period.

Even before the shenanigans it has been a rollercoaster of a week. For those that don’t know, I registered my children for public school and for all but one of them, my senior, that have never been in that setting so there was plenty of confusion the first week but we made it through. Hopefully we start off on the good foot tomorrow and from there on.

I met with a radio exec who wants me to come on his show and talk about black businesses and their growth. I also did an interview for insider magazine so I’ll let you know when that drops. I signed a new client and also, I am back in the grant writing game for another client. So this week has been a whirlwind of emotions but I am so very grateful through it all.

I need to record a podcast tomorrow and write a blog for Rush Consulting Firm, which I must say is doing phenomenal. My advice for you this week is let the noise be loud but don’t let it get to you.