What My Page and Blog Is Really About...

What is your page about?

What does this have to be with being bipolar?

Are you really Bipolar? 

You seem to positive all the time do your moods ever change?

Your Page Is Not Like Other Bipolar Pages?

I am a mom, wife, and daughter but I am also diagnosed and live with two health conditions bipolar and PCOS. However, these two sole thing do not define my life or are "me", there are numerous things that make me. That is why I created the blog "Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life" and then after the Facebook page. Now the overall purpose/goal of this blog and page is show people that you can live, strive through the obstacles that you face, and accomplish so much through in ones life. 

I can achieve this with a small amount of education of mental illness and PCOS but also how I live my life with these two health issues. So what does this have to be with being bipolar? I ask you how is this not related to being bipolar? I am me! I live my life! I do not wake up going "How is this going to be a bipolar day?" but instead think of what I have to do that day and if my moods happen to go off like a light switch or I feel myself going up or down then I do it what I do when it comes to being bipolar. As I stated before being bipolar is only aspect of my life. So on my blog and page you will discover in many aspects I am just like anyone else! Who would have thought! I love to craft, cook, diying, and everything else in between. I take care of my household which includes a handsome Marine and two beautiful miracles. So why not share it? It is my daily life! If  I share my experiences through my page and blog of my music therapy, crafts, my journals, routine, books, doctor appointments related to my mental health or PCOS and end up help just one person then I have reached my purpose of this blog and the forms of Social Media I created.

I was questioned the other day are you really bipolar? You seem to be to positive do your moods ever change? At first I was taken a back but then laughed to myself about this question. I guess I do not super show it on my page but I choose not express my 24/7. If I did express my mood like that on the page I would never get any sleep and you would likely get sick of my page and think of my page nothing more of attention seeker. Instead I love to express myself through humor, sayings, quotes, inspiration, and so on. This type of expression would also include areas of my health as well. However, this page is about Bipolar too so there are times I will and have focused on my mood. I believe it is important to let people who follow my page that I do go through downs or not feeling well. It is something I need to be open about because it is apart of my life. I do not however post or blog about all my downs or mood shifts because I do not believe that serves the overall purpose/goal of my page and blog. It is often very hard to explain mood shifts especially the downs because I just don't know. I can educate you mood shifts and what it is like to fall down the rabbit hole but I like to show you how I pull myself out of that hole as well. I also believe to much negativity can be a very bad thing not only to purpose/goal of pages in your actual life and it is something I would rather not have on page or blog every day but instead replacing it with overcoming whatever that negativity is one life. 

Why doesn't your page look like other bipolar pages? How is my page and blog suppose to look? I follow many mental health pages and I can tell you each of us are unique each bonded together by some sort of mental illness. Some of these pages are pure educational, just personal blogs, focused on a certain mental illness, and so on. My page simply speaks for me as their page speaks for them hopefully. 

What I love about my page and blog I think it goes beyond just some one who lives with bipolar and PCOS. I have already met so many wonderful people through the page and blog growth. Of course I met other people like me who live with or know someone with a mental illness but I have met crafters, business owners, farmers, homesteaders, cooks, just for fun communities, bloggers, and so on! One of the best things that have happened though through this page and blog though are the people that have come forward with their own struggle with mental illness but never shared it with anyone for multiple reasons. 

I am not sure where my blog or page is headed or how big it will become. Am I afraid of unknown? Very much so but it is no different from a lot of the other unknowns. In life I know there will people I will come across people who do not care for me or how I run my page or blog. The fact of life is we will not be everyone' cup of tea. I can promise you though I will always promote respect, no drama, bullying, or bashing! I am a very open minded person and respect peoples values, morales, religion, and opinions. I ask you extend the me the same because I can tell you now my page will be far from being politically correct. So I will tell you Merry Christmas, send you prayers, and have post that specific overtones. You can tell me whatever you want, send positive thoughts and I will like your posts if I like them or can relate to them as long their is mutual respect. I will continue to focus on what this page and blog is becoming and getting to know other people and pages. I have already learned so many wonderful things from so many people and pages.

So this is Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life and this what her blog and page is really like! 

I Am Bipolar But Not Crazy

If you have not figured out by the title of my blog... I am one of 5.7 million Americans who lives with Bipolar Disorder. Notice I said the word "live" and not "suffer". I really do not like to the term suffer because if I use the term "suffer" I believe I hinder or limit myself to merely what people think someone with Bipolar Disorder is capable of.

image found of Google free images

I guess I should first tell you what my full diagnosis is because in the mental health world there is actually a couple of types of Bipolar Disorder. I have Bipolar II Disorder with rapid cycling and generalized anxiety and they symptoms are very similar to someone who has Bipolar I Disorder expect my ups or elevated moods are not as extreme or less intense and are called hypomania or hypomanic episodes. I also experience the unexplained mood changes of the up and downs at least 4 times a year. Someone with Bipolar II tends to have more episodes of depression but still cycles between high and low moods.... I know it is a mouthful.

image found of Google free images

I often get questions so I thought I would address them here

How do I function?

I often have to laugh at this question and want to ask back... Well how do you function? Well the answer is simple I do just like anyone else. The fact is most people with Bipolar Disorder especially Bipolar II lead normal functioning lives. I think people are often confused with this question and really want to ask question what is to be Bipolar and what happens when you are either "up" or "down". However, I will get to that later on in this post.

Am I Crazy?

I love this question!!! I am no more crazy than you!!!... Haha. There is still very much a stigma around mental illness and I am very aware of this. I have never been ashamed of being Bipolar as living PCOS. I strongly believe Bipolar disorder and along with a lot of experts believe this disorder underlying cause is caused by problem in certain brain circuits and balances of certain chemicals in the brain. I basically point it out like this.. why I am going to be ashamed of something I have no control of? I did not cause or ask to be this just as someone did not ask for particular illness mine just so happens to be in my brain.

I guess what else people want to know or hint around about "am I crazy" question is if do things differently, do off the wall things, or think differently? The best way I can answer is that "perhaps". Each person who lives BP disorder is truly unique individual and how they approach their disorder and their symptoms and what they do with them. I know often people are concerned with someone who is bp that because they think or act differently and sometimes in a negative manner that they jeopardize a lot things. I can tell you I have probably made my share of bad decisions (but has not everyone?) but I strongly make an effort not to make choices that would harm my relationships, careers, and reputations.

Is It Hard To Be A Wife And Mother?

image found of Google free images

I also love this question and I can only assume what is daily life for me with adding the normal life stresses of being a wife and mother. I honestly really do not know how to answer this question or what people are looking for. Are they wanting to know what happens when I feel down or up? Well I can answer that a little bit a later but what I thought I would do is this section is right about what I experience in a "normal day" or my daily life.

One of my symptoms for BP disorder no matter what my mood is...normal, meh, up, or down is rapid thoughts, flying suddenly one idea to the next, the inability to shut my mind down. I often look at this symptom as my blessing and curse. My mind basically runs 24/7 and with this I often come up with ideas, things I want to try, how I want to approach a problem, and so on. However, with a mind that runs 24/7 it can often be a nightmare when I am laying there and my mind won't shut up. I can lay there for hours just thinking sometimes solving the world problems to thinking about a spot light I saw and how pretty it seemed.

I can lose my attention/day dream during the day no matter what my mood is and having two little ones can very much aid to this so I have to try to stick a schedule/routine. This is a huge benefit for my family and me. The reality is if I do not stick to schedule everything and anything happens as well as nothing. However, this is one of my biggest battles because I love to fight my routine/schedule often.

Rapid cycle the fact is my mood can switch without notice... I know nice huh? My moods I am actually really aware of and some days I can feel tiny bounce back and fourth from the daily events. Now these events are no different from any other wife or mother but they for some reason trigger mood changes for no reason. Now you think this would a be a nightmare for my family? However, not really because I usually do not show these mood changes outright....usually.. these are something I keep inside until I am can right them out that night. As I said earlier in my post I make an effort and choices not to harm my relationships. My family especially my children are not the reason for my mood changes so they do not be feel results for something they did not do. They are also too young to understand what is going on and it will be a long long long time to even understand what Bipolar even is.

So Umm... What Happens ..When You Know.. You Have A Major Episode?

Well the fact is I live with Bipolar and I have gone through major mood episodes and I will likely go through more down the road. I have gone through both up and down major episodes both leaving damage in its pathway. I can go into detail explaining how they happen or when they happen but in reality I cannot pin point when they actually started but rather I was in them from my support system. These major episodes can last up for months if left untreated. However, as far as I know I have never had a major episode last that long but I can never pin point when the actually start but rather when I am in the middle of them and need to get back to normal.

When I am in the major episode the first thing I do is get back to my doctor as soon as I can. I take medications to help treat my bp disorder as well other things. I am strong believer that bp disorder or the most part should be treated with medication with other types of treatment because of being related to a chemical problem in the brain (even though each case is different). With a major episode I figure my medication is no longer doing its job and it needs to be adjusted. I not only go to a doctor but I actually go to a psychiatrist and have great insurance that allows me great care. I also try to figure out what my "trigger(s)" was and if it is something I could change in my life. I also amp up of my daily therapies of music, reading, and crafting! Having these type therapies helps brings out of whatever episode I am in and back to me.

The key or goal is when you are in episode is to get out of it as soon as possible!

How Do I Treat My Disorder?

image found of Google free images

I am very proactive. As I stated early I go to the doctor asap if I am in episode but just because I am not in episode does not mean I am monitored. I see my doctor at least once month who helps monitor my medication and whether I need additional health like needing to speak to a counselor, which I have done in the past. However, having an almost 3-year-old and a 1-year-old counseling is not an option.

I seek alternative therapies for my bp disorder. Even though I take medication for my disorder that is no the end of the story. I cannot simply take a pill and will be good (I wish). I listen to music, craft, reading, clean, cook, and enjoy time outside to keep my life as stress free as possible. If you are happy and stress in life the happier you are in general.

I have a support system. A lot of times I cannot tell when my mood is shifting but I am luckily to have a wonderful support system my mother, husband, and a couple of close friends who are willing to stand up and ask me and tell me they think there is something wrong.This is often something very hard for someone to do for both the person who is bp and the people living with the person bp. However, when you reach this level of trust and love your disorder is very easy mange and you are able to get out of your episodes easier (usually).

I understand my disorder. I slightly have a leg up on my disorder and and a lot of other people, ironically I have a bachelors in psychology ;-) . I also have a strong background in biology and chemistry. I am not only reading books, peoples personal experiences, but also published articles, peer review journals, and so on. I also plan furthering my education and helping others with mental illness I just have not narrowed what area of psychology I want to go in yet so just dabbled in a few master level courses.

So here it is.... I AM BIPOLAR NOT CRAZY

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : My Imperfect Perfect Child:Speech Delay and Embrac...

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : My Imperfect Perfect Child:Speech Delay and Embrac...: So the moment you realize that there may something wrong with your child... your heart drops. Well I know that is how I felt when my sons do...

My Imperfect Perfect Child:Speech Delay and Embracing The Challenges

So the moment you realize that there may something wrong with your child... your heart drops. Well I know that is how I felt when my sons doctor told me that we needed to get Caleb's hearing checked and go through a speech assessment. A What? Why do you think my son needs to go through a speech assessment he likes to do things on his own time!!! AS MOMMY PROTECTION CLAWS COME FLYING OUT!!!The doctor explained that he is not saying as many words as he should and it is recommended that he does the assessment. Speech development varies among each child and people will tell you varying things but most experts will agree that a child by the age of 2 should have a vocabulary around 50 words. My son on the other hand maybe had 10 clear words but had his own language.

The property of A Bipolar Mom: Do not Copy or Use

There are so many questions that ran through my head but our child comes first and we proceeded with the hearing and speech assessment. Well long story short his hearing is fine and it was determined that our two-year-old son has enough speech delay that he should have speech therapy. I am not going to lie but it very hard to hear the word "delay" you begin to think about all sorts of what ifs. However, in life there are so many what ifs and just like many other challenges we would embrace this and hit it full force and put our son first to give him the best possible outcome with the challenges he faced.

The first thing that our son's speech therapist told us is that we did not cause our son's delay. There are many things that can cause speech delay to an physical impairment to something going way down in their brain. Some where in our son's brain he is encountering difficulty using and coordinating lips, tongue, and jaw properly to make speech sounds. He is not speaking because I did not read to him enough, or talk to him enough, play with him, and so on. This did not make me a bad mom.

So if you have a child facing speech delay please realize you did not cause it you are not a bad parent!

I have always known his speech delay has never defined him. There are areas that my son excels in and is way ahead of the game to other kids his age. Just as kids are excelled in other areas and behind in other areas. A speech delay is simply a delay it does not mean he is less intelligent for a child who does not have a speech delay it simply means it is something that we need to work on to get him through this.

So if you have a child facing a speech delay please realize it does not define your child! 

Using speech therapy has been one of the best things for him. Within the first couple of sessions I was already seeing improvement with my son's speech. Not only was seeing improvement with my son's speech but my husband and I were also being taught ways to communicate with our son. We help him and in between lessons. So it is just not your child going through speech therapy it is your entire family going through speech therapy and helping your child be the best they can be. It makes things easier and less stressful in the house because you and your child are communicating  with each other. It broke my heart when my son could not tell you what they need your want not because they do no want because they do not how or can't. However, seeing your child slowly blossoming makes your heart melt and smile knowing they are making progress. Know that it goes on just speech therapy service. Whether you are using speech therapy services or not it goes beyond that. I am constantly finding new ways to help my son's speech delay by one doing our speech therapy homework, looking up games, researching, and son. There are so many resources and areas to research the options are endless and we have found some pretty neat ones. I will post some ones that we have done in a later blog.

So if you have a child facing a speech delay use all possible tools!


This is not an easy process. I have learned he is not going to be reciting and giving speeches over night. There are good days and bad days. We have great speech therapy lesson days and some days it is like his first day. However, with every step forward in the right direction is just that! So he first time he signed and said more or says a word that we were not even working on take it and embrace it. I love it when says a new word and when I tell him good job and his smile is so infectious.

So if you have a child facing a speech delay realize it will not resolve over night! 

I realize everything will be okay

SO IF YOU HAVE A CHILD FACING A SPEECH DELAY EMBRACE IT AND REALIZE EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY!

The Start Of This Full Frugal Adventure Of This Bipolar Mom's Family...The Honesty May Shock You

When you look in a mirror at your life are you where at in your life? I am sure you can answer this question nine ways to Sunday and hopefully for some of you are where you thought you would exactly be. However, my husband and I are not where we thought we would be at this point in our lives. Now let me stop you right there we are very happily married and have two wonderful miracles. I am talking about financial stability future, goals, and the dream of my family.

When Christopher and I first got married of course we had the American dream and we thought it would come easily probably just like most young and in love couples. However, reality sets in quickly and the American dream is a lot harder to obtain and there are usually a lot of bumps in the road to get there or even some where close to a dream you have for yourself. Now very sadly early on in the marriage suffered identity theft and for a young couple who is just starting out who has nothing it is really hard to recover if you really recover at all. The case was so bad the police were involved and once your identity is stolen it seems you victim the rest of your life here and there. Now I can blame all our financial problems on identity theft but that would not be beyond fair. My husband and I made tons of mistakes a long the way and up to the really near future. Like most Americans we have debt, I would not say we are not in a combined extreme amount of debt but I guess I would say average. We have one car payment, two credits, student loans and we consolidated the rest.  I will not lie we have debt collectors calls or places of payment because of late payment it is humiliating. Now why I said I combined debt is because I personally have a lot of student debts. You see my family was not rich enough to pay for my college and we were not poor enough for me to qualify for financial aid except for student loans. So the price of bachelors degree and master work is sixty thousand plus. So yes I am personally up into my eyeballs in student loan debt.

Now we are a one income family by semi-choice. I am sure people who will look at this and be like if you you both work you will likely get out of debt faster...blah blah blah. I once again will have to stop you right there. All of our bills are paid, are kids are very well taken care of( health care, food, clothes, and so on), we do not qualify for any assistance, and we have a roof over are head. My husbands career comes first and because of his type job it really does make it hard for me at this time to establish my career. So where we are currently stationed all my income would basically go towards decent childcare. I am however always toying with the idea of getting a part time job when my husband is home to watch the kids but that will be for another post and time. I have a very active 2 year old little boy and a precious 9 month little girl who I am lucky enough to stay home with and raise until they are both in school. So if you can imagine our income even though enough is very tight. There has been even a couple of mishaps and without the support of my parents I do not think we would have made it. The thing with being on a tight budget it makes it a very hard to save well for anything. As much as I love my parents it is not there job or place to help us when we were in that type of bind and I was incredibly grateful that they did help but it hurt that we could not help ourselves for that reason. Just like anyone my parents have a right and a reason to spend their hard earn money on what they want and not because I really screwed up my family budget. Now I said early in this blog paragraph that all our bills are paid and they are but I am not being honest with you or me if I do not admit about the mistakes that I have made in the past and how I was helped out of them now can I?

My husband and I decided we no longer want to live like this. Well live like what? Well we do not not have top of the line of stuff, are furniture is old, we have yet to be on a family vacation, and so on. So live like what? We want to no longer have to fear living on such a tight budget if something comes up that we will fail into back thee steps into financial ruin, paycheck to paycheck, in debt, and so on. We would love to be debt free, savings to be proud of, a dream family vacation, own a home, and so on. So what is the first step to this? Well since are bills are paid we decided to explore the frugal lifestyle. Now like any lifestyle change it is something can happen over night for most people and we are no exception. The point of being frugal is to understand the cost-per-use and the longevity of a purchase. Live below one's means to accumulate your nest egg, dreams, values, and the good life. Living and embracing the frugal lifestyle you will be able to live honestly and have your priorities in order. I hope you plan to follow me as I explore this adventure for my family from a mom and wife who is truly starting well from the beginning.

So here is to homemade laundry soap ...well again we will revisit that post to looking in the mirror and where we want to be.

Teaching a Toddler to Brush Their Teeth and How I Do It.. Includes A Fun Music Video From YouTube

Now I usually stay away from parenting advice topics but I thought this is a fun one for me and pretty non conterversial. I mean we all want to have healthy teeth and good oral hygine and this is how I go about it!!! If you go in my children's bathroom there are three child toothbrushes to one toddler. No my kid does not have three mouths but rather learning how to brush his teeth. Now you would think my son would only need one toothbrush like most adults. However, teaching and brushing his teeth became a battle and something needed to change. I had to think...How am I going to ge this cute but very stubborn strong willed toddler to learn and want to brush his teeth? Well th first part of the problem was to make it fun I mean a lot of things become more enjoyable when they become fun...don't you agree?

Say Hello To Caleb

Toothbrush Fun

The first area  I tackled or changed to help my son learn and want to brush his teeth was the toothbrush or should I say toothbrushes. I took Caleb with me to the store with me and the first toothbrush he picked out was a transformer toothbrush. I mean just like picking out big kid undies for potty training I felt like this was an important milestone for my child.  I just made sure the bristles were soft or extra soft like our dentist recommended. It helped a lot because it was his toothbrush and he wanted to brush his teeth with it. However, my husband gets ready for work in that bathroom in wee hours of the morning so his toothbrush is in there as well and he has a spinbrush and Caleb was just fasicnated by it and always wanting to use it. So one day while I was out I came across a child's spin brush on sale it has a smaller head on it and designed for little mouths and hands. I also came across a light up toothbrush in the shape of a lightsaber and the reason I bought this was because it stays lighted for two minutes. Now bare with me I will explain in just a minute why he has three toothbrushes. I also keep a couple toothbrushes on stock for travel for him and just in case something happens to one of this toothbrushes.

The second area I tackled or changed was making brushing his teeth fun or ways to keep him wanting to brush his teeth. So I thought of fun and creative ways. The first thing I let my son do is pick how he will brush his teeth by picking a toothbrush. Each toothbrush has its own game or way of brushing his teeth. If he picks the basic toothbrush it is a copycat game and he must copy cat everything I do. Sometime I clap or raise my hands, sing (badly) and then making brushing movements and brusm my teeth and he copies. I do suggest though if you use this game you do not make the child move like jumping or running because if the child has the toothbrush in their mouth they could trip your fall and really hurt themselves. If he picks the spinbrush he has to act like a big boy because his Daddy is a big boy. This one is not so much as fun but as a lot of positive reinforcement. He moves the stool by himself, puts the toothpaste on the brush, brushes his teeth by himself, rinses his brush, an wipes down the sink all by himself. In the meantime I am telling him what a big boy he is and reminding him of the routine and there to help just incase. I just cannot explain the smile on his face when he has all done!!! Finally if he picks the toothbrush that light sup we brush are teeth in the dark for two minutes. We put his stool up to the sink turn off the lights (the night light comes on and you can see the sink and have visibility if not it could get kind of messy). He has a blast brushing his teeth with a green light!! When I let him pick this toothbrush I stand right behind him on the stool so he cannot fall and I reinforce the importance to him about him not to run or even walk with the tooth brush in his mouth.

I found it amazing that sometimes he wanted nothing to do with light up brush or switches daily but it keeps him engaged which I love. We also engage the frequencey of brushing his teeth. I usually like my son to brush his teeth at least twice a day we sometimes do more depending what he been eating and because he is still learning. Once I am confident that I know he knows how to brush his teeth properly I am sure it will go to about two times but we are still a bit away from that goal. I noticed the more thrilled about making brushing teeth exciting so is he! Often times when I tell him it is time to brush his teeth he makes a bee line to the bathroom!

Other Little Tidbets

I focus on routine and skills with my children i often find tools to aid with that. After Christmas I found this FAST TRACK SMILES HOTWHEELS SET (I think I paid $2 for it in the after Christmas sel at Walmart I even bought my 4-month old daughter at the time a Tinkerbell one and have it stored away for when it is her time to start brushing so hopefully she likes faires). His set comes with a lillte cup, toothbrush holder,cheap toothbrush (which I snagged for a cleaning brush) and has a whotwheels decoration on it. The only thing I do not like about it is the car likes to pop off it so I am going to have to glue it on there! Caleb understands where the toothbrush goes when he is done brushing his teeth as well as other basic routine steps in his brushing teeth routine.

I purchased this at Walmart after Christmas so I am not sure if it is seasonal or if they will bring it back next Christmas season. 

WHAT I AM WORKING ON

Now there are still a couple of things I am working on. With all thins this is a constant learning process and I am sure when he is older I will learn about and try to conquer other dental challenges

One of things that I am working on is teach Caleb how to brush his teeth properly and with him being two and trying to explain it to him about getting the front, back, side, and even the tounge has hit a road block. I mean you can show him or have him copy you show much. Some of the ideas that I have come up with envolve around the concept of mimic. Most children will watch what you do then proceed to mimic what you have done. I have thought about getting two sets of chattering teeth or making something in my crafting mind of fake teeth and sitting down with my son and teaching him how to brush the teeth of these items or even a doll with teet. The only problem is Caleb does not like to sit to sit down very long so I am not sure if it will capture his attention but I am going to have to try.

The second thing I am trying to teach my son is how to spit. I would have never thought it would be this hard to teach a boy how to spit!!! I would think this is something he would want to do but none the less we are still working on this and I can only assume will come with time and practice. With this being said we are using a fluoride-free training tooth paste which is safe to swallow. Now I know there are many opinions on what toothpaste for your children and family to use all I can it is personal choice and research the right tooth paste for your little one.

An example of trainging toothpaste on the market to day. You can find it at most supermarkets, drug stores, and online.

 Once he learns how to spit we are moving on to flossing, rinsing, and swishing (with water and mouth rinse if need be). There are tons of items out there. Please reserach all items and figure out what is best for your family and what may be right for my family may not be right for yours.

The third thing is routine. My son loves routine and does respond to visuals like charts but because we are still working on several milestones I do not want to overwhelm him with charts so that is for a later time. I have included some pictures of examples of routine and brushing charts. If you google or on pinterest you can find tons of printables. If you are crafty there are tons of ideas on making routine charts and so on...

and this is my world of teaching my toddler how to brush his teeth...

THIS IS JUST MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON HOW I TACKLED TEACHING MY TODDLER BRUSH HIS TEETH I STRESS WHAT HAS WORKED FOR ME MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU. THE METHODS THAT I USE MAY BE SOMETHING THAT YOU DISAGREE WITH BUT ARE IN NO WAY MADE TO OFFEND YOUR PARENTING STYLE. I MAY DISAGREE WITH YOUR PARENTING STYLE OR PARTS YOUR STYLE BUT I RESPECT YOUR CHOICES AND ASK YOU TO EXTEND THE SAME RESPECT TO ME.

HAPPY READING!