A Letter To All The Teachers I Know

May 24, 2013 by 9 Comments

Cooper Writes Letter to TeacherI believe that you are changing lives every single day,

May you know this as I do…

That you are shaping minds,

That it is within your classrooms that small people often decide:

Veterinarian….Artist….Comedian….Scientist…..Astronaut…..President

And it is YOUR, ‘yes, you can‘ that makes all the difference,

That tips the scale.

It is your smile

Your call on the raised hand

Your encouragement

Your belief

And soft criticism

That guides,

That pushes 1st grade in to 2nd

and

Pulls 3rd grade in to 4th.

It is your structure

Your unwillingness to accept anything but their best

That forces them from their comfort zone into their momentum zone.

And for this, we, their parents, say THANK YOU.

Thank you for the long hours, for the loud classrooms, for the snow days, the rainy days, the sick days, the Crayola days, the science fair days, and oh yes… the field trips.

Thank you for pushing and pulling, for prodding and guiding, for nurturing and teaching.

I hope, whether you receive one or not… that you know the children in your classrooms share this sentiment…. their favorite thing about this year – even if they don’t say it, is very likely, YOU.

Letter to teacher

 

Filed Under: Featured Content, I Believe, Recent Posts, Small people

Breaking the Parenting Rules

May 8, 2013 by 17 Comments

MotherDaughterLoveAs the car pulled in, I could see that her light was on.  My small girl has this glorious window seat on the second floor of the house that looks out to the world.  When we built the house, I could imagine her curled up there and reading, peeking out from behind curtains for friends to arrive or a date to come.  But tonight, it was just after 10pm, so I was picturing her snuggled in bed, a book having slipped from her fingers as she fell asleep.

But as I walked in the house, that sweet little Punky was waiting on the stairs, “I waited up for you, Mommy.”  It was so late….her bedtime on a school night is 8:30, so she was almost 2 hours late.  I wanted to be horrified.  (she can be a demon when she doesn’t get the sleep she needs!)  But, I have to confess I was giddy.

I am in love with that little girl. And the fact that she was so excited to see me, she kept her little eyes open until she heard the car? Well, it means the world to me. And in a time when I struggle with the internal ‘guilt’ of traveling and being away – even for a job I adore – this reminds me I’m doing something right. I may travel, but we are connected.  She knows she is loved.  And she loves me. She trusts me enough to know I won’t be mad at her for breaking the bedtime rules.

Getting a little sweet time with her is worth it.  We sat on the steps.  We snuggled. She whispered to me all about her day. She asked about mine and finished with, “Mommy, I know you always do a good job.” And I melted into a big pool of weepy motherhood. She asked me to tuck her in, “I want to hold your hand”, and walked me up the stairs.

It doesn’t seem like much, this breaking of the rules, but in my world, it is special. She is special. I know there will be a day when my comings and goings will pass by unnoticed. She’ll sleep through my arrival, forget to ask how my day went and hesitate when I ask about hers.

Until then, I’m a rule breaker. And I believe that is a good thing.

Filed Under: Featured Content, I Believe, Parenting, Recent Posts, Small people Tagged With: , , , ,

I Believe in Superheroes

April 10, 2013 by 1 Comment

DaddySuperheroWhen I was little, Superheroes wore capes and masks.  They had hidden identities.  By day they were average….living life, blending in to the every day.  By night they were doing the extraordinary. They were saving lives and avenging the wronged. Rescuing the lost and making wrong right again.

Funny.

I have a different definition of Superhero now.

He doesn’t have a cape.  If given the option, he’d wear a baseball uniform. All day, every day. If my small people aren’t scrambling for his attention, they are reading stories about him…. or someone just like him. He works in the office upstairs.  He can often be seen in our front yard throwing pitches, coaching swings, shooting baskets, helping with homework, taking out the trash, or cleaning up the kitchen after I cook dinner.

He gets up at 4:30 in the morning to head to the gym… getting in that rare ‘me time’ before the day starts so he can have breakfast with the kids and be around for dinner.

He coaches his small people on their sports teams because he loves it. Soccer. Baseball. Softball. Basketball.  I watch him juggle these full teams of kids – their talents, their feelings, their love of the game, their love of learning, their love of being involved.  It isn’t easy.  He does it because he loves the kids.  And he loves his kids – watching them play – helping them grow. And he is really good at it. He has a gift.

Every day he wakes up motivated not only by what he has done the day before, but by the opportunity he has in front of him to help our little ones learn right from wrong, to be grow from good small people in to good big people, to prioritize family the way he has and eventually to don capes of their very own.

Or baseball uniforms.

 

 

Filed Under: Featured Content, I Believe, Parenting, Recent Posts, Small people Tagged With: , , , , ,

Spring Into Reading With DEAR Time – Drop Everything And Read With Your Kids

March 13, 2013 by 1 Comment

DEAR Time - Drop Everything And Read with your kidsI would be lying if I told you I came up with the phrase ‘DEAR time – Drop Everything And Read’  - on my own.  It is something my small people do at their school and the moment I heard it, it resonated with me. Since I was a little girl, I have always loved to read – magazines, fiction, non-fiction – anything.  I read  on the way to school, at school, after school and before bed.

When my small girl recently begged for ‘just a few more minutes’ of reading as she crawled in to bed, I instantly acquiesced  sharing with her my secret from childhood: I used to pretend I didn’t feel well and lock myself in the bathroom at night – just to get more time to read.  Delaney asked if I had ever told MY mother.  turns out, I hadn’t.

Well, she knows now.

My sweet 8 year old girl is now often flying through 150 page chapter books in two days or less – so we are constantly on the look-out for books that teach her, help her to grow, build her vocabulary AND keep her interested.

We have once such series we share with you in the video below AND, I’m thrilled to be hosting a Google+ Hangout  today at 1pm CST (my very first, if you must know – so do come play!) to talk about the importance of reading with your kids, books that are a good fit for different age groups and how to encourage reading in your home (Hint: we’re going to talk about DEAR time!)

What series of books (or individual books) have you found to be ideal for your kids?  SHARE!  I love having options and new ways to entice my children into reading.

Please do join me on the Google Hangout today (Wednesday 3/13) at 1pm CST. My friend Niri will be joining me – as reading in her home is just as important as it is in ours.  If you would like to join the conversation, please do let me know!

(Live below if you join at the right time!)

 

Filed Under: Featured Content, How to..., I Believe, Parenting, Recent Posts, Video and Vlog-It! Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

She Made My Day With Instagram

December 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I blinked and it has happened.  She promised it wouldn’t, but I don’t think she can help it any more than I can.

My small girl is growing up. And it is happening at the speed of sound.

I’ve noticed that she is starting to call me ‘Mom’ more than ‘Mommy’.  She often reaches for my hand when we are out, but not every time like she used to. She likes to cuddle, but it isn’t as frequent.  Her tone is changing.  The eye-rolling has started.  She would rather spend time with her friends than with me.  Her greatest devastation is the loss of treasured time with one of her gadgets. She would actually *gasp* like to spend time alone.

She came bounding down the stairs today in jeans, a softball sweatshirt, Converse tennis shoes, hair in a pony tail she had done herself, sports headband, brand new iPod touch tucked firmly in her back pocket and sparkly headphones hanging around her neck.

She is a KID.  A KID.  I mean… she is still a little girl, but she’s a regular kid too.

And admittedly, she has seemed to be carrying a bit of a chip on her sweatshirted shoulders lately.  I’ve been wondering how I will possibly handle 12 and 15 if I’m already struggling with 8 1/2.  But I wanted to push all of those thoughts aside… tonight she and I had a date.  Just the two of us.  And I was nervous.  What if she was crabby?  Or spoiled?  Or bored?  Is it possible I’m even worried about this stuff with my not-even-nine-year-old daughter?

Well, I was.

But, I shouldn’t have been.  We laughed. And hugged.  We shopped.  We ran some errands.  And had dinner. She even called me Mommy, told me how much fun she was having and thanked me for spending time with her.

It was like winning some kind of Mommy Lottery.

I even let her open a private Instagram account.  She loves to take pictures and play with filters and I’m her only follower…. but look what she posted: Yes, I had something in my eye when I saw it.

I told you we had fun.

I want her to continue to trust me, to continue to talk to me, to continue to spend time with me. I know there will be some growing pains, but tonight proved to me how important it is to make time for one-on-one activities with both of my small people.

They need to have days, hours, minutes where they feel like they center of my universe…. where we can laugh, joke, sit and explore.

Every day this parenting thing throws me another curve ball… and every day I do my best to avoid swinging and missing.

Today was a home run.

I believe date nights with your kids are worth more than gold.

Filed Under: Featured Content, I Believe, Motherhood, Parenting, Recent Posts, Small people Tagged With: , ,

My Girl’s Santa Wish

December 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

I have this small girl.  And she believes in the Magic of Christmas DEEP in her soul. So deeply that the moments that might give other children pause are ones that she passes right over. She doesn’t stop to question, she doesn’t wonder.

She sat in tears at our kitchen table last night because our Elf, Freddie, will soon be leaving.  She will miss him.

She made a Christmas list for Santa this year and it included a few things I consider, well, unrealistic.

1) an iPhone.  She is EIGHT. An iPhone is out of the question.  NOT. AN. OPTION. So, we had to talk about how beautiful it is that Santa listens to Mommy and Daddy and respects their wishes…. so… no matter how HARD you wish… if Mommy and Daddy say ‘no’, it just can’t happen. In our home, a cell phone for an eight year old is not happening.

2) A Hamster. Oh, for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS!  A HAMSTER?  I’d rather eat glass. They only live for about 15 minutes, her ‘responsibility’ factor isn’t at a 10, they smell, they make a wicked amount of noise and she is a light sleeper. A hamster would be a recipe for disaster.

*sigh*

So, here I was feeling horrible, even though, I KNOW there are other things on her list that she wants and will get…. and I received an email.

Rachel read about my Hamster dilemma, and also knew just how much my small girl LOVES technology, stuffed animals and small creatures – so she offered a solution: Ubooly.

It’s the ‘world’s first Smart Toy’…. using the brain of one of our old iPod touches, this little guy will come to life and live as an imaginative, educational friend to my sweet girl. He tells stories and jokes and he ‘updates’ every two weeks… his ‘brain’ is an app.  Amazing.

Take a look at the video to see how he works…

Delaney will be getting this little guy tomorrow.  He’s no hamster, BUT, I think she’ll find him even better: he’s just as soft, she won’t have to clean up after him, she can actually sleep WITH him… oh and he TALKS to her.

We’ll be following up with another video to show you just what she thinks :)

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Cookies and Milk for Santa, Of Course

December 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

We will be spending a good portion of this weekend baking cookies.  It is just one of the many things I love to do with my small people as we get close to Christmas. Now that they are a little older, they are enjoying the process a bit more, too.

They used to reserve all of their energies for the licking of beaters and sticking their fingers in the dough, but now they get excited about choosing what we will be making and how many.  Why?  Because Santa is the recipient, of course.

Never mind that we will also be taking dozens with us to family events…. never mind that I have favorites and their daddy does too… this Santa guy gets top billing.

Come Christmas Eve, out will come the special Cookies and Milk Santa plate and cup, the cookies will be laid out gently, the milk will be poured and, don’t worry…. we won’t forget the reindeer.

My small people joined a number of other kiddos from around the country sharing their favorite ‘Cookie and Milk’ traditions when it comes to making plans for the big guy in the red suit.

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