Dear Daughters: Have You Noticed?
Spring always catches me somewhat unawares. The long, dreary, gray winters have a way of inducing seasonal amnesia and I tend to forget how gorgeous each year's rebirth is. Maybe it was the length of winter this year, or maybe it was the way the frigidity lingered...
Dear Daughters: Apparently, Teenage Girls Are Awful
Yesterday, not once, but TWICE (once in front of my youngest teenage daughter) I had women come up to me and tell me how awful teenage girls are. They were almost incensed that I was actually getting along and laughing with MY daughter. Let me paint the picture for...
Entrepreneurial Rules of Thumb (That Are Also Good For Life)
This message is for every entrepreneur and small business owner: You are going to come across plenty of naysayers, doubters, and haters. There will likely be more people telling you all the ways you will fail than there will be people hoping for, praying for, and...
Stories From the Studio: The Empathetic Elephant
This week, we continued our girls' Animal Magic classes with some very robust discussions about ELEPHANTS. The girls are loving the format where we start with a series of "clues" and they get to try to guess which animal/insect/creature we are...
Dear Daughters: On Pushing Through the Pain
Dear daughters, I went to physical therapy yesterday. As you know, I have been having some pain in my hip and I have been taking it easy to try to quiet the inflammation. It's a bit frustrating for me because I don't want walking the dog and standing in the studio...
Stories From the Studio: A Mile In My Shoes
I had a studio full of boys this afternoon. They were there for the "A Mile In My Shoes" class. In this inaugural class for boys in grades 3-8, we explored assorted art concepts such as shapes, geometric designs, and symbolism. We used an item they can...
Stories From the Studio: The Mighty Bumblebee
We started a new series for girls this week called Animal Magic. In this course, we are going to explore what we, as humans, can learn from animals, insects, and other living creatures. What makes horses and dogs so intuitive and how can our children tap...
Dear Daughters: Four Things
Dear Daughters, "There are four things in this life that will change you. Love, music, art, and loss. The first three will keep you wild and full of passion. May you allow the last to make you brave." ~Erin van Vuren I saw that quote the other day and I fell in love...
Dear Daughters: Change Makers and Vision Questers
Dear Daughters, I had plans to sit down with a cup of tea and write to you yesterday, but an unexpected vet visit with Angus followed by a pretty substantial headache derailed my plans. So, this is this week's Things I Want My Daughters to Know Thursday...
Stories From the Studio: Choose Kind
We just wrapped up our "Wonder"-themed series in the studio. It was an 8-week session that incorporated concepts from R.J. Palacio's book (and movie) Wonder. We didn't spend a lot of time recapping what happened with Auggie and his friends, but what we DID...
Dear Daughters: Experiences Over Things
Dear Daughters, We were away last week and I chose to not write TO you because I was busy enjoying time WITH you. That time away was actually the catalyst for today's post. During the time when I would typically be sitting down to write this,...
Stories From the Studio: Knowing When Enough Is Enough
Yesterday was the last class in the current after-school series for my Monday girls. We were wrapping up our 8-week, Wonder-themed artistic exploration with a special project. The girls were tasked with creating a 5x7 alcohol ink abstract on Yupo paper,...