Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Moving Parenting Advice from Kahlil Gibran

In the final years of his long life, which encompassed world wars and assassinations and numerous terrors, the great cellist and human rights advocate Pablo Casals urged humanity to “make this world worthy of its children.” What is the worth of children, what are our responsibilities to them (when we do choose to have them, for it is also an act of courage and responsibility to choose not to), and what does it mean to raise a child with the dignity of being an unrepeatable miracle of atoms that have never before constellated and will never again constellate in that exact way?

A century ago, perched between two worlds and two World Wars, the Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher Kahlil Gibran (January 6, 1883–April 10, 1931) addressed these elemental questions in a short passage from The Prophet, shown below, which I love.

When a young mother with a newborn baby on her chest asks for advice on children and parenting, Gibran responds:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Tangibly Preserving Your Child’s Artwork

This post is a little late, but last year, I made a book of Alex’s Kindergarten artwork. I had saved so much of her artwork, from Kindergarten, and I wanted to find a way to save it without holding onto every piece of her artwork, if you know what I mean. So, I photographed and edited the pieces that I wanted to save, to include in this book. I made a 60 page book of all of her Kindergarten artwork, approximately 120 pieces of her artwork, via OnceUpon, and I selected the matte paper option. The book turned out well, it is simple in design, and not as expensive to print as compared to other places where you can make books.

The best part is—I printed one of these books for Alex, and she loves looking at her art via this book, and it is also a way to encourage her to keep making her beautiful art, which she loves to make, daily—she is very creative! The arts are really important, and we hope to keep fostering this love within Alex. I hope to continue to make yearly books of her artwork as a way of preserving her artworks! Here are Alex’s previous artwork books, which you can view here and here. I am still making our family yearbooks, and I am a few years behind due to my recently released book, so I will have to find a way to catch up, as these books are so meaningful to have and to share with your family!

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Heart Day! We are celebrating Valentine’s Day today and over the weekend, with Alex and Victory! Alex had quite the Valentine’s Day party at her school, along with a swim team Valentine’s party tonight! This weekend, we are celebrating with a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants! Alex and Victory are quite the pair! As you can see via the image below, my girls adore each other, and they are the perfect pair! I am so grateful for our beautiful girls, and I am so grateful to be their Mama! Alex loved making valentine cards and gifts for her friends and family–she is so incredibly thoughtful! Of course, Victory is integral to any family celebration!

Despite everything that is going on in our world, I hope you have a Happy Heart Day!

Mantra for 2025

I hope you had a nice Holiday! We visited with family, we had some down time with our girls, and we all got some sleep and rest, which was so nice, and we have had a couple snow days! And, I cannot believe our little girl is turning six-and-a-half-years-old next week! She is growing in every way and she loves learning, she is incredibly creative, and she is curious about everything, which I hope never ceases! Our fur girl, Victory, is doing well, too, thankfully!

2024 was a very intense year, which included putting my first book, ABANDONED: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs, into the world, which was no small or easy feat, for sure! In the past, I have chosen a word for the year. This year, coming off a very intense year, I have decided that I am going to concentrate on what is in front of me, work hard, and have fun! This idea came from a recent memoir entitled, Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir, which I loved. Maybe a mantra or a word, an intention will work for you; I think it is best to embrace the new year in some way that works for you! So, I am doing things a little differently this year!

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

Here is ABANDONED: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs out in the world at a book store!