Coming Soon...New and Improved Parenting Products!

To all my friends- Please note that this blog, website and company is going through some growing pains and will relaunch in 2011. Please don't give up on me. 2011 is going to be an awesome year with new products that every home with children will want to have.

Please contact me with any questions...

Sometimes it is hard to do a company called:

The Art of Motherhood

and

ignore your family at the same time,

hence...I am trying to get the products out as soon as I can...

The good new- You won't be disappointed!!

Research in the Lab... NO lectures please!

Lab vs. Lecture

When I started college at a big university I went to a Biology class of 500 students to hear the lecture and then to the lab a few days later to practice what I had been taught. The lab was much smaller of only 15 students, but that is where we put into practice what we had been taught. We probably learned more from the lab because we were actually doing the work and not just sitting down hopefully listening. Many parents are put into the parenting lab and they never got the complete lecture. In fact, the lecture is on going and changes as our children grow up.

I think that one of the best things that parents can do is to know their children and be humble enough to ask for help. With the World Wide Web and publications of books, magazine, etc there is so much knowledge that can be gained from a sisterhood of other mothers. It is smart to identify the area you need help in and then listen to others who have had similar situations. It is also wonderful to keep a filing system of great advice and thoughts so that you can have a store of knowledge to draw from.

One of the best articles I read was one on Parenting Experts that have made mistakes with their own children. It gave me comfort that even though these experts could “lecture” on what to do, they still had to go home to their own “lab” and work with their own family. Although society doesn't offer PHD’s for your own family, you as a mom can be a self-proclaimed expert because you are constantly working on your thesis to helping your children become self-reliant and responsible citizens.

As parents we all want our children to be happy and productive. Listen to yourself and gain insight from the positive influence of others to help you be the best parent for your family. Sometimes the best advice is from others that have been using the lab for a while. I have been in the lab for 18 years and I still have a lot to learn. But, I am more than ready to listen!

Research, Research and more Research

It is truly amazing how much information is out there about quality time with children and parents. I am planning on quoting more research that backs up my new company-

The Art of Motherhood.

Let me first tell a quick experience that I had a few years ago. I had started to develop this program 12 years ago and then put it "on a shelf" to think about at a later time. 6 years later I was attending a PTA conference. The conference had many different workshops. I attended one on Helping Your Child Develop Literacy Skills . I was extremely disappointed during the presentation when asked what we should do, the answer came back- Read to your children and spend quality time with them- "good luck" the presenter said. After the class I went up to the presenter and told her that I had the how and what. Since then I have been working on this company to develop it that way I would use it as a mother. Although my youngest is now 8 and my son that was 4 when I had this idea is now a senior in high school, I still feel it is so important to continue on this quest. It is important that all mothers know that they really are their child's most important teacher and they deserve tools to help them.

I have discovered a website called

www.Developingchild.net.

It validates my company and my program. Here is a sampling of research from their website.

Enjoy!

Young children experience their world as an environment of relationships, and these relationships affect

virtually all aspects of their development – intellectual, social, emotional, physical, behavioral, and moral.

The quality and stability of a child’s human relationships in the early years lay the foundation for a wide

range of later developmental outcomes that really matter – self-confidence and sound mental health,

motivation to learn, achievement in school and later in life, the ability to control aggressive impulses and

resolve conflicts in nonviolent ways, knowing the difference between right and wrong, having the capacity to

develop and sustain casual friendships and intimate relationships, and ultimately to be a successful parent oneself.

Work Life Balance

Dear Friends- I have taken some time off to regroup with my business. I continue to have a lot of encouragement and now that school is back in session, maybe I can get more done. One of the reasons I started this business is because of my love of motherhood. I felt that we as mothers needed more resources. Because I couldn't find what I was looking for, I felt a strong desire to create my own. With this blog I am going to show the need for their resources by some of the headlines that are out there. Since I am looking for them, I see highlights of them all the time. Here are some examples:

We envision a world in which every woman is able to pursue her passion and raise happy thriving children without guilt.

2Hats Network.com.

This is a great organization that is trying to make this happen.

Another great article is:

Orson Scott Card from Deseret News in Utah wrote Time is better gift than toys

We want to provide the best for our kids. But what is "best"? We certainly don't mean the minimum. The old trio of food, clothing and shelter just won't cut it. We want the best food…

Thursday, August 27, 2009

I hope you enjoy these site and articles and understand that time is the best gift we can give our children.

Expanding the Role of Mothers

Our family had a great opportunity to host a foreign exchange student from Bolivia. He was 17 years old- the same as our oldest son, Chandler.   He stayed with our family for 10 days in February.  It is amazing how close you can get to someone you have never met before from another country.  He spoke pretty good English and my husband spoke Spanish, so we communicated well.  We had great talks and learned a lot about his country and family and he did also.  Last week I had a pleasant surprise when he contacted me on Facebook.  It was Bolivia's national mother's day and he wanted to remember me.  This made me realize that it is so important to be a great mother in your own families, but when the need arise, we need to expand those mothering skills to others.  Sometimes neighbors need us, other family members or maybe the community.  Women  have been blessed with a nurturing gene and it is great to use these attributes to let others know that they are cared for.  

Exploring the World and loving it!

The world is a wonderful place to explore!  There are so many fun things to see and do with friends and family.  I recently had a wonderful experience of going with 7 friends to Kauai, Hawaii and spending a week at the beach, in the jungle hiking to hidden waterfalls and tasting new foods.  Thanks  goes to my husband for holding down the fort while I played.  I tell everyone about this experience for 2 reasons.  

1. I think that best way to help your children be a "whole" person is to be a "whole" person yourself.  Although I am a mom and wife-which I love and wouldn't trade, it was wonderful to just be Michelle for a week.  It was so fun to practice a lipsync until 2 in the morning.  It was fun to laugh and giggle over wrong turns and a lot of inside jokes!

2. As I stated before, this world is a great big place with wonderful places to explore.  Even if you can't go to Hawaii, you can help your children explore the world around them.  It is spring and the flowers are starting to bloom-unless you are in Utah and then Mother Nature played an awful April fool's joke and create a huge snow storm.  

But I do know that Spring is starting soon and we just need be excited for our children and help them notice that life is fun and worth enjoying.

My seasonal kits are awesome to help you enjoy every minute you can with your children.  Take time to show that 

"In all of living have much fun and laughter. 

 Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."

by Gordon B. Hinckley

Thinking outside the box with Valentines

I love to create and think outside the box.  Usually my ideas are simple yet also original. For example:

 Let me tell you about a recent outing with my daughter Cassandra.  

In the beginning of February, my daughter Cassandra wanted to make a special Valentine box for her school party.  The kit that we were going to buy was sold out.  As a result, we decided to walk around Michael's craft store and find another craft to keep her busy and a cute box for valentine cards.  

We came up with the perfect solution.  We bought a simple wood bucket to paint and decorate.  Cassandra also loves turtles.  We painted the bucket a bright pink and glued turtles and hearts on the side.  We also bought matching ribbon and attached a sign that said

"My Heart Belongs to Turtles"

Like I said before, a simple solution, but a cute one.  The bucket has a great handle and classmates can drop the Valentine in the bucket instead of trying to put it into a small opening of a box.  

Good luck coming up with your own creative project!