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Archive for February 2016

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Some great spring-like weather this weekend made for fun times playing outside. It’s sometimes a rare occasion when I’m able to get all three of my kiddos outside at the same time, and rarer still is the moment they are all playing in the same spot with the same things! On Sunday, the rarity occurred with all three playing with bikes of some kind in the same spot on the patio. The result was a small collision with Baby Girl’s leg caught between her seat and bike wheel on the concrete, and she has the big purple bruise to show for it today!

These days, Baby Girl (all three, really) will topple over something or plow through something and hit the floor, and it doesn’t take much to help her pop back up again ready for more play. I love her “full speed ahead” mindset and her tendency to take the big leap. But, I also know that as she gets older and discovers more of life, some falls won’t be as easy to get up from. Some of the wounds from those falls will be deeper than the tears she shed over a bicycle collision. Some will shake her and bruise her in the depth of her heart. I hope she keeps on taking the leaps. In spite of the falls. I hope she is always willing to plunge in, to speed into the challenges. And, I want her to know that I KNOW… she IS brave enough. She IS strong enough. She CAN get back up. And start again.

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Fridays are big deals around our house. On the way to school, the Friday “happy points” my kids usually list out include book club, no homework, game day in gifted class, the chance to stay up late, and this morning’s version included a “start of the weekend party!” I don’t know what scale of party we’ll plan after school, but I love that they recognize the weekend as just another excuse to celebrate. What a great reason for ice cream!

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I probably need to say this as much to myself as I do to my children, but I hope I can instill this idea in each of their hearts. Sometimes — even at their young ages — I see them trying to compare themselves to each other, to their friends, to what they see in media, and even to me as their Mommy. There was a time when I saw my boys shying away from artsy type things because I’m an “artist.” Like I owned the best ways to do art or use my tools. I consciously work to help them see beyond that. Even days when I see Baby Girl try to emulate something I’m doing in the studio, I hope I’m diligent to remind her that she doesn’t have to measure her ideas or her methods or herself against how I do things. Or how anyone does things! The best measure of her efforts will be her own magnificent heart and her own wildest dreams!

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We’re having a rainy week here in Mississippi, which sometimes dampens spirits. But, there is noone I know who brings her own sunshine better than Baby Girl! I want her to know she always has that sunshine within her.

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