Samoas, Trefoils and ThinMints – Oh, My!

Feb 012011
 

Confession:  I was more than a little surprised the other day when my assistant asked me about the “nature of my issue with Girl Scout cookies.”  I didn’t think I had one.  So she reminded me that in the past week or so I had:

  • been quick to add a comment to parent coach Keyuri Joshi’s blog post on the topic
  • sparked a minor controversy in my VolunteerSpot post on effective fundraising
  • and perhaps may have even forwarded said posts to some of the direct selling friends and clients in my life who just may have gotten just a hair carried away “helping” their daughters and granddaughters sell cookies.

Hmm.  Yep – I did all of that.  But my “issue” is not with Samoas, Trefoils or Thin Mints… or girls in scouting.

If my primary job as a parent is to prepare my child for adult life then I need to resist the temptation to make a habit of doing FOR them the things they need to do for themselves.  (I didn’t build my son’s Pinewood Derby car either – does that make me a Tiger Mom?)

That’s why I don’t like buying Girl Scout cookies from adults.  And, as I said in the fundraising post, I’m not a fan of stopping to chat outside the grocery store while the frozen food items are still frozen.

So, to be clear: I’m a big fan of Girl Scouts and of effective fundraisers – especially the kind that help kids to learn and grow in the process.  Have you read about Kirsten? I did.  And it was because of a remarkable achievement: last year she sold one thousand three hundred one (1,301) boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

To begin to put this in perspective, I’ve learned that the sale of 300 boxes is considered exceptional.  In addition, her parents work from home and didn’t provide that “order sheet in the break room shortcut” (ugh – don’t get me started again).

However the most impressive part of the story is that when Kirsten was diagnosed with autism at age four, it was so severe that she didn’t speak.  This is the girl who, at age 15, sold almost twice as many boxes of cookies as the next highest seller in her area – that vast majority through door-to-door face-to-face direct sales.

And that, my friends, is why I think selling Girl Scout cookies is important.

Today it gets to be ‘about’ me

Nov 052010
 

Confession: I feel very much like a did as I a young mom: both excited and exhausted, simultaneously craving sleep and wondering if it is possible to give it up  completely… at least until I feel caught up. I honestly don’t know if I’m feeling lazy or just stretched in too many directions at once.  It is possible, however, that given the depth and the breadth of my interests combined with the sheer number of projects I am willing to start on any given day, I may finally be old enough to realize “feeling caught up” is not in my future.

I have been working on a new site for the training, speaking and consulting that I do. When I am ready to publish that one, I’d like to “merge” this blog with the original What Kids Need to Succeed site. The Original Parenting Toolkit (a downloadable version of What Kids Need to Succeed along with a blog-based e-book and some samples from fellow parenting author-friends) is available as a download… but waiting for a landing page.

So today, while I’m waiting for the ‘tech cavalry’ to kick in, I’m taking the easy way out. Here are links to some favorite posts.

* My friend, Atlanta-based parenting coach insisted on sending along the story of Ricochet, the service dog drop-out who found her higher purpose.

* I appreciate the fact that people read these posts and want to know about the book.

* While I think that towns and cities are responsible to their citizens, I had a tough time getting my mind around a lawsuit that came from riding a bike through a pothole.

* I’m always on the lookout for ideas, materials and organizations to help families. Take a look and send suggestions if you have them!

* Dale Carnegie Meets Mr. Rogers???? It’s a classic example of taking something that works in one area and trying it in another.

Do you have any favorites you’d like to see the next time I’m feeling crunched for time?  Let me know…  post ’em in contact or e-mail me…

After all, it could happen again!

Andrea Patten pic with Tom Selleck

Swing at the First Pitch

Jun 132010
 

I have a weird relationship with baseball.  Sometimes I think it is boring and overrated.  Other times?  A game of subtlety and magic full of life lessons and beautiful metaphors.  I always love its stories.  Yesterday it gave us a classic.

Growing up Daniel Nava was often told that he was ‘too small’ to achieve his goals as an athlete.  He was cut from his college baseball team but wanted to play so much that he stayed on as an equipment manager , sometimes heading to the local laundromat at 3:00 am to wash team uniforms.

There are people who don’t believe that passion, hard work and discipline can overcome almost anything.  If any of them are Red Sox fans, yesterday in Boston’s Fenway Park, during his first major league “at bat,” Daniel Nava made believers out of them.  And, on the way to that moment, some very cool things happened.

First, he was interviewed by longtime Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione.  Either just before or just after the interview Castiglione gave the young player a piece of advice about that first trip to the plate as a major league ballplayer.  “Swing at the first pitch — you’ll never get it back.”

I imagine the butterflies were the size of 737s as Nava was headed to the on-deck circle.  He asked Sox manager Terry Francona “Where are my parents sitting?”  On a local interview after the game Francona told the reporter that he’d said something along the lines of ‘don’t worry about that — just get up there and get a hit.’

Got it?  Too small.  Passion and hard work.  Called up to the majors.  Fenway Park and all of its history.  First at-bat.  Bases loaded.  “Swing at the first pitch” and “just get a hit” ringing in his head.

So he did.

He swung at the first pitch ever thrown to him by a major league pitcher — and connected for a grand slam home run.

I love baseball.

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