I’m so excited!  My daughter recently returned home with a flyer announcing this fantastic program being offered through her school!  It’s called, Girls on the Run!  Check out their website, philosophy, vision and plan!  It’s definitely an attitude of CAN that I want my own daughter to embrace.  The problem…my daughter hates to run!  I’m not surprised, my husband doesn’t prefer it either, I, however, love it!

Dilemma…my husband and I both think this is a fabulous opportunity for her.  Not only for skills, friendships, teamwork, but for self esteem. The program in not just about running.  It is goal oriented.  It is work oriented.  It is people oriented.  It is self awareness oriented and it is about a can do attitude. I often have found myself telling my kids that “can’t” isn’t in their vocabulary, that I think they can.  However, it is mind over body sometimes.  Just like the Little Engine that could.

From their website, they state this about their program:  “Girls on the Run® is a 501(c)3 positive youth development program which combines an interactive curriculum and running to inspire self-respect and healthy lifestyles in pre-teen girls. Our core curriculum addresses many aspects of girls’ development – their physical, emotional, mental and social well-being. Lessons provide girls with the tools to make positive decisions and to avoid risky adolescent behaviors.”
Vision

• To provide life-changing, high quality programs for girls
• To provide life-changing and high quality experiences to the women developing and delivering the programs
• To promote and provide an environment that allows girls and women to reach their full potential
• To positively transform how girls and women perceive themselves and their place in society

Editor’s note: Onslow is a proud community partner of Girls on the Run and recently sponsored one of the 5K events. For more information about GOTR, visit their website.

Is this program being offered at other local schools?  What do you think?  For it or against it?

Have you ever wondered where words come from?  Recently we read Frindle by Andrew Clements for our mother daughter book club.  It challenged us to think of how words are created.  Where do they come from?  How do they get into the dictionary?  Words have the power to lift or destroy.  It was this group of girls that made words become significant with thought provoking questions, comments and insights.

Although the book Frindle is fiction, it got me thinking.  Thinking about words.  Getting a new word into a dictionary.  It also got me thinking about influential teachers.  Teachers that challenge you, teachers that encourage you and teachers that quietly cheer for your success.

We all have had teachers in our lives that have positively influences us for good.  How?  Usually by words of encouragement or perhaps words of honesty.  Those same teachers challenged us to choose our words wisely to write, speak and communicate better.  These teachers stand out in our minds because they cared and shared their opinions through words.

Just like in the book a frindle is a pen.  My children have been calling a pen frindle.  When I asked my son why he said his sister wrote on the swing-set with a frindle, he repeated his sentence interchangeably with pen and frindle.  A word gets spoken and once understood is repeated…many times.  It makes you think twice about the words you choose.  Many words originate from Latin, but before that?  Interesting topic.  Check out the following link to see how Webster and Oxford decide which words make the new versions of dictionaries.   It basically comes down to usage.

http://www.suite101.com/content/oxford-standardizes-slang-by-adding-new-words-to-the-dicitonary-a287100

Who would have ever thought a group of 10 year olds would create such a grammar stir in this 36 year old?  Way to be girls!  Just like words have power, I’m starting to think my daughter and her friends have definite girl power!  It calms my soul knowing that the “next generation” are thinkers.

If you were to create a new word, what would it be?  What is the definition of your new word?

“The only thing constant is change” is my mantra. It is my life. It is the military. It is motherhood.  It is the ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances with a good attitude.  It is the reality that life is constantly evolving & changing.  I think as humans we tend to be creatures of habit and we resist that urge to have change.  However, as a mother I’m learning that I have to adapt and teach my children through my example. We had planned family time around this weekend as we were supposed to have a 4 day weekend. With weather make-ups, we no longer have those days off. My husband had taken leave…and now has canceled it. Our children were excited for the unannounced adventure our family was to take. Alas, it may be a day trip to Raleigh.

We weren’t going anywhere spectacular on a limited budget, but we do recognize the need for family escapes and fun. When you stay home you often get bombarded with family projects, the stress that is here, etc.  Sometimes escaping for a few days can rejuvenate us all enough to realize what we have in our little family unit and with our home. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I have noticed that  my tween, especially, does not deal with change very well.  It throws her off and I know I have mentioned this in other blogs, but se feels like we have lied to her if plans have changed. She feels like we don’t do what we say. These are heavy allegations that my husband and I don’t take lightly to. This is not what we want our children thinking or believing. However, the reasons are legitimate…school was canceled due to weather and they had those days off just in a similarly unplanned manner.

So, we continue to compromise, think before speaking and be cautious about letting any “plans” vocalized within ear shot of our children.

How do you handle changes in plans with your tweens, do they “meltdown” or do they understand?

My daughter was recently selected to be one of three representatives for her grade and school for the state Science Fair.  Although she was relieved and semi-excited, the first things she expressed was that she was sad that her friends didn’t all get selected too.  Then she recounted how some of the kids pouted, wouldn’t talk to her or kept making comments about not winning themselves.  My daughter felt badly.  I thought it was a good time to discuss attitude and sportsmanship. No one likes to “lose” or feel like their efforts go unnoticed.  So, how do we as parents teach our children to do their best and let everything else happen how it will?.

Here are some things I have learned either as a parent or a coach from observations of myself, other parents and children.

1.  Be a good role model…with your child and team, as well as opponents.  Find the positive and focus on that.  Teach your child to be complimentary and sensitive to how the other may feel.

2.  Be honest with yourself…sometimes we as parents have other agendas or intentions to involve our child in a sport or push in an activity. Our children’s involvement in an activity should not be driven by us as parents.

3.  Create the rules. We create the rules for our own children.  If you see your child not being a good sport and notice a coach not catching it, wait until after practice or the event and talk about it.  It is our responsibility to address misbehavior and sometimes we need to stand up and talk privately with coaches or parents who may not be following good sportsmanship rules.

4.  Watch and learn.  When watching a sport or event look for teachable moments and engage your child with open-ended questions about how they would handle that situation.  Do more listening than lecturing.

As families we are constantly surrounded by opportunities to teach our children and learn new things ourselves.  Our attitudes and how we focus or react to circumstances ultimately is what is teaching our tweens.   I’m grateful to have had the chance to talk to my daughter about how different kids reacted to the announcement of the Science Fair.  I think she has a clearer perspective that we can’t change others, but how we act is the only thing we can control.

What are your tips in teaching good sportsmanship?

I tell you one thing, my tween is always growing.  I feel like I get him a new pair of pants for church and by the next month he has outgrown them already!!  It is time consuming to keep on top of his wardrobe.

I also feel like he is at the point where I have to take him shopping with me to make sure things fit correctly.  Right now, he has outgrown his white button down shirt for church and his pants are a little too snug.  A shopping trip for church clothes really needs to happen before next Sunday.

I remember the days when I could pick up 3T, 4T and 5T – they fit perfectly and we were good to go!  Those times have gone far too quickly!

Here is a list of the winter staples that my tween always needs in his wardrobe and is always outgrowing;

- A nice pair of khaki pants (Gap has my all time favorite khaki pants for my tween)

-A couple pair of jeans (Gap is also my favorite for these)

-A pair of tennis shoes (I love the black Adidas indoor soccer shoes – comfortable and easy to get on and off)

-A pair of  brown dressier church shoes

-A white button down shirt

-A good comfortable sweatshirt

-Long and short sleeve t-shirts

-A nice warm jacket

Come summer time, this list will change from jeans to shorts and jackets to swimming trunks!   Good luck keeping your growing tween dressed and comfortable this year!

What are some of your all time favorite clothing items for your tween?