I'd like to thank each and every one of my soon to be friends! You and your children are the reason I chose to write Grow with Me Poetry. I have concerns. I have worries. I think about what it is like to be a child in today's world. I like to make people chuckle (don't get me started on the belly laughs - they are just icing on the cake). I believe we have something big in common; the knowledge of human nature and how it is filtered through the crevices of our children's minds. By touting and teaching mindfulness and inviting you to entwine it within how you read poetry, I think... nope, I know that you will be able to pass the gift right on to your children, outfitting them with more than a pair of vans (my favorite sneakers, BTW). Your children will then don a lifelong coping skill along with gaining a deeper understanding of what seeds, sprouts and blooms within them as they grow. By the end of this paragraph you may find yourself wondering why an author of a children's poetry book and proponent of mindfulness is talking about that potentially mortifying moment you see your child's eyes boring a hole through a stranger, their little minds exploding in contemplation as they wonder why that person appears different from them. In just two more sentences you will know the answer! You see, I am often the stranger at the receiving end of those curious eyes and I thought I would start my first blog within Weebly by actually talking about the elephant in the room. I am hoping we will get a chance to meet in person one day. In that event, you will quickly learn why your children may stare. For yuks, let's do a poll. Check all of the boxes that you think may apply to why your little one's eyes are glued on me. If you guessed all of the above, you are correct. Like my grandfather before me, I went gray in my 30ies and I found that unless I wanted to set up a Go Fund Me Page to cover the cost of coloring my hair every 2-3 weeks, I would need to be open to transition. The last two years have been full of transition; from brunette to silver and then from two feet to four wheels. I am now a natural a curly silver. I am also a statistic. I am 1 in 10,000 people having a rare connective tissue disorder called Elhler's Danlos Syndrome. It is a largely invisible, but is a multisystemic disorder that causes a plethora of potentially debilitating symptoms. I just say "I have issues with my tissues." See www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/ if you have an inquiring mind. Apart from my "add on items" (crutches, scooters, walker), I look so normal that I tend to even confound adults who are oddly still prone to staring. I just attribute it to 1) they are trying to sort out the incongruity or 2) might just be coveting my prime handicapped parking space. Why should children be any different from their taller counterparts? Should I have the honor of meeting you and your staring child in person, know that I don't mind their innocent eyes and welcome any questions they may have. I'll let you in on one of my family secrets: when my children were younger, we had one simple staring rule; if you are going to stare, try to smile and definitely WAVE! I can't think of anyone who wouldn’t benefit from a child's greeting! Who would have guessed that I would benefit from my own rule? Over the years, the marathon of managing my EDS opened up wounds that only the practice of mindfulness could help me heal. It quieted my mind, soothed my body and left me wishing I had embraced it earlier in life. That was the impetus for searching out a sneaky way to slip it into the routine of a child in such a way that they might not even know they were learning a new skill! It should not be thought of as broccoli when clearly it is candy! I just needed to find a way to make it sweet and appealing. That is where poetry comes in. Being a child at heart, I love rhyming and rhyming most definitely suits a child's literary taste (more candy). Grow with Me Poetry allows you and your child to "bust a rhyme" as you learn to calm your mind! Ba-Dum-Dum-Ching! ![]() Now, you might recall that earlier in this post I wrote that I have been through a period of transition over the last couple of years. I left little bread crumbs (in the form of GIFs) leading you to what the last and very most important transition in my life pertained to. If you have already read the About the Author section in the website, you may already know. It was my transition from being an audiologist to becoming an author. If anyone had asked Hey, have you ever thought about a second career as an author? I would have responded in turn, as nearly all my patients did over the course of my wonderful and fulfilling 30 year audiology career; by saying WHAT?? Then, I would have giggled and said nope. Yet, here I sit, blogging, having written a children's book of poetry, securely wrapped within the tenants of mindfulness. So there you have it, me in a nutshell... ... I am my words. I say what I mean, mean what I say, speak in the tone of how I would if we were simply kibitzing over a cup of coffee, and finally through the words of a budding author. There is so much more to share, but it is better left for the next blog. Let's meet back here once and a while and talk. It'll be fun, come and see! Also, if you liked what you read, like the post, share it with everyone you know and sign up for more! Your privacy will be coveted.
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