If there's no Santa, what about God?

My son, ever so matter-of-factly, informed me that he has known for several years now that there is no Santa. That night, the common follow-up question arrived. "Is there any proof that there is a God?" he solemnly asked.

With all my heart and soul, I told him that the proof was looking me right in the eyes. His immediate smile, beaming as bright as Bethlehem's star, was proof to me that I was right.

Merry Christmas!

Seventeen magazine not suitable for girls

I received my daughter's first copy of Seventeen magazine in the mail today. I searched online before I ordered to make sure that it's content was appropriate for a 15 year old, and found most reviewers to say that it was just fine for 14-20 year-olds.

Well, it's fine if you want your daughter to have a new hook-up manual mailed every month to your home. There is definitely a tone of "What the heck, have sex, it's fun! But here are some tips on doing it with style..."

I called the magazine and they gave me the correct number to call to get a refund, in this case a school magazine fundraiser company. They promptly said I could switch to another magazine.

I'm glad I took the time, which like you I have little of, to have a curious and caring eye. Never underestimate the influence you have over your kids. Doing nothing in this case would have been doing something. It would have sent the message to my daughter that I agree with the content of that magazine, which I most certainly do not!

Tyler Perry's 'I Can Do Bad All by Myself' is No. 1 in weekend box office!

Speaking of movies for the family, (this one PG13) Tyler Perry has done it again topping the box office sales for opening movies this weekend. If you are not familiar with Madea my friends, it is time to make up for lost time. Go to the theaters and enjoy!

The Blanket

Ask anyone in my house what "the blanket" is, and you're sure to get a smile. When I'm caught off guard as we watch a movie together, and an inappropriate scene is bestowed upon us, I quickly cover the screen with my blanket. Between not getting to the T.V. in time, and the lack of desire to fund hollywood's moral decay, I had to find a better system.

And that I did. It is the website called "Kids in Mind". (www.kids-in-mind.com) It gives comprehensive reviews for parents interested in what their kids are watching. It rates three categories, Sex & Nudity, Violence & Gore, and Profanity on a scale from 1-10, and gives detailed descriptions. In fact I often check out movies that I am to watch without the kids, as I am less inclined to rent or go see a movie with 57 F-words. (What's that about!)

So pop some popcorn, grab your favorite couch or spot on the floor, and if it's a hot summer night, you can skip the blanket!

2009 New York Book Festival Honorable Mention

I am tickled to say that I just won an Honorable Mention at the New York Book Festival!

CLICK HERE to view Book trailer.

Burger King's Sir Mix A-lot Ad

I don't watch a lot of TV. It's idiotic content irks me. So if Burger King's Sir mix a-lot / Spongebob kids meal commercial has been out for a while, please excuse my tardiness in response. This creepy ad incorporates "Baby Got Back" into a ninety-nine cent kids meal ad. Did they also pay only ninety-nine cents for the idea? Are they afraid lack of nutrition isn't enough to bring children down? I have the sentiment of Droopy when he says "You know what? That makes me mad", but my physical response is more like that of the Tasmanian Devil. You might say I'm broiling mad!

Making a Book Trailer

I had more fun making this book trailer than I did making the book! The kids were too cute, and Apple's iMovie application was versatile and easy to learn. Check it out!

Selecting a Finished Art Style

Prior to working on "Standing on My Own Two Feet", I was illustrating the Mallory series with a hand painted black line and computer generated combination technique. Eager to use paints again, I played around with several different styles. Being a mother first leaves me limited time to work, so whatever style I chose, it had to be a quick one! I particularly liked the look of the upper right study. I decided against it for one reason: I wanted babies to easily recognize every part of the boy, from the tippy top of his head...down to his toes. So I chose a style with (roughly) proportionate figures and a clean outlined drawing.

The technique I ended up using was painting on both sides of velum mylar, or a translucent plastic sheet of 'paper'. Will Hillenbrand, an inspiring children's book author and illustrator, has mastered this technique, which is why I called him when my paint started peeling off the mylar. God bless his helpful soul! It ended up being a more time consuming technique than I originally thought, and had less time to finish final art than I originally thought...five weeks! Thanks to my husband for doing ALL the household chores for those long for him and short for me days.

Do check out www.willhillenbrand.com for his great advice on writing and illustrating children's books.

The Making of a Book

On the rare occasion that I clean my studio, as I move my organized 'piles', I am reminded of exactly how much work goes into the making of a book. I thought it might be fun to share the process with you. Maybe once my work is documented I can get rid of some of my piles. Maybe.

As an author and illustrator, it is most natural for me to conceptualize the words and pictures simultaneously. So I start right away with lots of notes and sketches.


The next step is to sort of 'storyboard' your book, or rough in what each spread will look like.
Then a small scale dummy is made, so that you can see exactly what happens as you flip through the pages. (A dummy is a prototype, or mock-up. And you're not a dummy to ask : )

The next step is to make a full size dummy. Before I do that, however, if I don't have a particular finished art style in mind, I have to decide on one. It's time to get out the paints... or markers, pastels, pencils, etc... and get busy!

What do A-Rod and Michael Phelps have in common besides illegal drug use?

What do A-Rod and Michael Phelps have in common besides illegal drug use? They both present us parents with teachable moments. My first reaction is to be angry at these undesirable actions made by the very people our children look up to. Then I have to take a deep breath and accept the gift of an opportunity to talk about these issues with the kids.

Having no bus service to my children's school is a blessing, given that I find it the best time to talk casually with them. (Not to mention that I have a captive audience.) I keep it simple and forthright, but when I do lose it and and start to get a bit preachy, I remind myself that their rolling eyes and claims of not listening are no reflection of the positive influence it has on them.

Talk, talk, talk!

A Love Story

I believe we are taught best by the examples of others, and I believe these others do not cross our paths by mistake. My husband and I met a woman, or should I say, was sent a woman to teach us the power of prevailing love and gratitude. She had every reason to be bitter, with losing her only son to a car accident when he was a teenager, and her best friend and loving husband of over fifty years to a sudden heart attack. Instead of harboring anger, she radiated joy at such a frequency that we felt it from the top deck of a Lake Geneva ferry boat as it returned to the dock to pick up this exuberant minute-late tourist.

The law of attraction would have it that she appeared right behind us looking for a place to sit, attached to her face a smile bigger than the lake itself. I scrambled to find her a chair and sat it next to mine. We sat and talked for the whole two hour tour, at one time actually being told to quiet down by the tour guide over the loud speaker. My personal tour guide was more like a shepherd, not only coloring me the history of the lake more thoroughly than a Fodor guide book, but showing me what a life of happiness could look like if I let it.

Towards the end of the tour she pointed out the finest restaurant on the lake, not so humbly perched, and fluffing it's feathers as if to lure in those who dare. Without the slightest hint of melancholy, she showed us the corner window where her and her husband used to dine every time they came to Lake Geneva. She was quite positive that I would sell enough of my newly released book to afford the experience, and I could do nothing but go along with that notion. We ended up dining together that evening, finishing our drinks on the deck overlooking the carthemus pink sunset over the lake.

I believe I have a crush on this tiny blue-eyed woman who came in to my life for a fleeting moment, teaching me a lesson that will last a lifetime. We all said goodbye somehow confident that we would meet again. I've never wanted to return to a vacation destination, as there is more world than I have time to see, but I have a feeling this repeat would be worth missing a new view or two!

Book Trailers

The new trend in promoting books are book trailers, and I've been lassoed in. I'm devoted to climbing the slow but exciting learning curve of iMovie, and to mastering the gift of getting my 'actors' to cooperate. At this time I have more out-takes than in-takes. Here are a few...

The Dance Crasher Strikes Again

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Or will they? Since my article in the Enquirer on inappropriate dancing at jr. high mixers ("We have a responsibility to guide children" - June 2, 2008 - also posted on blog below) I have become somewhat of a dance crasher. Last weekend I slipped into another dance as the song "Let It Rock" was starting to the roar of delighted tweens and teens. I couldn't tell whether it was the edited version or not, but it doesn't matter; the kids know and enthusiastically sing the explicit version. If you're not familiar with the lyrics, they include "Panties drop. And the tops. And she gunna rock 'til the camera stop" - and becomes even more explicit. Not nearly as explicit as last years' seventh and eighth grade dance hit "Crank That Soulja Boy". (Do yourself a favor and Google the lyrics to that song!)

Words may not be all that can hurt our children; after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. One glance at any Myspace site and you're sure to cringe. The big trend now is to take a photo of yourself from above as to highlight your cleavage, some including peeping nipples. And it get worse. It's popular, seemingly legal, and no exaggeration, kiddy porn.

It's no wonder children are sending each other nude photos over their cell phones, and jig humping each other on the dance floor. I'm going to say what I said before, "I just don't get it."

The good news is, parents can make a difference. A few months ago I was invited to meet the head chaperone at a jr. high dance, whom I had sent my article. I was a little nervous and feeling a bit like Dana Carvey's character, The Church Lady. The chaperone's warm welcome and and even warmer smile was a relief. In fact all the parents involved were very upbeat. One of them had a sign pinned to his back that read "Zero tolerance for inappropriate dancing!!" There were similar signs on the DJ's desk, and the DJ announced it throughout the night. How did the children react? They said it was no fun. Was attendance down at the next dance? No, in fact it was up.

The best advice I ever received from a veteran parent was to "keep your kids close". Knowing where they are, what they're listening to, and watching is crucial to their emotional health. I check my children's phones and websites frequently. This formable time in their lives is not a time to give them their privacy or give in to trends. In spite of the initial reaction you'll get from them, they'll not only thrive on, but crave boundaries. All children want is to have a little fun, and be safe in the process. Many parents came up to me and thanked me for my previous article, and that felt great. But what really made my efforts worthwhile was when an eighth grade girl thanked me. Now that's what it's all about.

DIVORCE - Helping children to cope with this difficult change.

Check out my article, "DIVORCE - Helping children to cope with this difficult change." in this month's issue of ParentGuide, NYC's oldest and largest local parenting publication. Click on cover image to view.

Downloadable Bookmark

I've just added a downloadable bookmark of the Six Golden Rules to Help Children Through Divorce (see earlier post) to my website. Click on image if you'd like your own "BookMinder".

Divorce Day: Is it this first working Monday of the new year?

Kindly waiting for the holidays to be over, this first working Monday of the new year is thought to be the day most people file for divorce. But some lawyers argue that the big day is April 16th, once finances are neatly revealed. With Valentine's Day in between, I'm sure Hallmark prefers the latter. Either way, according to the courts, January is the month when most divorces are filed.

With this in mind, keep any children involved in your hearts. Let them know often that the divorce is not their fault and that their parents love them to pieces, just the same as they always did!

I hope you have a very happy and peaceful new year!