A little motivation for hard work

Do I need to provide my kid with some motivation to do well in school and sports? Sometimes. Though they are young, my kids need a little extra push to remind them what's important and maybe help them prioritize. I've seen parents offer money as a reward for certain achievements - academic and athletic. Hit a home run, get $20. Get an "A", $20 goes into your piggy bank. My kid is not a professional athlete, or even a professional student for that matter, I'm not paying her for doing what she should be doing - getting good grades, helping the team by turning in a good individual performance. You work hard, you see results, you are rewarded with a good grade or a good athletic outcome. But we did recently try to light a fire under Diana's academic skin to help her prioritize and help her understand the importance of what she is doing at school. Fourth grade is tough. There is more homework, it's more intense, there are projects and it can be very stressful for a little person. To keep her motivated, we had to offer up a reward. She was promised an American Girl doll for her 10th birthday in June if she gets on the honor roll all year long. Now, keep in mind that her grades area already good. She's on track to make honor roll, but we all need a little motivation and incentive for the end result. Diana was excited about the prospect of finally getting a "real" American Girl doll. She's been working hard, studying well, paying attention in class and hopefully all of that will lead to a great end result. I'm OK with rewarding good things, when it comes as the result of hard work.

My extended Girl Scout family

There are few times when I get out of the house and spend some girl time to myself. I cherish every opportunity I have to mingle with friends, and just de-compress for a little bit. I attended our Girl Scout Service Unit meeting last week and it was a great chance to listen and be inspired by some of the other leaders we have in our area this year. I hope these new leaders are inspired by the veteran leaders and can take away some best practices from them. I've offered my phone number and email to new leaders in the past and they never called when they needed help coming up with ideas for meetings. A year later, their troop disbanded and they were done with Girl Scouts. I felt the most energy at this meeting than I have at previous Service Unit meetings. I really think that this year is going to be a great Girl Scout year...not just for my troop but for our whole area. One of Diana's friends has joined Girl Scouts for the first time this year and her mom is a leader. I've met her a couple of times and she's nice. I told her that she is more than welcome to call me if she ever needs ideas. I gave her some places where I've found great ideas (Pinterest being just one). I hope she calls if she ever feels overwhelmed or at a loss for a meeting activity. I don't like to consider myself a mentor, but I think us women and moms have to rely and count on one another. Oftentimes, women see each other as competition for everything - who can run faster, who can balance more, who can have more kids. With Girl Scouts, it's one troop vs. another during cookie season, but it doesn't have to be that way. It's silly really. We need to be on the same page, the same team. I hope that I can develop some friendships with these new leaders and have some "jam sessions" so to speak and bounce ideas off one another.

A family reunion to remember forever

Some people have friends who you can go years without seeing and when the time comes to reunite, you pick up where you left off. You talk about old times, you catch up on new times and nothing has changed. You might go another 20 years without seeing each other, only keeping up with one another on social media, but it's, again, like old times. I had a moment like that this weekend with family. My awesome mom put together a family reunion with both sides of my family - my mom's and my dad's. There are people on these two sides of the family that may have never met before, but there we were - in the same house, laughing together, asking each other how are families are somewhat intertwined. We all have something in common - my mom, dad, sister and me. I had the chance to have an awesome conversation with a cousin I hadn't seen in years. It's been so long since I'd seen her that her three youngest kids had no idea who I was. Sad really since I have a picture of my sister with her second oldest hanging in my house. Getting a chance to have mommy talk and wife talk with her (she's just a bit older than me) was amazing. I was so inspired talking to her because she's so calm, laid back and chill. I saw who I want to be as a mom. I wish I could be as laid back as her and never yell at my kids, but that just doesn't seem to be in the formula for the day. It was great to see other cousins who I only see on Facebook and who I just adore. It was great to see my aunts and uncles who live so far away and who I wasn't sure if they would be at this wonderful event. We have to cherish every moment we have with family. Whether they live under our roofs or not, we have to make the most of every day. We have to make positive memories that last forever. I will remember our little family reunion for a long time and hope that we can make it an annual thing. I hope that more family can come and share in the joy. I still can't believe that we stayed at my sister's house for more than 6 hours (part of that was because of the lengthy Giants game), but it was so wonderful. All the laughter, all the stories and all the catching up. If we only do it once a year, it will be worth it.