Lil Miss Swagger~

Master P puts another seed on the set, with his 13 yr-old daughter Cymphonique, makin’ her debut vid this month, and it’s the shyt!~

“Lil Miss Swagga“, Master P’s baby gurl’s vid is off the chain!    I think it is cute as fluck!

It’s not like she was slackin on hers while her bruh Romeo was in the spotlight.  She has trained in ballet, jazz, tap and hip-hop dance.   She has appeared in several national commercials and TV programs including Nickelodeon’s “Just Jordan” and “Mad TV.”    She is the voice for Gretchen on Disney Channel’s animated series “Phineas and Ferb.”  

Her group Fabulous Girls recently opened for Raven Symone.

Dont get it twisted.

She. Quietly. Has. It Goin’. On.

Watch out Beyonce!  This just might be your “mini-me”!~

http://www.myspace.com/cymphonique

The wonderful thing about creating short films is that they can be anything –– the only limit beyond the cost of production is that of your own imagination. Therefore, coming up with an idea for your script can be challenging.

How do you choose the right way to tell your tale? The following techniques will help filmmakers and educators alike to create compelling and screen-worthy scripts.

The best short films often focus on ONE moment or event in the life of ONE main character. The moment you choose to write about must have a story at its heart, a conflict that needs resolution, a deadline for action, and/or a choice that a character has to make.

Your goal is to successfully engage your audience, relate to your viewers and create something unique. To begin, there are three basic script idea elements: a world, a character and a problem.

The World

For your audience, it is important to establish an instantly recognizable world. Set your film around a memorable, universal event or ritual: a first date, a wedding, the first day of school, dinner with stuffy relatives, etc.

With a setting of this sort, you can generate the audience’s familiarity with the situation and don’t have to spend much time setting up the story’s exposition. It is unusual for a short film to take place over a long period of time, so consider writing your script, more or less, in “real” time.

A story that spreads over more than a few days is unlikely to work well as a short film. Keep your time line simple.

The Character

Once you have decided which significant event in the life of your main character to focus on, the most important questions to then ask yourself are, “Who is this character?” and “What must they overcome?”

To answer these, start by writing a brief back story for your character. Include information such as where they come from, what they do for fun, what their parents are like, why this event is so pivotal for them, etc.

Not all of this information will go into your script, but it will help you develop a well-rounded and realistic character. A back story will also assist you in deciding what motivates you character will have and establishing the conflict they will face. Classic literary conflicts range from: person vs. person or group, person vs. self, person vs. society, person vs. nature, and person vs. machine.

The Problem

Aristotle defined character as “that which reveals moral purpose, showing what kind of things a man chooses or avoids.” Your main character, or protagonist, is the one who has the conflict, and if there is not a conflict in your script, then you don’t have a film.

Decide what is driving you character’s wants, needs and/or obligations. Then, once you decide what is driving your main character, you need to throw a road block, or foible, in their way.

Create something to make the situation harder for your character to pursue what they want and/or need. This will move your story forward.

With character and conflict in place, now you must consider how to manifest the conflict of your story for your audience. Make sure that you demonstrate your skill as a filmmaker and not just as a storyteller; you need to “show” and not just tell your audience the conflict.

Your audience cannot look inside a character’s head, so they need to see characters DOING things that show the audience what they think and feel.

First decide if the stakes are high enough. Ensuring that there is something at stake in your story means that the audience can understand what the character stands to lose if they don’t solve or overcome their problem.

If the story is hinged around a life or death situation, then the stakes are clear. However, if the conflict is simply that the character’s car breaks down, think about how you can set up your tale so that the audience knows why this really matters.

Is your character late to see the most important game of the century? Is he going to miss the opportunity of a lifetime or lose the girl of his dreams if he can’t get the car started? The audience has to value and recognize the urgency of the conflict to help the story move forward.

Finally, ask yourself, are you telling the story from the best point of view? Consider the story of Cinderella, and imagine if you told the same story from a stepsister’s point of view. The story may have the same plot, but a different perspective. Contemplate the point of view you are telling your story from in order to keep your script interesting to your audience.

Whether you are in the classroom or writing on your own, let your imagination fly and play with your script ideas. Remember to keep your thinking focused and avoid clichés. Write what you know and feel passionately about.

To spark ideas, try watching as many short films as you can. You will get inspiration and a feel for how to “show” a great story in a short amount of time. Scriptwriting is an art form, and creating art is never easy.

Your goal is to create a fresh, original and unexpected vision with a universal and clear situation, a high stakes conflict and a relatable character. It is said that everyone has a story to tell; now it’s time to get scriptwriting!

by Danielle Koprowski

My Dad had two sayings I remember very distinctly from my childhood. The first was “I may not always be right, but I am never wrong.” The second, “I thought I made a mistake once, but I was wrong.” As you can imagine for a man who used these phrases often, it was rather impossible for him to admit a mistake and I am certain that the words, “I am sorry” never crossed his lips in my presence.

Never being able to admit fault and apologize is a very painful way to go though life, it is truly detrimental to relationships. Let that not be you.

For some of us, as parents, it is very difficult to admit fault and apologize to our kids, especially if your models (your parents) were anything like mine. But it can be really freeing when we are able to do this because we no longer have to be perfect, to be right all the time (or pretend that we are) and we have a way to repair our mis-steps with our kids.

Be the model for your children that teaches, it is okay to make mistakes and you can repair relationships with the words, “I am sorry.”

Question of the week: Is it a challenge for me to apologize to my kids? If so, what can I do about it?

Danielle Koprowski
Free To Be Parenting Support
ACPI Certified Coach for Parents
www.freetobeparenting.com

This holiday season wewould like offe you themost delightful of fantasies for you and your kids. We are pleased to announce the release of Mary Cunningham’s fourth book in the acclaimed Cynthia’s Attic series. Step back into adventure with Cynthia and Gus as they head out on their most dramatic escapade yet.

* * *

Click Cover to Buy Now

Sebastien the Great, a magician whose fiancée, Kathryn, disappears through the magic trunk, vows revenge. If Cynthia and Gus don’t find a missing page from the “Book of Spells,” Cynthia’s family could face financial and personal ruin.

Follow this time-traveling duo as they journey back to a 1914 Swiss castle where Eva, Sebastien’s grandmother, gives them clues on where to begin their search. Their journey takes them through miles of tree tunnels, an enchanted garden ruled by a cranky rock monster, and even high in the Alps. They get the surprise of their lives when they’re sent 50 years into the future, have a shocking encounter with another set of best friends, and receive a fresh set of clues that could lead to Kathryn’s return. But, at what price?

“I wish I had a magic attic!” – Laura Schaefer, author – The Teashop Girls

“This latest novel is action-packed and full of twists and turns that will keep most middle-grade readers glued to the pages. The pace moves pretty quickly and the dialogue is interesting and even witty at times. The banter between the two best friends is often funny, adding humor to the story.” Blog Critics – Mayra Calvani

* * *

Click Mary to visit her web site.

Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning ‘Tween fantasy/mystery series, Cynthia’s Attic. She is proud to announce the release of book four, The Magician’s Castle (DEC 1, 2009). Her children’s mystery series was inspired by a recurring dream about a mysterious attic. After realizing that the dream took place in the home of her childhood friend, Cynthia, the dreams stopped and the writing began.

Her home is in the mountains of West Georgia where she lives with her husband (best buddy and story critic!).

She is also co-writer of the humor-filled, women’s lifestyle book, “Women Only Over Fifty (WOOF),” along with published stories, “Ghost Light” and “Christmas With Daisy,” a Cynthia’s Attic short story.

Buy Cynthia’s Attic: The Magician’s Castle (Book Four) on Amazon  or on Echelon Press today!

Also available on Amazon: The Missing Locket, The Magic Medallion, Curse of the Bayou

Mary Cunningham                 Books

Book One: The Missing Locket ISBN: 978-1-59080-441-4
Book Two: The Magic Medallion ISBN: 978-1-59080-460-5
Book Three: Curse of the Bayou ISBN: 978-1-59080-575-6

If only I could make a recording urging the kids to leave me a message at the beep! But instead I settle for saying through the closed-door “Mommy’s not here, try again later” the only one who seems to buy it is my 2-year-old, Josh. He always responds with “Daddy?”… Oh hell yes sucker!! It’s your turn Daddy!

Life with 5 kids is a circus and I am the ring master whom a lion will eventually turn on and devour.

Jackson is now 8 weeks old and my beautiful little “oh shit  how’d that happen” baby is perfect. He breastfeeds like a freakin champ, sleeps like an angel and poops like he has a serious case of IBS. Often I wonder if he’s bored because he sits around crossing his eyes, making funny faces and farting as loud as he possibly can and thats how my 12-year-old acts when he’s bored.  I try to entertain Jackson but he just looks at me like “my funny faces are better than yours, what else you got?”

Joshua aka The Hulk aka The Tyrant is lovin having a little brother… maybe a little too much and I imagine Jackson thinks we’re nuts for letting this 2-year-old monster who stalks around saying “me hulk, me crush you” near him. Josh is great with the baby, but he has this crazy idea that he can pick him up and that he can sleep in the bassinet with him. So I’ve been sleeping with one eye open for the last two months.

Since Jackson’s birth I’ve started to suspect that my other 3 think I’m the dumbest person alive and incapable of doing almost everything.

The other day Sarah whose 8 and in the 2nd grade waited until her Daddy  got home to get help with her homework. When I asked why she didn’t bring it to me she simply responded “It’s math Mom.” WTH? Believe it or not I can add and subtract!

A few days later Braeden (my 6-year-old)  got pissed off and threw his toy truck against the wall causing it to break into a thousand little pieces- that no one could ever put back together. I picked up the broken parts and headed for the trash, he stopped me by screaming.. “you can’t fix it but Daddy can!” I swear my husband has these kids so snowed! They think he’s the freakin Dalai Lama of fixing shit when he’s actually Tim “the Toolman” Taylor.

My 12-year-old, Lowgan thinks I’m dumb but in a different way then the others.. he thinks I’m dumb and old. OLD!?  I try to tell him that 29 isn’t old and I try to convince him I’m cool by dancing around the house to the Black Eye Peas and fitting 50 cent into conversations- so HE knows, that I know its cent not cent(s)… but I’m pretty sure it just convinces him even more that I’m dumb and old.

Having 5 children hasn’t been as bad as I expected during my pregnancy with Jackson. Because at that time I thought I would be caring for 5 kids, keeping a spotless house and cooking edible meals. What I’ve learned over the past 8 weeks is this:

1. If they aren’t bleeding it’s not really a fight and I should let them work it out on their own.
2. As long as there’s a clean cup for coffee the rest can wait.
3. Hamburger Helper really isn’t that bad.
4. Delegate- “Do I have clean work clothes?” says my husband “I don’t know, did you wash any?” says me.
5. My best friend is Nick Jr.
   
6. If all else fails send them to Daddy and/or blame Daddy.
   
7. It’s easier to sleep topless when breastfeeding a newborn.
8. If I’m not tripping over stuff, the house is clean.
9. The couch is an excellent locale for clean clothes.
10. Appointments are merely suggested times for arrival.

Jackson 8 weeks old

I picked up Ruby from school yesterday and she started asking me a bunch of questions about Christmas and Santa Clause.

The question that stands out the most is when she asked why Santa still brings presents to kids who have been naughty. She told me a story about a boy at school and how mean he is to others. She was wondering if he would get gifts from Santa. I said I wasn’t sure.

The kicker was when she said that even though she forged her dad’s signature last year, and was therefore considered “naughty,” she still got gifts from Santa. I explained that when Santa asks if you’ve been “naughty or nice” during the year, he means the entire year, and not just one event. So, just because she made an error in her judgement one time during the year, it doesn’t exclude her from receiving gifts from Santa.

Phew…that was close.

After her brother said she was fat, Karen (not her real name) vowed to do whatever it took to get into a pair of size 6 Calvin Klein jeans.  Most women who struggle with eating disorders remember this type of significant moment in their stories.  This vow included starving herself to the point that she passed out on a beach.  When she regained consciousness, the EMT asked her, “What can I do to prevent this from happening to my daughter?”  With tears in her eyes, she answered, “You can love her unconditionally.” 

 “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe these elephant thighs,” you remark in front of the mirror as you try on a new pair of jeans.  “Maybe I have elephantitis, and my doctor hasn’t diagnosed me yet.”  Your daughter hears this, and you both laugh.  But the problem with these types of negative body image statements is that they cut deeply into her soul, doing much more harm than you realize.  Such comments, even if said in jest, reinforce the belief in our culture which screams, “If you’re not toothpick thin, you are ugly.” 

This spurs girls, sometimes starting before age five, into dieting.  Then they begin the roller coaster ride of dieting and later bingeing because they feel so starved.  This leads to shame, which leads back to dieting again.  Even if they get down to a normal size, they still feel fat.  If they have people-pleasing, perfectionistic personalities, they often get swallowed up with anorexia.  If they are not people-pleasers, they often flirt with throwing up until it develops into full-blown bulimia.  But when they throw up, they are actually trying to purge all the hurtful feelings stored in their hearts.  This is why learning to express true feelings is so important.  (I will write more about this in another blog.)

Here are some ways you can protect your daughter (or son, as more and more boys are developing eating disorders) from eating disorders: 

• Avoid talking about dieting, fat, or your fanny.  Whenever you do this, your daughter is getting the message that her value rests on how thin she is
• Discourage dieting, as it usually leads to a lifelong obsession with black-and-white thinking in regards to food
• Discourage your daughter from looking at beauty and fashion magazines.  Research shows this leads to depression
• Stop praising girls for their beauty.  Instead, focus on their other strengths and accomplishments, When we praise girls for their appearance, we reinforce the cultural tsunami of lies that drown girls in feelings that they are only valued for their appearance.
• Be aware that certain activities such as ballet, modeling, gymnastics, and wrestling often emphasize thinness, which puts your child more at risk for developing an eating disorder
• Encourage your child find out which physical activities he or she enjoys, so they can have fun while getting exercise
• Promote a healthy lifestyle.  Research shows that kids tend to pick up their parents’ lifestyle habits, whether they are smoking, exercising, obsessing about dieting, or eating lots of sweets.  Work toward moderation so that they don’t feel deprived, yet get the benefits of a well-rounded eating pattern

Of course there are no guarantees, but these suggestions will help your child to feel good about himself or herself, appreciating the unique characteristics that God has given them.   Also keep in mind that many more boys and men are now falling prey to eating disorders. 

© Cherrie Herrin-Michehl, MA, LMHC and Fannies:  Reflections on Cookie Dough, Life, and Your Derriere and Fannies:  Reclaiming the Plunder of the Body Image Bandit, 2007 – 2047. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cherrie Herrin-Michehl, MA, LMHC and Fannies:  Reflections on Cookie Dough, Life, and Your Derriere with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 This article is taken from a newsletter on my web site:  www.notjustsymptoms.com.  Click on Newsletters on the right side of the home page.

Are you at a loss for interesting items to add to the kids’ stockings this year?  Consider the following:

Mini gum-ball machine:   $3.50 at www.beau-coup.com

Origami kit:  around $16 per kit at www.amazon.com

Treasure box:  Any choice of boxes will do (wooden, cardboard, etc) – especially when filled with all sorts of pirate booty.  Tip:  If you choose wood, the kids can paint them and have a treasure hunt while they dry! $4.99 for 12 at www.orientaltrading.com

Flexible wax sticks:  $20 for a set of 500 at www.bendaroos.com

OTHER: 
For girly girls:  Manicure sets or bath & body lotions.

For the little gardener:  seed packets and garden tools

For the LED keychain lover:  (Yes, that is specific!)….Novelty LED Key Chains for $4.99 found at the Container Store.

Tween boys:  Laser pointer.  Don’t ask why, but boys this age love these gadgets.  ($5 at Target).

Let’s not forget the adults…

For the eco-minded coffee drinker: “I am not a paper cup.”  Surprise! This clever cup looks like one of those cups from your favorite coffee shop, but it’s actually a reusable 10 oz. thermal porcelain cup.

These are available at your local Container Store or Z Gallerie.

What other stocking stuffers do you suggest?

Source for some of the ideas above: 

Real Simple magazine, Family edition (Fall 2009).

The Young Minds Digital Times Student Film Competition has made overseas news recently. Over ten countries have taken an interest in the contest, and Young Minds Digital Times has been highlighted on Teaching News , a site aimed to share the latest news, links and teaching ideas, in order to support teachers around the world.

Teaching News was created this year by merging two existing teacher blogs: Primary Teacher UK, created by Andrew Ross in 2005, and Teaching Blog, originally created in May 2009. Together they share news, best practices, educational issues, lesson ideas and resources, student competitions, and professional development and helpful links for educators worldwide thanks to Mark Warner, the Teacher News director.

Mark has been running websites (mainly Teaching Ideas but a few others too) since 1998, and  these resources receive visitors worldwide. His sites are extremely popular with thousands of free ideas, resources, and activities for teachers.

We are all very excited for this year’s competition and its growing interests abroad. For more information, check out our www.youngmindsdigitaltimes.com. Register today!

My 11 year old came home from school today with some really exciting news.  Now this is a guy who doesn’t get excited about a lot of things.  He announced, “You’ll never guess what happened.  It was the most amazing thing.  I finally, after all these years made it to the back row in the Christmas play!”  I laughed.

“You mean you’re one of the taller ones now?”, I asked.

“Yes, but it was close.  Kelby was in the back row and then they realized that I was taller than Kelby so they move me to the back row.  Can you believe it?  Isn’t that awesome?”

Okey dokie then.  If that’s what does it for you.  If only I could be that excited about the little things in life.

Best Inexpensive Stocking Stuffers for Tween Girls
I always chuckle when I read some advertisments for inexpensive stocking stuffers. I don’t consider $10-$25 for one stocking stuffer ‘inexpensive’. Here are useful, fun, creative girls’ stocking stuffers regularly priced under $3 each.
Read More

2009 DEC 14

Does it ever feel like the kids run the show?

Are you like me and wonder if video games (VG) can actually ruin a child’s life? Not because they carry sexual undertones. Nope. And no, not from the violence or profanity, although quite disturbing. How about learning about the most up-to-date warfare? One could say that is, quasi-educational. How to properly  hold a machine gun seems the new curricula for tween boys. God forbid it should ever come in handy in a combat situation.

I am more referring to how video games seep into a child’s mind and take hold of it. The game dictates when to play, what to play and with whom. It becomes an obsession for some kids. Independent thinking falls away from a child on video games. Sure, a few hours a day of screentime, no big deal. But when the kid cannot function without the game, that’s problematic. When a child grows depressed because he lacks the financial cushion that would allow him game shopping indulgence, what parent can deny this kind of behavior is problematic?

To look at a child in this state of mind, one might think he lost a best friend. Video games are not friends. Games do not interact with you on a personal level. Games cannot ask if you want to head upstairs and make nachos for lunch. But to kids,  games may seem like friends–except far more disposable. Play the game. Play it some more. Keep playing. Get sick of game, but play it some more. C’mon one last time. Then, discard it and buy new game. Oh, can’t afford it? Buy it used. And don’t even get me started on the racket of the used games market that preys on kids and their wallets.

From a parent perspective, video games share a common parallel to addiction. For some kids, video games are like a drug in the body’s system. Without it, the user craves it,  obsesses over it and goes through great length to get it.  Try to detox the kid from gaming and you have a small war on your hands. Ask the kid to shovel snow. Forget it,  kids on games think work is something for adults. Try to suggest a fun “crafty” idea for the kids-they look at you as if you’ve stopped taking your meds. And while parents pull their hair out while trying to unclasp the controller from their kid’s hands, we soon realize how little control we have as parents. We cannot always be there to MAKE our kids make the right decisions. Certainly we cannot control their every move or mission.

Now some will say, come on, you are the parent make them stop playing the game. And you are correct to say so. We  can unplug the electronic devices and mandate reading time, homework and bedroom tidying, but that’s not my point. Once a child is sucked into the video game abyss, their mind may take a path that no one can predict. Certain behavior makes that child’s mind appear as if it cannot live without a quick VG fix. That mind won’t function “happily” without that which it seeks; a digital screen splash with blood and guts.  What used to bring natural joy to the child appears lost or worse, permanently destroyed.

Am I the crazy one to think the kid needs psychotherapy to help curb this bad habit? Maybe I’m the one who meed to schedule an appointment to sit on the couch? Afterall, I made the dreadful mistake of inviting that little box  into my home . No one at Target forced me to buy it. No one sent threats to my doorstep for failing to periodically update the game inventory scattered among food wrappers and dirty dishes in my basement.

Ask the working parent how to survive without video games. One hour turns into two; two into three. And am I hearing four, anyone? Truth is, we cannot remove the games until we are willing to step into the child’s life, play a game of Uno or Monopoly and connect.  And not just today or tomorrow, but indefinitely. Imagine if parents were the new game replacement. But many working parents simply do not know how to make that happen, including me, at times.  But I am confident that many parents do know how. They are my heros.  It is my hope to watch them helping others parents learn to create limits, set timers and amp up the communication that helps parents and kids stop abusing VG time. The first step is asking the question-does my family abuse screentime?

My first regimen of make-up supplies included a liquid foundation that I used only once and never used again until I was 17 and an eyeliner pencil that admittedly I was not keen to learn how to use while I was still in high school and was therefore not very good at applying it. My regimen consisted of these two items and maybe 2 tiny palettes of eyeshadow throughout high school and even into my first year in college.

Had to admit that before I go into this rant.

I was browsing though Sephora.com to compare brush prices (and was appalled at how much cosmetic brushes cost—$30+ for a set of similar-looking brushes—when I’ve seen paint brushes similar in hair composition for less than $5). I got a free set of travel brushes from Victoria’s Secret about a month ago, and sometimes I turn geek and use paintbrushes instead of cosmetic brushes on my face (of course the soft, nylon brushes for watercolor painting, the softest and smoothest to the face), so I haven’t really had to worry about getting any new brushes, but there was a product review that caught my attention:

“I bought this for my daughters first makeup but ended up returning it as they were too cheap even for an 11 year old.” —joon2, Sephora Brand Mini Clear Brush Set

Of course my curiosity prompted me to Google make-up on children, and came across a few pages here for it and here against it. Make-up on kids isn’t of course new, being that there are such things as beauty pageants for little girls who dress in big, pastel-colored, poofy princess gowns and wear full-faced make-up, from foundation and blush to eyeliner details. But why?!?! Why does an 11-year-old need to wear make-up, even if it’s just lip-gloss or mascara? Some reasons I came across include but of course aren’t limited to:

• impressing boys
  (who grow up thinking that the girls they should look for are the ones that look like supermodels; they don’t know any better)
• being “pretty”
  (which suggests little girls are naturally ugly, even though they aren’t fully developed until at least 18 years of age, and maybe older!)
• looking grown-up
  (sad how they don’t appreciate their physical youth when it’s something that typically doesn’t last very long)
• feeling confident or even glamorous
  (again, apparently because a select number of little girls are so emo about their plain, un-supermodel-ish faces)

Now my question is why are 11-year-old girls (or any girls younger than 16 for that matter) so worried about themselves and their egos and their appearances and the way people look at them? Why aren’t they worried about going outside and playing with their jump ropes and playing hop-scotch, or going out for a bike ride? Instead of making-up their faces, why aren’t making crafts like the the little kids from my generation did a decade ago? Why do little girls even sacrifice their sleep to wake up incredibly early and spend hours doing their hair and make-up every fucking morning?! Do they not have anything better to do?

I understand that make-up is a hobby for a lot of girls (even for myself, once in a while), but something’s wrong when a little girl spends at least an hour being a narcissist in front of a mirror for the above reasons. What also bothers me is when she doesn’t realize that regular make-up use can cause skin damage and irritation well before a little girl has reached her prime (high school years and the few years after), the products in make-up typically cause faster aging especially when used regularly, some oil-based make-up clog pores and make the skin more acne-prone, and some alcohol-based make-up removing “cleansers” are in fact toxic not just to the skin but also to the environment (considering that some drains lead to the ocean if not a waste water treatment plant, and us girls are washing that toxicity into our showers and sinks).

And not to mention, when cleaning eye make-up off, girls—young and mature—are more likely to pull off their eyelash hairs. And those don’t always grow back, resulting in boys and men who longer and fuller lashes than girls and women. That, my fellow females, is pretty sad.

I don’t plan on having kids but Greg wants a little girl, so if I ever do end up having a little girl she better stay away from mommy’s make-up until high school. She can go play softball with daddy.

All this past week, I have given you great ideas (at least I think so, but I am only just a little biased) for handmade gifts in less than 15 minutes. Today is no exception, except that it will be the last in a long string of Creative Christmas Gift Ideas (34 to be exact). Starting next week we’ll focus on creative gifts for ourselves to help us through the stressful season, and creative, fun things to do with the kids and family this holiday season – a gift of time and memory for your loved ones.

But today,  is a very big day.

Today is the day that we are exactly 2 weeks from Christmas. Two weeks!!!  It may be going fast, but if you are still looking for a great handmade-from-you gift idea for that hard-to-buy-for-loved-one, I am here to say that it isn’t too late. Really.

All you need is a 15 minute creative gift idea (idea #34) that works for young men, women, little girls, boys, and tweens alike: the beaded necklace.

The options are endless. (Of course, when working a necklace for men or boys – do they still call it a necklace? – choose wooden or darker, more ‘manly’ beads and either use leather string, jute, hemp or fully bead the necklace to keep it more suitable..) This necklace was created for, and by, Christopher here in the studio. He had a lot of fun doing it, wears it every day, and I must say that it looks really good on too!

The basics for beading a necklace are fairly simple – especially if you keep a simple project in mind before you start. To help you out, I have scoured the internet for some really great instructions (I found them at Squidoo). I have also found some really neat, and very basic necklaces for your inspiration: Cosmo girl has 3 simple ideas (I like the 2nd one the best) and I really thought that the Czech Beaded Flower Necklace on About.com was beautiful and would be a really fast, last-minute, sort of project.

And, if you like the idea, but really just don’t have the time, no problem! Give the gift of creative expression this holiday – package up the supplies, a selection of beads, print off the instructions posted on Squidoo, and package them all up in wrapping paper and a great big bow. The next best thing to having someone make you something handmade is having the fun of doing it yourself. (And this is a particularly good idea anyway if you are gifting a very picky tween or teenager because then they can make it the way they want.)

If you have anymore questions about this project, just email me. I can’t wait to get creative, fun, luxurious and even downright silly next week as we switch gears here in the studio…. only 2 weeks to go!!!

Ms. Markowitz,

Ok, so I’ve resulted to Plan B since you took the “high road” and alerted parents of my plan to try to get Dorland County’s children to willingly work in your wicker basket factories in hopes of raising a generation who share my life-long love for abolishing all labor laws and bringing back the 19th century industrialism.

Plan B is that I’ve been hanging out with teenagers.

Hear me out: everyone knows that children and teens alike are highly gullible (I’m not too sure about tweens. Not enough market research has been done in this area, save to determine that vampires are sexy). I will utilize this gullibility by presenting myself as Stryker PecsNabs: a cooler-than-cool teen who wandered into Dorland County and will be expressing his unique pro-industrialist ideals frequently and LOUDLY.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even throw in some vampire lore if anyone age 11-13 is nearby.

Having to shave my “Tycoon’s-Mustache” was heartbreaking; but I am hoping that “Stryker’s” views on how cool it is to work in factories and make the rich richer and the poor poorer will trickle down from seniors to kindergartners, creating a unstoppable fire inside the youth of this county. A fire that can never be put out, but only contained within the walls of a wicker basket factory.

But, unlike a REAL fire in a wicker basket factory, this will not produce horribly disastrous results. Children, tweens and teens will be happy. Parents will want to work alongside their children, thereby creating ADDITIONAL PROFITS. The wealthy industrialist who owns the wicker basket factory will invite me over for dinner (I’m assuming he or she is a wealthy industrialist. Otherwise I’ve no idea how they became owner of a factory). At dinner we will discuss my candidacy for presidency. They will be so moved by my obvious do-goodery that they will want to throw all of their silver dollars my way in support of my campaign.

I then will tell them that I should probably be in an elected office before running. They will use their power to overthrow you as PTA President of the Dorland County School District, and place me in the throne. This will make my bill for presidency stronger while proving to you that I can beat you in the political arena. Two birds with one wealthy stone.

Oh, and I read your threat of having “wrote the book” on the dirty politics game. Let’s see what you got, Ms. PTA-President-for-14-Years-Goody-Goody-Two-Shoes.

Stryker Out!

- Rupert Hornsby

Ok, I seriously need some help here! Here’s the story:

My sister Emma, aged 11, is totally and completely lost in the American singer, actress and massive teenage idol Miley Cyrus. My sister watches the TV program called Hannah Montana, she listens to the Miley Cyrus albums, her room is full of posters and she even wears clothes with the name Miley Cyrus printed on it. She is a true fan and that is perhaps not so strange since Miley Cyrus is named Queen of Tween World.

Anyway, when I saw that Miley Cyrus’ first live appearances outside the States were announced in London earlier this summer there was really no way of not getting the tickets. Now, the tickets have been hanging on my sister’s wall for almost four months and next Friday she and I are travelling to London to see Miley Cyrus perform at the O2 Arena.

In order to finance the trip (flights, hotel and tickets) I got the idea of getting a Danish newspaper interested in the story. This is the first time Miley Cyrus performs outside of the US – except from a private performance at the Disney World in Paris earlier this year. Therefore, the concert is pretty unique and will interest a bunch of teenage girls in Denmark.
So I went talking to a few newspapers and offered them that we could create some content for web or radio, or even an article for the printed issue with pictures and so on – and then in return get paid.
A local newspaper (in the area where my sister lives with her mother) bought the idea and offered me to write two pieces and in return they would give us some Sterling Pounds.
And this is where I am right now; stuck. I have never written anything like this before and it really stresses me out. And I need to write it now.
The first piece should explain the story about the phenomenon Miley Cyrus and also it should tell something about how big she really is in so many young girl’s lives.
But still, it must have some kind of a local focus.

Any suggestions or inputs on how to get started?

Here’s some inspiration – her newest single Party In The US:
It’s a pretty small skirt that 17-year old girl is wearing…

And her song about the environment – Wake Up America:

The music could be worse but she can’t be that bad of an idol with these kinds of lyrics:

Wake up America
We’re all in this together
It’s our home
So let’s take care of it
You know that you want to
You know that you got to

I was never a “tween.” Honestly, not only did the term  not exist, but there were no parenting guides for handling that particular budding hormonal disaster, and no marketing aimed at those between the ages of 9 and 12.  I was a little girl when I was 9 and 10, and I was a middle school student at 11 and 12, having secret crushes and incipient angst about dealing with my mother. Some of my female peers sprung fully woman-ized and lovely into middle school with social maturity, perfect hair and just a hint of lip gloss and Love’s Baby Soft, while others of us bumbled between the pull of childhood and the perils of growing up. Although there were a couple of boys who seemed very suave and adult in 6th and 7th grade, most of them (you will be shocked to know) were little boys until maybe some point in high school, or maybe some point in their 40s.  We were all over the place, with varying levels of hormones, social savvy, parental supervision and rebelliousness. I’m not usually all that old-fashioned, but I think I preferred it that way.

My son is a tween, I guess. Based on intense observation at close range, I am certain that he is mostly still a little boy, with only occasional demonstrations of teen attitude to serve as a warning of what’s to come. I have not actually read any of the literature on parenting tweens; I have not actually read any literature on parenting since I finished with T. Berry Brazelton. (Everything I need to know, I learn from “Supernanny” and “Wife Swap”).  I base my opinion that one and a half feet are still in childhood on the facts that Sam still calls me “Mumma” and wants me to sit with him when he’s sick or sad, that he would rather play than do his homework, and that he is not interested in girls (although they are interested in him, a situation which he treats with benign generosity and detachment). Signs of the impending apocalypse include the monstrous task of getting him up in the morning, his eagerness to take showers, and the rare but impressive fit of totally irrational fury and defiance. It’s sort of like watching Dr. Jekyll turn very slowly into Mr. Hyde; mostly we get the intelligent doctor with a top hat and a plummy accent, but sometimes we get the wild-eyed criminal with a Cockney growl.

In the great world outside, however, I am unhappy to note that “tweenagers” are actually living what used to be the life of high school students, ready or not. This undoubtedly puts tremendous pressure on kids who are just not “there” yet, particularly those of the female persuasion.  Sam has friends who “date,” and this is not the anxiety-ridden phone call and wadded up “do you like me?” note of my youth. This is constant texting, calling, facebook proclamations, and…actual dates. If, by the time you are 10 or 11, you have a cell phone and access to the internet, it takes really, really hard work on the part of parents to stay on top of what’s going on. I read Sam’s text messages on an intermittent basis, and have the password for his (legal) e-mail and  (illegal) facebook accounts; because of his gender and maturity level there has not yet been anything to discuss other than the fact that a certain friend should stop sending texts with dirty words in them because I might otherwise have to make an embarrassing phone call. I am aware of situations in which much more precocious classmates are conducting entire romances on cell phones and IM messages, both of which can be kept under parental radar in ways that our early phone calls (from our parents’ bedroom or the kitchen) could not be.

The other day, I picked Sam up from school along with a friend who was coming to our house for a sleepover; it emerged in conversation that there had been a violent altercation at the middle school that afternoon involving two girls. One, I was told, left in handcuffs, while the other was taken to the local hospital after being slammed into a locker with some force. The friend explained that he was the cause of the fight; the victim was his “girlfriend,” and the aggressor was “jealous” and had been “talking trash about them.” It would not have been terrifically “chill” for me to have mortified my child by saying what I was thinking, which was that the scenario was horrifying, and sounded more to me like “Tila Tequila’s Shot at Love” than middle school.

The average 11 or 12-year-old cannot possibly be psychologically equipped to deal with adult relationships and all that they entail. Do the participants really fall in love in any recognizable way, or are they acting based on what they think they should be doing, following cues from the outside world? What happens to the kids who really aren’t ready for even the pretense of romance, who are confronted on a daily basis by drama, angst and possibly a sense that they are failing because they are not part of it all? It’s entirely possible that all of the moving parts of these scenarios were exactly the same 35 years ago, but that it was repressed and suppressed by a combination of parental, school and social mores. The uber-coolest members of my 7th grade class might have identified a “girlfriend,” or thought it was okay to say that they “liked” someone out loud; no one would have found it acceptable to fight over them in public. We were developing, nurturing the selves that would eventually be sexual and romantic beings, but those budding selves were protected until we were at least in high school.

Aside from issues of romance and dating, I have observed that it is very difficult to dress or entertain “tween” girls in a way that is not entirely adult. Miley Cyrus, who is not much older than they are, twirls around a stripper pole, dates underwear models,  and poses suggestively in magazine shoots (with her father, another whole area of ick). Hip Hop music presents a world of bling, hoes and the frequent use of the word “shawty” to level all female partners into one fungible, glossy-lipped lump of object-hood. More innocent offerings like “High School Musical” and the sexless Jonas Brothers are, increasingly, the purview of very young girls, although even Vanessa Hudgens of “HSM” has had a nude-photo scandal in the recent past. There are bright lights in this mess, like Taylor Swift, and Beyonce, both of whom encourage young women to be independent, thoughtful and discriminating. It is difficult, however, to tell a 12-year-old girl anything, particularly if you are one of her parents, and you, the lamest of the lame are trying to tell her what music she should prefer. Why not just go for broke and download “The Sound of Music?”

This dance on the edge of inappropriate maturity is totally reinforced by the clothing available to tween girls. Although many girls of my acquaintance, including my niece, not only wore but preferred a modest wardrobe of jeans, hoodies and Chuck Taylors, the other stuff is easier to find. How do you argue with your 12-year-old daughter that it is inappropriate to buy midriff-baring tops, butt-cupping short shorts and dangerously short minis when that is what they see advertised and offered in many of the places where they shop? How do you explain to someone who really doesn’t “get” the full implication of sexuality, that wearing very provocative clothes sends messages that one might wish not to send? How do parents avoid dressing their daughters as Lolita when a) other girls and b) everyone in the window of Abercrombie is wearing a 3-inch skirt and a skin-tight tank top? My understanding is that it’s fairly difficult to find clothing for girls that is not sexually provocative, or at least a little tart-y; what this may mean is that parents are totally whipped by the combined forces of peer pressure, scarcity, and exhaustion. What happens to the girls who dress like they’re 20 when they’re 12, and ill-prepared for the kind of attention they receive? If this is part of the New Tween-hood, again, I vote “nay.” I don’t think girls should be dressed as if they live in Iraq or belong to a rogue branch of the Church of the Latter Day Saints; my preference would be that they wear cute, age-appropriate clothes that are comfortable, expressive and do not reveal anything advertised by strippers.

I cannot turn this tide, I can only stand on the shore and yell at it. If I really believed that the increasingly adult lifestyle of the American 9-12 year old was due to something organic and immutable, like higher hormone levels or some objectionable but scientifically verified evolutionary process, I would still hate it, but I would accept it. Instead, I see kids who are really very much the same as they were 35 years ago, being pressured by fierce marketing and free-flowing media to be something they are not. (Well, maybe some of them are really very mature and ready to start relationships, but the vast majority are not). I feel an equal urge to protect the boys and girls who can successfully mimic adults, and those who are left behind in hopelessly age-appropriate nerdiness and confusion. The Advanced Beginners are confronting issues for which they are totally unprepared, and there really is no “going back” to innocence. Those who are not blessed with the obliviousness level of my own child may be keenly aware that the gold standard is to look and act like someone 10 years older, but be unable to participate because of appearance, shyness or the refusal of their parents to permit cell phones, facebook and dating.

Regardless of where our own children fall on the spectrum of tween-hood, we must talk, and listen, and watch, even when we are exhausted and ready to throw in the (licensed “High School Musical”) towel. If we allow leeway in wireless media, dress, music and movies, it is our obligation to take a regular pulse and see if we are all headed in the right direction. If we choose to impose greater control than the average bear, we have to be ready for endless argument, and the complete and scathing rejection of everything that we, as adults, know to be true about life. They will roll their terrible eyes, and gnash their terrible teeth, but no matter what the rest of the world tells them, they are not grown ups.That leaves us.