Thursday, January 22, 2009

Draw Happiness

Hi Girls! My daughter, at 19 months old, is all into drawing. She's discovered crayons, pens, pencils, pudding--anything you can use with your fingers to draw whatever her little heart desires. She has what we call a "crayon purse"--a little metal 'purse' to hold all of her crayons and broken crayon pieces. She decorated a birthday card for her Grandpa this week and mailed it off, so proud that she could think of something, then apply hand to paper and voila! A mini masterpiece is made. Her favorite thing to do is sit on my lap and ask me to draw things: hearts, circles, triangles, trees, her Papa--anything that comes to mind. Imagine how I was taken aback when I asked her, "What should Mama draw now?" And after some thought on her part, replied, "Draw happiness." Then I paused and thought, "How on earth do I draw that?" Happiness? Did she just say that? Yes she did. And she meant it. I kept thinking....I wanted to get this one absolutely right. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's never to keep a toddler waiting. So I came up with this: I drew a little caricature of her, her Papa and me all huddled together. Then I drew a big heart around us. "There," I said. "Is that happiness?" She nodded and said, "Yes," with a toddler's conviction. And yes, happiness it was. And is.

May your week be a happy one!
EB
www.gis4girl.com

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Posting Pictures Online

Hello girls! I joined an online business networking group the other day, hoping to learn some new marketing ideas, ask questions, etc. It's for women only, so I thought it would be good to see what other ladies have been up against in starting a new biz, and what solutions they had to offer. So far so good! There's lots of intelligent females out there doing well for themselves! It's wonderful to see. Anyway, most of the other members have little thumbnail pics of themselves so that you can kind of put a face with a comment. So I uploaded mine...and then I freaked out. Is this normal? I've never really posted a pic before on a public site. On Gis4girl, I have an "About Us" page but specifically did not post a photo. Not sure why not. I mean it's only a photo of me sitting in front of the computer, fully dressed, mind you. And I'm not agoraphobic. I do leave the house on occasion (though not today; it's not even going to hit zero in the Arctic Minor known as Chicagoland). But posting pics online feels...well, kind of weird. I don't ever plan on posting pictures of my family, either, anymore than I would take a family photo and tack it up on the bulletin board at the grocery store. So why do so many people do it? I understand posting pics/video on private sites where one needs to login, but what about public sites? Anyone else feel this way? Should I just get over it and get with it? That's what I've learned so far on the road of technology. If you can't beat them...join them!

EB

Monday, January 5, 2009

Learning Something New

Hey Girls! Happy 2009! Hope everyone had a happy & healthy holiday. My hubby & I had a nice long weekend, most of which was spent playing with our daughter. Her favorite activity now is to make her parents polka. Since a good portion of our family is Polish, the word 'polka' was introduced into her lexicon a few weeks ago. She quickly became fascinated by the polka, and now insists everyone who enters our home dance it, including her dollies. So roll out the barrel! This weekend, I too learned a new word: Sexting. Definition: sending promiscuous photos of yourself or others via phone, like texting. According to the Chicago Tribune, about 20 per cent of teens say they've sent nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves to others this way. I can only imagine that to some degree peer pressure factors into this. Much of the time, these photos get forwarded on and on and on, seen by hundreds, if not thousands of people. However embarrassing now, the real damage to sexting might not occur until later, when the sendee tries to apply to college or a job. More and more recruiters and employers are Googling applicants or checking out Myspace pages to make sure the applicant hasn't participated in inappropriate behavior. It's up to us parents to teach our kids about the dangers and ramifications of such actions. And if you're a teen reading this: don't do it! It might come back to haunt you! If you receive a photo, don't pass it on. Be better than all that. That's why at Gis4Girl, our designs live above the fray. Before I started Gis4Girl, I did some research and found that there are many clothing shops out there whose messages continue to degrade females. Here we celebrate them! I know my daughter will grow up not believing in any messages that are negative to women. I just wish all daughters did.

EB