It’s so popular with the tween crowd,  that even I’ve heard of Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat” dance sensation.  My daughter, and most of her friends, make this dance look soooo easy.  But, have you tried it?

The reason these girls look so good is that they’ve watched the instructional video, and literally spent hours practicing the “supaman” move.

Talk about motivation! Yeah!

Even more interesting, to me anyway, is what Soulja Boy’s popularity says about modern society.  In Soulja Boy: In Loco Parentis, Drew Hinshaw makes a persuasive case that:

… in a larger sense, the explosive popularity of that Soulja Boy dance partially reflects a change in how America raises our young.  The year that gave us “superman that hoe” was also the first year in American history in which married households constituted a minority.  The nature of parental authority has changed, not only because the job is left to more divorced and single parents, but also because AIM, social networking, and the proliferation of cell phones have circumvented parental control.

Well, I’m not buying it.  Is parental control really any less than it was in the past?  I know many of us had way more freedom than today’s adolescents.

I think you can argue that boundaries have shifted regarding what is acceptable in popular culture.  And yes, today’s parents are having to figure out how to keep kids safe even as they learn about the new arenas available in the wired world.  However, this is not a new phenomenon. 

Kids have been pushing limits since humans first learned how to harness fire. 

What do you think?  Is your child dancing to Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat”?  In Share the Music, Share the Love, I suggested that tween music is a good reason for me to master Self-Delusion 101.  So, does that mean I’m ceding parental control?  Or, am I just being realistic about picking my parenting battles?

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Most days, these sibling get along well.  However, like many brothers and sisters, they excel at pushing each other’s buttons.

Family time is often a roller coaster ride of emotions with the ups and downs of their relationship.

On the ski slopes, I get to see the best of their sibling love as they team up to brave the risky slopes.

They stick together, cooperatively plan their routes, follow each other’s lead, and generally look out for each other.

I just wish I could bottle this good will and sprinkle it on when they’re nudging and poking each other!

For advice on how to avoid sibling rivalry, I’ve turned to Sibling Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish.  The authors recommend that parents:

• Don’t insist on good feelings between siblings.  Allow them to disagree, and to work through those disagreements. Base your response according to the level of the situation.  You can ignore normal bickering, but you may have to separate children who are about to hurt each other.
• Resist the urge to compare siblings.
• Children don’t need to be treated equally.  They need to be treated uniquely.
• Don’t lock a child into a role.  Help your child develop tools and abilities so that they are given the freedom to change.

They also suggest that all parents:

1. Make sure that each child gets some time alone with you several times a week.
2. When spending time with one child, don’t talk about the other.
3. Don’t withhold your affection or attention from your “favorite child” in order to make it up to a less favored child.
4. Don’t lock the children into their position in the family constellation (oldest, youngest, middle).  Allow each child the opportunity to experience some of the privileges and responsibilities of the other.
5. Don’t get trapped by “togetherness.”
6. Let each child know what it is about him that his siblings like or admire.
7. Schedule family meetings.

I can’t say that we have followed all of these suggestions, although I can see their value. 

In our family, my husband and I do try to have unique relationships and plenty of one-on-one time with each child. 

Alex and Daddy share Cub Scouts, while Kayla and I share Girl Scouts.  In addition, there is a whole list of shared interests and activities:

• Risk Takers: Kayla and Daddy are fearless risk takers.  They’re the first to try the most thrilling amusement park rides or outdoor sports like rock climbing or mountain biking.  Alex and I follow along at our own pace or comfort level. 
• Sedentary Pleasures:  Although Kayla & Daddy like to read, they find it difficult to stay in one place for long.  Alex and I are just the opposite, and we love nothing better than snuggling in for a long reading session.  Sometimes we share our Book Kids Book Club selection, but we are just as likely to read our own books.  Alex and Daddy also share evening buddy-reading time, and Kayla and I love being a part of a Mother/Daughter Book Club.
• One-on-one Time: Alex and Daddy share daily project time where they conduct scientific experiments; play chess or checkers; watch cartoons; or battle on the Wii.  Alex and I homeschool together, so we have lots of time to learn and explore together.   It’s more difficult to find one-on-one time with our busy, tween daughter.  With her, we look for pockets of opportunity.  Sometimes, it’s just a Daddy/Daughter trip to Target or a Mother/Daughter TV movie time.  It’s challenging, but incredibly worthwhile, to set aside time for these one-on-one activities.

How do you find ways to develop a unique relationship with your child?  Do you have any recommendations for spending one-on-one time with your children?  Please share your suggestions for avoiding sibling rivalry.

Find more ideas for one-on-one time on 10 Ways To Bond With Your Children.

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Some people might dread a seven hour road trip, but oddball-mom that I am, I look on it as an opportunity.

Yes, an opportunity to hold my children hostage, and make them listen to my music.

As part of my ongoing campaign to inspire the kids to want to continue music lessons, I stocked the car with the Reader’s Digest “700 Years of Classical Treasures: The Complete History of Classical Music…The Composers, Their Instruments, and Works.”

We listened to the first two CDs in this collection, covering Medieval and Baroque music, to an endless chorus of, “Boriiiiiing, ewwww… Can we listen to my music, nowwwww?”

I think they really enjoyed that interlude, and now have a new appreciation for classical music.  Self-Delusion 101, that’s my talent.

Fortunately, I also brought the i car play, a device that allows you to play ipod tunes over your car’s FM radio.

First, we hooked up my new ipod Classic, an 80GB beauty, that was loaded with audio books and a selection of pre-loaded music.

Those Apple guys rock!  Yeah, they even included our song, ABBA’s Dancing Queen.

You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in;that’s a little more difficult in the car.  Bopping our heads to the beat is as much as we can do.

So, we went from listening to Ave Maria, who is full of grace, on the classical CD to singing with ABBA and Patsy Cline about looking for love, and then we listened to my daughter’s ipod collection.

My 11-year-old daughter’s collection included:

• Soundtracks to The Lion King, Hairspray, and Newsies.
• Fabulous, from High School Musical 2, in which the girl asks for “something fabulous, “Bigger and better and best, I need something inspiring to help me get along.”
• Barbie Girl by Aqua in which the girl sings “Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please”
• Glamorous by Fergie
• Crank dat dance by Soulja Boy
• American Idiot by Green Day

I’m wishing that I didn’t look up the lyrics to these songs.  The tunes are kind of catchy, and since I can never make out the words, they don’t seem so bad.

So, is it better to ignore that your child is listening to crap or to never even know what they are hearing?  Should I even worry?  How much does she even pay attention to these songs?

Kid’s music is another reason to master Self-Delusion 101.

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This and more cartoons can be found at xkcd.com.

DISCLAIMER: I’m just a middle-aged mom reporter.  My kids are the self-proclaimed popularity experts.

Kayla has been giving Alex, her younger brother, advice on how to be popular.  This advice covers two major areas: clothing and music.

Clothing

When the temperatures dropped, I figured it was time for Alex to stop wearing short-sleeved t-shirts and shorts.  So, I took the kids to the mall, and Kayla helped Alex pick out some outfits that she deemed “cool.”  She convinced Alex that the new LL Bean shirts would help him be popular. 

I still don’t know where they think he will be popular since we’re not running any popularity contests at home where Alex is homeschooled.  Also, maybe I’m just not hip enough, but I didn’t see any style difference between the old and new ensembles.  It just looked like jeans and long-sleeved polo shirts to me.

Music

I’m not entirely sure if this is Kayla’s advice, or Alex’s perception, but it seems that learning to play the piano isn’t cool.  Alex is worried that he will jeopardize his popularity if he continues to take piano lessons.  He feels that he should switch to playing the electric guitar. 

Alex has found his musical calling on the Legends of Rock Guitar Hero III.  

Well, who could blame him?  With Guitar Hero, you can clearly imagine that you are playing some rocking songs.  This music is way cooler than the Jingle Bells that he is learning on the piano.  There really is no comparison.

And, he’s a kid.  He doesn’t realize that all those rock legends had to start with simple songs.  Alex wants to play the music that will rock the house now.

The Mom’s Job 

This is where I, the mom, get to step in.  Even though I dislike the idea of promoting the pursuit of popularity, I encouraged the popularity advice when it meant that there was a chance that my son would be inspired to wear weather-appropriate, matching clothes.   However, there is no way that I’m going to allow Alex to quit music lessons because he thinks it’s not cool to play the piano.

So, what are my options? 

I’ve told him that you have to learn to play the piano before you can advance to the electric guitar.  I’ve also told him that true popularity is based in treating people well.  Do you have any other suggestions?  Please post them in the comment box.

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Woohoo! We’re having a blizzard. Hurray. Time to play.

Actually, it’s time to send the kids out to play while I hide at the computer. Why not? The kids, at 11 and 8 years old, are old enough to play safely in the yard, right?

Guess again.

They have so many bright ideas about fun activities in the snow; and, most of the time, I just let them play.

Sledding down our steep driveway could be risky, but I let it go. The kids think it’s a blast, and it’s only moderately dangerous. Of course, I make them stop when we expect cars or the driveway becomes a sheet of ice. I probably should insist that they wear a helmet, but, but (alright, there is no good reason.) Bottom line, I allow the kids to take some risks.

Today, I found my 8-year-old son digging an igloo out of the 4 foot snowbank. I suppose I could have worried about him drowning in snow, but that didn’t concern me. I would have let him continue; EXCEPT, he was tunneling through the snow without snowpants or sweater and with a wide-open coat. See, I wasn’t too worried about collapsing tunnels and smothered children, my concern is that the real snow danger over here is hypothermia.

I hustled my son in the house to change into appropriate clothing, and after two more false starts, finally had him properly attired for some winter fun. Meanwhile, my older daughter showed me what a responsible young lady she is as she voluntarily shoveled the entire, long front walk.

Okay, so now I figured that at least I could count on the nearly-teen girl to play safely in the snow. Right? Wrong.

When her friend came in and asked to borrow a camera to take a picture of the near-teen buried in the snow, I wasn’t concerned. I denied the request, but only because electronics and wet snow just aren’t a good combination. I wasn’t thinking: daughter buried in snow = danger. Having said no, I assumed that was the end of it. However, half an hour later the friend returned to again ask us to come out and take the picture. It turned out that my daughter had stayed buried in the snow the entire time, hoping for a picture.

Later, she said she was quite comfortable. I think she was OK since she was dressed in warm, water-repellent layers and at 22 degrees it wasn’t that cold. Perhaps she was fine, but the first symptoms of hypothermia are feeling sleepy and losing good judgment. So, another kid was hustled in the house to warm up.

Before sending children out to play in the snow, be sure to review the American Academy of Pediatric’s Winter Safety Tips. As you can see, kids are never too old to learn about snow safety.

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Since early October, I’ve been hit by an onslaught of gift suggestions for the holidays. It seems like every single media outlet has targeted my kids and I as ideal consumers. Why wouldn’t they?

We’ve bought many toys and gadgets in the past, and we enjoy using the modern marvels of the wired world. Sure, we like toys, but we have also learned to avoid one-use wonders!

My daughter learned this lesson the Christmas she begged for Make Up Mindy. Brainwashed by TV commercials, she looked forward to hours of fun putting makeup on her new best friend. However, after she tore open her playmate’s wrappings on Christmas morning; she discovered that applying makeup on a plastic doll gets old quickly. You do it once, and then you’re done. Make Up Mindy was the one hit wonder of the toy world.

2007 One-Use Wonders

There are a lot of toys like that. Take a good look at Yahoo Kids! Top 10 Toys and you will find several One-Use Wonders on a list of Gifts that promise hours of fun and entertainment. Some obvious One-Use Wonders from this list:

• Uncle Milton Moon in My Room - How many times is your child going to look at the lunar phases, and why can’t they look out the window? This might be a lovely decorative item, but not an engaging toy.
• Leapster Reading & Math Learning Games - “Learning games” is pretty much the kiss of death for toys. Kids love to learn, and they love to learn through play, but don’t tell them that they are playing “learning games.”
• Eyeclops - This toy lets you use your TV to view an item magnified 200 times its actual size. Wow! I can see how a kid might enjoy looking at magnified snot, but how many times are they going to want to do that? And how many times is an adult going to want to help them plug this tool to the TV?
• High School Musical DVD Game - There is, at best, a 2 month window when your child might think that High School Musical is cool. I learned this the hard way last year when I ended up with an unpopular DVD and musical soundtrack before I had even presented my daughter with the gift.
• Hasbro Interactive I-Dog - My daughter has this very cool gadget, and she has used it to play tunes from her Ipod at least 3 times in the 1.5 years that she has owned it.
• Wow Wee RS Media Robosapien V2 - This is the one my 8-year-old son really, really wants this Christmas. I presume the Wow Wee would occupy a place of honor on the shelf next to Roboraptor, the other robotic dust-catcher from a Christmas past.

Living By Learning List of Most Used Gifts

This year consider avoiding the hot toys of 2007, and pick up gifts that your family will still be using next year. I’ve even included a couple of crossovers:

1. Video Game Console- These get a lot of use in our home. My husband, kids, and visitors often enjoy playing a video game on weekends or play dates. We have a GameCube and XBox, but the Nintendo Wii is the most popular at this time. Our favorite Wii Games: Tennis ( Wii Sports); Heetseeker - Aerial warfare that is rated T (teens.) Visit Metracritic.com for Wii game reviews.
2. Hand-held Game - My son has the white Nintendo DS, my daughter the pink. Both are invaluable when we travel. The kids play cooperatively for hours, and it often helps initiate friendships on the road. They both love the Pokemon and Mario Brothers games. My daughter also enjoys Animal Crossings, while my son prefers Spectrobes. You can find DS game reviews at Metracritic.com.
3. Digital Photo - Extend the use of a digital camera with Adobe Photo Elements which allows you to organize and edit your photos, and use these to create photo books, scrapbook pages, slide shows, and more. Older kids, and adults, love taking pictures and playing around with the results using Photo Elements.
4. Makeup Kit - My daughter, like many girls, loves makeup. Pick up an inexpensive cosmetic case at Target or Wal-Mart, put in some lip gloss, and include a gift certificate. Or, give a girl a manicure set. You can even find makeup for preschoolers who love to play dress up. For more tween makeup suggestions visit Elferkid Makeup Lessons.
5. Pretend Play Collection - Our dress up collection has been in constant use since my daughter was a toddler. Over the years, we have added costume jewelry, exotic fabrics, garage sale hats, and various costumes. Consider starting out with a pre-assembled collection such as the “Let’s Pretend” Dress-Up Trunk and Accessories from Lilly’s Kids. Then, add items of special interest such as a tea set or doctor’s kit. This collection can be a great resource for Halloween costumes, theatrical productions, or elaborate pretend games.
6. Easel - We have been using my daughter’s Community Playthings easel for over 10 years. At first, she just used it for art projects, but its dry erase boards have been used for announcements, project planning, and continuous displays.
7. Art Supplies - You can pick up art materials at Michael’s, Aaron Brothers, Pearl Paint or a local artist supply store such as Arlene’s Artist Materials. I like to put together a how-to book with the supplies necessary to create that craft. Here are some of our favorite art books: The Usborne Pocket Artist; Art Smart Painting; Polymer Clay for the Fun of it!; and The Jumbo Book of Art.
8. Crafts - Be careful purchasing craft supplies; we have started many craft projects that sit uncompleted for years. My suggestion is to purchase craft supplies that can be used for a variety of projects. For example, avoid the Bejeweler Pro but do get beads that can be used for jewelry, scrapbooking, and a multitude of decorative arts. Other multi-use craft items: sewing supplies; not too hot glue gun; yarn; felt; fabric; lanyard cord; fabric paint; ribbon.
9. Office Supplies - The gift my son has used the most has been a collection of office supplies. I picked up markers, crayons, scissors, a stapler, staples, brads, and a tape dispenser at Staples. Then I added items purchased in bulk at Sam’s Club: tape, glue sticks, and best of all, a huge box of letter-sized white paper. This supply has been used to create flags, pop-up birthday cards, boats, and most recently, accessories for a rock star polar bear.
10. Ball Collection - One year my kids received a set of huge exercise balls that have become a treasured addition to a collection that includes marbles and balls for ping pong, golf, tennis, soccer, racquetball, basketball , and volley ball. Not only are these balls used for their intended purpose, but they come in handy for all kinds of games and experiments.
11. Blocks - Perhaps the most used toy in our home has been the set of wooden blocks that I picked up at Costco when my daughter was one year old. They have been used to build castles, forts, ramps, tallest structure competitions, Pokemon homes, race tracks, and lots of edifices that are beyond the comprehension of mere adults.
12. Books - Books might seem like one-use wonders, but they open a priceless world. Although I believe that all books are worthy gifts, there are a few treasured books that we return to often. These include: The Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie-the Pooh; The Classic Tales of Beatrix Potter; Mother Goose; Aesop’s Fables; and Greek Myths.

Have you found gifts that withstand the test of time, or have you been slammed by one-use wonders? Please share your story or suggestion.

Sibling Rivalry and The Great Piggy Bank Heist

Sleepover! Sleepover! Sleepover! Pleeeeease! You hear the request over and over, and sometimes in a moment of weakness, you give in. My advice: Don’t do it!!!

 THE FEMININE MISTAKE! THE PRICE OF PRIVILEGE! HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT FACTORIES! GLOBAL WARMING! WAR! AND NOW…

VICTORIA’S SECRET PINK LINE!

Yikes! Who needs ghosts and goblins? It’s scary being a mom! Here is a round up of chilling tales:

The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much? (Leslie Bennetts)

The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids (Madeline Levine)

1 In 10 Schools Are ‘Dropout Factories’ (Nancy Zucherbrod)

Naughty and Definitely Not Nice (Karen Heller)

Leslie Bennett argues that moms who choose to stay at home risk forfeiting their own, and their children’s, financial security.

Madeline Levine argues that many parents are too busy working to develop a healthy relationship with their kids, and that this puts children’s emotional health at risk.

Nancy Zucherbrod reports that you might be ruining your children’s life by enrolling them in a ‘drop out factory.”

Karen Heller warns you to hide your Victoria’s Secret catalog from your tween, before they see the Pink Line.

The Attack of the Killer Zombies is sounding pretty tame right now!

Most of what I know about parenting, I’ve learned from dog training. This knowledge has served me well for twelve years. However, now that my daughter is entering the teen twilight zone, I have to toss everything that I thought I knew. Here is a an article that explains why I have to learn about parenting from cat lovers.

ADAIR LARA — When Children Turn Into Cats
Thursday, March 28, 1996

I JUST REALIZED THAT while children are dogs, loyal and affectionate, teenagers are cats.
It’s so easy to be the owner of a dog. You feed it, train it, boss it around and it puts its head on your knee and gazes at you as if you were a Rembrandt painting. It follows you around, chews the dust covers off the Great Literature series if you stay too long at the party and bounds inside with enthusiasm when you call it in from the yard.

Then, one day around age 13, your adoring little puppy turns into a big old cat. When you tell it to come inside, it looks amazed, as if wondering who died and made you emperor.
Instead of dogging your footsteps, it disappears. You won’t see it again until it gets hungry, when it pauses on its sprint through the kitchen long enough to turn its nose up at whatever you’re serving. When you reach out to ruffle its head, in that old affectionate gesture, it twists away from you, then gives you a blank stare, as if trying to remember where it has seen you before.
It sometimes conks out right after breakfast. It might steel itself to the communication necessary to get the back door opened or the car keys handed to it, but even that amount of dependence is disagreeable to it now.

Stunned, more than a little hurt, you have two choices. The first — and the one chosen by many parents — is that you can continue to behave like a dog owner. After all, your heart still swells when you look at your dog, you still want its company, and naturally when you tell it to stop digging up the rose bushes, you still expect it to obey you, pronto.

IT PAYS NO attention now, of course, being a cat. So you toss it onto the back porch, telling it it can stay there and think about things, mister, and it glares at you, not deigning to reply. It wants you to recognize that it has a new nature now, and it must feel independent or it will die.
You, not realizing that the dog is now a cat, think something must be desperately wrong with it. It seems so anti-social, so distant, so sort of depressed. It won’t go on family outings.

Since you’re the one who raised it, taught it to fetch and stay and sit on command, naturally you assume that whatever is wrong with it is something you did, or left undone. Flooded with guilt and fear, you redouble your efforts to make your pet behave.

Only now, you’re dealing with a cat, so everything that worked before now produces exactly the opposite of the desired result. Call it, and it runs away. Tell it to sit, and it jumps on the counter. The more you go toward it, wringing your hands, the more it moves away.
Your second choice is to do the necessary reading, and learn to behave like a cat owner. Put a dish of food near the door, and let it come to you. If you must issue commands, find out what it wants to do, and command it to do it.

BUT REMEMBER THAT a cat needs affection, too, and your help. Sit still, and it will come, seeking that warm, comforting lap it has not entirely forgotten. Be there to open the door for it.
Realize that all dog owners go through this, and few find it easy. My glance used to travel from my cat Mike looking regal and aloof on the fence to a foolish German shepherd on the sidewalk across the street, jumping for joy simply because he was getting to go outside. Now I miss the little boy who insisted I watch “Full House” with him, and who has now sealed him into a bedroom with a stereo and TV. The little girl who wrote me mash notes and is now peeling rubber in the driveway.

The only consolation is that if you do it right, let them go, be cool as a cat yourself, one day they will walk into the kitchen and give you a big kiss and say, you’ve been on your feet all day, let me get those dishes for you — and you’ll realize they’re dogs again.

It’s our 4th year in a Mother-Daughter Club, and it just keeps on getting better!

When the girls were in 3rd Grade, I heard about Mother-Daughter book clubs from a friend in Washington, D.C. These books clubs were very popular in the nation’s capitol where Shireen Dodson wrote about her experience in a book titled, The Mother -Daughter Book Club: How Ten Busy Mothers and Daughters Came Together to Talk, Laugh and Learn Through Their Love of Reading.

Of course, the magic word “book” guaranteed my interest, and I was open to anything that would encourage my daughter to love books as much as I do. Then my friend explained that the real value of the book club was the opportunity to discuss issues affecting our maturing daughters in a non confrontational setting. At a Mother-Daughter Book Club you get to talk about the taboo subjects that usually set girls screaming in horror - personal hygiene, puberty, dating, etc. I was hooked, and with Dodson’s how-to manual, I was armed with everything I needed to get started.

Getting Started

1. Find some girls (and moms) who love books. Ask your daughter or her teacher for suggestions.
2. Choose a regular date with sufficient time for everyone to read the book. Meeting on Sunday afternoons every 6-8 weeks usually works for us.
3. Choose a host and a book. We let the hosting girl (and mom) choose the book, select the questions, and provide refreshments and/or activities that tie in to the book. It can be a lot of work for the host, but it’s fun and infrequent.
4. Meet. Enjoy the refreshments. Set aside time for the girls & moms to socialize. Let the hosting girl initiate the discussion, and moms can add follow-up questions. As the group learns to trust each other, these conversations will lead you to surprising discoveries and greater understanding of your daughter and even yourself.

Choosing A Book

Selecting the book can be almost as difficult as finding a convenient meeting date. Here are some ways that we find books:

• Find books, discussion questions, and ideas for activities and field trips in Shireen Dodson’s 100 Books for Girls to Grow On.
• Find reading lists, book reviews, meeting ideas, and author interviews at Motherdaughter Book Club.com
• Visit a bookstore, library, or your Scholastic Book Fair with the girls to look at possible books.

Book Extensions

There are many ways for your club to exend the fun and deepen appreciation of a book.

Watch the movie, after you read the book. Bridge To Terabithia and Harriet The Spy are two popular books that are widely available on DVD. Consider upcoming attractions at the cinema. Hurry up and read the book version of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass before it arrives at the movie theatres on December 7th. If you love fantasy and adventure, you may end up reading the entire His Dark Materials trilogy.

Go on field trips. After reading E.L. Konisburg’s From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, we had to visit the Metropolitan Museum to see for ourselves how two kids could hide out in the famous museum. Since we also read Ellen Potter’s Pish Posh, this trip wouldn’t have been complete without a dash of glamour. Shopping on the Upper East Side with a stop for cosmetics at Sephoras and frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity’s was exactly what we needed.

Visit the author’s website. Most recently, we received a visit (via speakerphone) from Heather Vogel Frederick, the author of our current novel, The Mother-Daughter Book Club. In a serendipitous twist of fate, our host duo chose this book at a time that the Ms. Frederick’s website was publicising a special invitation from the author to book clubs. It was so exciting to converse with the author of a book that we all loved. The girls lined up to take turns asking questions, and they each had several turns. Even the moms couldn’t resist asking a few questions! Heather Vogel Frederick was so approachable and her responses were nearly as entertaining as her books. I think that each girl, and some moms, left inspired to do some writing.

Living By Learning

When you’re living by learning, your life is full of surprising adventures and discoveries. Who knows where this book club journey will lead? Don’t be surprised if we evolve into Book Babes: The Mother-Daughter Book And Writing Club.

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