Maren's Many Moments

Yes, I am on the Brene Brown bandwagon.  I first heard of her when I saw her TED talk, which is apparently how many people heard of her.  It was right when I was in the midst of my divorce and some of the worst emotional times in my life, so the idea of being vulnerable really spoke to me.  I first read the gifts of imperfection, and then found myself impressed and enthralled with a lot of her research and ideas.  Enter Daring Greatly.  I ordered this book off of Amazon along with a myriad of other self-help books when I felt I was ready to start making a better me.  You see, I grew up with a mother who very much believed that books are the answer to everything.  Her answer to many questions was "look it up", which in the prehistoric pre-internet days meant to look at our worn out set of encyclopedia's or go to the library.  So when I awoke from my stupor of a bad marriage and discovered I had lost a lot of who I was, looking up how to heal seemed completely the right th

Somehow, by an honest happy accident, I have managed to keep my daughter away from the Harry Potter movies in order to have her read the books first, and then watch the movies, which is how I was able to discover the books in my college years as they came out.  I cannot accurately describe how it feels for me as a lover of entertainment, literature, fantasy, and stories with a good moral lesson, to watch my daughter learn about the things in these books, to discuss the events that take place, and to see the world come alive for her as it did for me.  We are currently in the middle of book five, often reading out loud in the evenings before bed, and then she will continue to read on her own as much as possible to get through to the next step.  At first I worried a little about some of the more mature things, such as death and evil people who would do harm to children, but I have had the wonderful blessing of being able to have deep conversations with my ten year old regarding difficult

My daughters are currently 10 and 6.  My ten year old seems to understand how awesome theatre is, while my 6 year old seems to understand how awesome the spotlight is.  I have been trying to find ways to introduce them to age appropriate ways of understanding the arts. They are both in piano lessons and school choir, and the oldest is in a young actors acting troop.  But then, a marvelous event took place!  Julie's Greenroom dropped on Netflix. Friends! I am happy to report my daughters love Julie's Greenroom.  I actually think I likely love it more, but they do seem to enjoy it a great deal.  So, for those who do not know, Julie's Greenroom is just about the best thing to ever happen to children's television if you are a person like me.  The great Julie Andrews hosts a show of Muppet Children as they learn about all the elements of putting together a theatrical show. The guest stars!  Oh my friends, my friends!  The children learn about theatre from Idina Menzel, abo