Kidlit Great: Maurice Sendak

Fans of acclaimed children's book author Maurice Sendak (1928 – 2012) have been celebrating the late author's June 10th birthday on social media this month and reflecting on the impact of his work.

The enthusiastic chatter and praise compelled me to share Sendak's picture books with my daughters and to highlight him in my blog's Kidlit Great series. (The first author featured was William Steig.)

As a child, I was always aware of Where the Wild Things Are, but it wasn't a book on the shelves of my childhood home - where Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein reigned. 

So reading a variety of Sendak titles last week was an enormous treat for all of us in the Schulte house. Here's the stack of books we picked up...

Oh so charming

We were instantly taken with Pierre (Sendak's cautionary tale on the repercussions of 'not caring' about anything) and Chicken Soup with Rice (a sweet book about how this very particular soup can be enjoyed in every month of the year - such a funny premise). 

I loved the unique and light-hearted narratives, gorgeous palettes and illustrative genius. My little girls enjoyed carrying the books around and treasuring their tiny covers and pictures. The books were just their size (far smaller than traditional children's books) and more interesting than your typical board book fare.  

Messages delivered loud and clear

If there's something that Sendak wants to tell you, he doesn't beat around the bush. His books hit you hard with perspective, and they drive home very specific moral questions.

Two books emblematic of this are We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy and Bumble-Ardy. My girls didn't connect with either of these, truth be told, but they sure got momma's attention. There was so much to process and digest within these pages, even (or perhaps, especially) at the adult level.

Illustratively, Sendak's work in these books is at times garish and challenging to take in. You might call his pictures strange or scary. Odd or provocative. But one thing is for sure. Sendak makes you think and feel. 

Wildly unexpected

Sendak wrote three of his books as a dream-state trilogy: Where the Wild Things Are (1963 - winner of the Caldecott Medal), In the Night Kitchen (1970 - a Caldecott Honor Book), and Outside Over There (1981 - a Caldecott Honor Book).

Each of these books is E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T and deserving of an individual book review spotlight. But for this post, I am going to focus on In the Night Kitchen because my girls LOVED IT. It was their fave Sendak book. 

In this tale, a boy named Mickey awakes in the night and falls into "the night kitchen," where bakers are busy making a cake. Mickey ends up in the cake, flying the cake and, ultimately, saving the cake.

This book demonstrates exactly what makes Sendak a "kidlit great":

He gives us children being brave, silly, untamed and real...

...places them in completely unique scenes and circumstances...

...within adventures that take you up, and up, to places where anything can happen...

...creating images and ideas that stay with you forever.

A parting thought: As I worked up this post, I encountered the viewpoint that Sendak's work is 1) weird, 2) inappropriate and 3) too "out there" to resonate with kids.

Sendak's taste and style may not be to everyone's liking. But his books were to our liking. Even when the narratives got dark, the girls never seemed scared or troubled. They thought the wild things were silly. Naked Mickey simply made them laugh. And they wanted to know more about his goblins and creatures.

Some books affirm and comfort our children and create feelings of safety. Other books encourage them to confront their world and question it. Sendak books do the later, and I'm grateful for it.

Author Spotlight: Alastair Heim

Happy Father's Day, papas everywhere: This day is for you! I was lucky to spend this Father's Day with my dad, Bill - doing the things that our family loves most: boating, floating, grilling and chilling. The lake is our happy place. Love you, Dad!

---

Father's Day also provides a great opportunity to spotlight a writer whose work is shaped by his role as a dad. I hope you enjoy this Author Spotlight on Alastair Heim.

Meet Alastair!

Alastair and I met on Twitter (a fantastic forum for published and aspiring authors), and we connected as picture book writers, Kansas City fans and proud parents of three daughters. Without question, Alastair's daughters are the driving force behind his picture book work, and he has three awesome titles that reflect his love of kidlit and, most of all, his girls.

Here are Alastair's 3 fantastic books:

Love You, Too was Alastair's first children's book (published by Little Bee Books in December 2016, illustrated by Alisa Coburn). It features a dad and daughter finishing each other's sentences as they move through their day. 

No Tooting at Tea is Alastair's second children's book (published by HMH/Clarion Books in April 2017, illustrated by Sara Not). This is the tale of a perfectly proper tea party that goes wrong when someone keeps breaking the "no tooting" rule.

The Great Puppy Invasion will be published by HMH/Clarion Books on October 3rd, 2017 (illustrated by Kim Smith). This title is about what happens when a horde of puppies shows up in Strictville, a no-fun town that has never seen pups before.

Now, it's my pleasure to share a bit more about Alastair and his books...

Finishing each other's sentences is a hallmark of father-daughter closeness. What has fatherhood taught you about what kids need from their dad? How does your book LOVE YOU, TOO demonstrate this?

Thank you, Anitra, for the chance to answer these questions! Being a dad has been the greatest privilege and learning experience of my life. I couldn't have anticipated just how much my kids would influence EVERYTHING my wife and I now do - down to the simplest decisions we make (what color of cup do you want for your milk?). I think what my kids need most from me, other than my unconditional love and goofball ways, is consistent and open communication. While my children are still pretty young, they have good days and bad days and, when I get home from work, I want to hear about all of it. If something went wrong at school, I try to make sure they know they can always tell me about it. When things go well at their various activities or practices, I want to celebrate those achievements with them, too - even in the tiniest of ways.  

We all get busy with the daily grind of parenthood and some days are harder than others. But I think spending a little time, each day, one on one with my kids is super important. I'm not always perfect about it, but it's always top of mind for me. LOVE YOU, TOO is really an aspirational reflection of how much time I wish I could spend with my kids all day, every day. But, the world doesn't work like that for most of us, which is why this book is so, so special for my family and me. Especially when we read it together at bedtime.

Kids love pretending to be in our big-person world, but they are also the first to giggle in the face of our stuffy rules. In NO TOOTING AT TEA, potty humor delivers the laugh. Did you hesitate before jumping into a toot book?

The inspiration for NO TOOTING AT TEA came directly from an imaginary tea party I was lucky enough to be at - which was also attended by two of the loveliest little ladies I've ever known (wink).  The hostess was throwing a perfectly proper party when, all of the sudden, one of the other guests broke the most sacred of tea party rules - they TOOTED. Without hesitation, the hostess calmly declared that, "There's no tooting at tea," and I excitedly declared, "That's brilliant...I need to write a book called THAT!"

The reality of things, and anyone with daughters will tell you this, is that girls TOOT, too.  Always have, always will. TOOTING has been the source of uproarious laughter in our household and I never, for a second, have thought it was a subject reserved solely for one gender. While it's true that most books written on the matter have been targeted toward boys, my story always featured girls as the main characters. And to be completely honest, I don't consider NO TOOTING AT TEA to be a flatulence book for the pure sake of flatulence. If you're really paying attention to the story, it's a book about sibling dynamics and, ultimately, sisterly forgiveness - with a little bit of tooting along the way. Okay, A LOT of tooting. I have been absolutely thrilled and humbled by the responses to the book, especially from parents of girls.

In THE GREAT PUPPY INVASION, puppies show up in Strictville and (presumably!) turn the town's frowns upside down. How does humor play into your family's dynamic? And how does it find its way into your books?

Humor is, by far, the most abundant natural resource in our family (besides love, of course). Laughter is the common language we all speak as humans, and cracking jokes has always been my trusty go-to to ensure that frowny faces disappear - even from a very young age. I use humor a lot in my daily life to connect with people, relate to others and, oftentimes, to diffuse tension. I am a huge fan of comedy and draw a lot of humor from my surroundings - especially from my friends and family. When it comes to making new friends, in fact, I can usually tell pretty quickly whether I'm going to gel with someone or not, just by what they find funny. And when it comes to family, I knew I wanted to marry my wife right when we first started dating, after she thought a t-shirt I was wearing was funny. The shirt had a cartoon on it that I found hilarious, but no one (before her) had EVER found funny. The more I have in common with people on the "HA-HA" scale, the better. I still have that t-shirt, too.

Because humor is such an important part of my life, I think it naturally shows up in my writing. Having read hundreds of picture books to my kids over the years, I've learned a lot about what does and doesn't make a good read-aloud experience. Because of that, I'm always trying to make my stories as clever and enjoyable as possible - for parents and kids alike.  

My family loves puppies. Who doesn't really? While we don't currently have a dog in our household, my wife and I had three dogs before our kids were born. While THE GREAT PUPPY INVASION was ultimately influenced by my late Whippets (Pike, Daisy and Dopple), the inspiration for the story came from a piece of art I happened upon a few years ago. There is a sculpture of six dogs, stacked "cheerleader pyramid" style, where I work. One day, I looked at it and thought, "Hundreds of puppies suddenly show up in a town that has never seen puppies before." I got home and immediately started writing the manuscript. The thought of how ridiculous puppy behavior is (when you really stop and think about it) and how confusing it would be if you were experiencing puppies for the first time, was hilarious to me. I am really proud of how this book turned out and cannot wait for people to read it.

* * *

Thank you, Alastair, for sharing these fantastic insights and stories! You can order copies of Alastair's books at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, IndieBound and Books-A-Million, and through the websites of each book's publisher.

Connect with Alastair: Twitter: @alastairheim // Website: www.alastairheim.com 

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Ask a Librarian: Picture Book Recommendation from Ginny Sieck

This spring, I've been spotlighting the picture book recommendations of librarians. I'm loving the high quality of these selections!

Matthew C. Winner (library media specialist-turned-author) directed me to The Sound of Silence (Katrina Goldsaito, illustrated by Julia Kuo). He also kindly included a mention of my book review in his amazing All the Wonders podcast series. (Thanks again, Matthew!) Click here to listen.

I also received an excellent recommendation from Rita Meade (public librarian and author), who shared several picture book suggestions, including an old favorite of hers - Heckedy Peg (Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood) - which completely delighted my kids.

So fun collaborating with Matthew and Rita! It's my pleasure to now introduce a local recommender: Ginny Sieck, library assistant at the Geneva Public Library.

Meet Ginny!

If you've ever attended toddler story time at Geneva Public Library, you know Ginny. She has led story time there for 17 YEARS! All three of my girls have participated in her fun literary adventures. 

Ginny is a PRO at introducing young ones to the concept of sitting still (so hard!) and paying attention to narratives. Here's my Little Ms. L at her first GPLD story time... See? Hands clasped even!

Exactly HOW does Ginny keep these tiny ones with her? I'm not entirely sure, but it includes a combo of lively readings, puppets and catchy songs. It's truly a wonder to behold.

Ginny and I recently chatted about some of her favorite picture book titles. A big fan of Candace Fleming, Ginny enthusiastically recommended Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! - one of her all-time faves (illustrated by G. Brian Karas).

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! is about a man (Mr. McGreely) with a dream. Perhaps you share it: Having a beautiful garden.

One year, Mr. McGreely finally pulls the trigger and sets up his palace in the soil. And it's bliss... 

... until three little rabbits decide that Mr. McGreely's garden is their private buffet. The first time the bunnies sneak in and munch on some sprouts, Mr. McGreely is miffed, but assured he has it under control. But with every defense he mounts, those sneaky little bunnies figure out a way past so that they can "muncha, muncha, muncha" all of his green goodies.

Here are 3 things that make this book sing:

Repetition: Each time the bunnies bust through Mr. McGreely's elaborate fencing, they feast in the same way ("muncha, muncha, muncha"). The instant that my girls hear me say the first "muncha," they know just how to finish the phrase. Their confidence in participating makes reading the book a total joy for them.

The Bunny Hunt: As Mr. McGreely erects his fencing structures, you can see the bunnies in the distance (in Karas' illustrations), planning a counter attack. My "bunnies" love finding the conniving hoppers on each spread.

Furry Fury: As the story presses on, Mr. McGreely's anger goes from a simmer to a rapid boil - a progression that my girls unfortunately recognized with ease. ("Mom, sometimes YOU get furious." True, little bunnies. True.) They love watching the escalation of the gardener's temper. 

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! is LOADS of fun. When I read it to the kids, I've taken to naming the three little bunnies after my girls. They think that is pretty silly. Although... maybe not quite as silly as wearing a headband on top of a sun hat (below).

This season, we've expanded our own family's garden to include bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and kale. Here's to hoping that our hoppy friends stay out... That's MY dream anyway!

Summer Bucket List: Visit the I'm Able Playground at SEBA Park

What's on your summer bucket list? One item on ours is to discover new parks in our area.

I enjoy researching new playdate destinations. But recently, a new park found us. While out on a bike ride over Memorial Day weekend, we stumbled upon an amazing playground along the Fox River. Ever since that day, I haven't stopped telling literally everyone about it. 

Watch out... you're next...

Whether you have a child with special needs, or a typically developing child, you've gotta visit the I'm Able Playground at SEBA Park (151 Water St. in South Elgin, Ill.).

Not all parks are created equal, and our family has experienced this firsthand. My eldest daughter, Elsa, has the rare chromosome disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, and she is not (yet) walking. So going to the park can be tough...

• There is usually mulch galore. This makes it hard to wheel Elsa's wheelchair around and also challenging for her to practice walking.
• It's often difficult to access a park's hallmark features without carrying Elsa all around the playground, which makes for sore backs for mom and dad.
• Slides (while plentiful at many parks) tend to be pretty narrow, preventing a friend, sibling or parent from safely joining Elsa for the ride down.
• The sight lines are often very poor, which can make it difficult to keep track of my other girls as I try to facilitate movement with Elsa.

The folks who designed the I'm Able Playground addressed all of these challenges. Classified as universally accessible, the I'm Able Playground aims to foster friendship and understanding among kids of all abilities.

Many of the playground components can be accessed via wheelchair. How cool is this ramp system?

We love the accessible swings... and that there are two of them! (Check out that view of the Fox River in the background, too.)

You can fit a dozen or so people (and a wheelchair or two) in the big rocking boat below...

This cool bumpy slide includes plenty of room for kids big and small - alone or paired up...

Elsa's favorite feature? No contest. The hammock. (There tends to be a line for use of this popular piece of equipment.)

Basically, Fox Valley friends: If you ever want to meet up at the I'm Able Playground this summer, the Schulte girls are there! We can picnic, play, then grab ice cream, like we did with our fab friends the Palombis last week. No better way to end a summer playdate!

I'M ABLE PLAYGROUND AT SEBA PARK: Partners of the I'm Able Playground at SEBA Park (South Elgin Business Association) include the Village of South Elgin and the FUNdation, in collaboration with Shane's Inspiration and Landscape Structures, Inc.

5 Ways to Approach Summer Reading

If you want your kids' summer reading to be a bit more productive than a mash up of The Wall Street Journal, old Christmas cards and winter stocking caps...

... Not that this isn't adorable and perfectly good fun...

Then hop on over to my friend Jaclyn Kruzie's blog. This week, I did a guest post for her on 5 Ways to Approach Summer Reading. You'll find fun tips for following your child's natural curiosities to keep a love of learning growing all summer long.

Click HERE to read the post. Thanks for taking the "hop"!

Kidlit Great: William Steig

Welcome to Kidlit Greats! This is where I share the work of a picture book master with my daughters, then blog about our experience. 

Last week I introduced my three little ladies to a wide range of titles from Kidlit Great William Steig (1907–2003).

If this name doesn’t ring a bell, the moniker of one of his famous characters surely will. Steig’s Shrek! inspired the popular DreamWorks Animation movies featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy.

As is true with most adaptations, the Shrek movie and its sequels (though loads of fun) don’t begin to capture the literary and illustrative genius of this highly respected creator.

While Steig’s picture books for very young readers are excellent, his longer narratives are absolutely spectacular. Just one sentence into these books, you are hit with a quality level so high that you simply sit back and allow yourself to be taken on a ride. You know you are in expert hands.

What I Iove – and watched my girls loving – about Steig’s books can be boiled down to these five things...

#1 - Command of character: Steig’s characters are all wildly different and immediately engaging. Each protagonist (animal, creature or human) is known not through description, but by what he or she elects to do in the midst of challenging circumstances: The epitome of SHOW, not TELL. (Example: Potch & Polly)

#2 - Plot, plot, plot: While his use of language is beautiful, Steig doesn’t write to weave admirable phrases. There’s no rambling. There are no wasted words. Sentence-by-perfect sentence, he introduces completely fresh visualizations and ideas, and powerfully drives story forward with action. (Example: Shrek!)

#3 - Intensity and anticipation: The stakes are high in Steig’s more verbose picture books. Good and evil forces are at work. Circumstances are life or death. There is an ever-present threat of missed opportunity or a diminished existence. Because you are so invested in his characters, you read on the edge of your seat... the best place for a reader to be! (Example: Doctor De Soto, a Newberry Honor Book)

#4 - Immersive illustration: Through vivid, sensory detail, Steig pulls you completely into the worlds he creates. You see, feel, hear, smell, taste EVERYTHING. It must be noted, too, his descriptions never underestimate a child’s intellect. Steig introduces kids to new words in a way that encourages curiosity and provides best-case-scenario context. (Example: Brave Irene)

#5 - Safe, dependable relationships: Children need to know who they can trust and what they can believe in. Steig fulfills this desire for constancy by providing strong interpersonal bonds – between parent and child, husband and wife, and dear friends. Even when the going gets tough, young readers can feel secure in the commitment demonstrated through his books’ core relationships. (Example: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, winner of The Caldecott Medal)

My daughters' favorite Steig book is Toby, Who Are You?  This title (which has a far shorter word count than the books previously listed) epitomizes #5 on the "things to love" list. In this sweet story, Toby and his parents go on a picnic. Throughout their outing, they play an imaginative game of animal charades. The family's closeness and intimacy is both playful and soothing. The girls ADORE it. ("There's Toby!" they say, when they spot him in each spread.)

I hope you add a few of William Steig's exceptional books to your family's summer reading list, and that they bring you the joy that they've brought us. Happy reading!

Ode to My Minivan: A Guest Post by Heather Klaus

By the time Friday hits - even on a shortened work week like this one - we're all ready for a good dose of commonsense and humor. Preferably together. Amiright?

That's what you'll get in today's guest blog post by my dear friend Heather Klaus, pictured here with her handsome men:

Heather and I meet up monthly for Write Club, weekly for grill-and-chill, and almost daily for park outings that shave minutes off the brutal 4-to-5 p.m. timeframe before dad gets home.

Heather has a STRONG side hustle (arguably a full-time hustle) as a dance instructor. Even at 7 months pregnant with Child #3, she still rocks the studio three days a week. Plus many weekends. And still smiles. And laughs that amazing Heather laugh. 

The Schulte family adores the Klaus Haus. We share many commonalities (MIZ-ZOU... A love of the Happels...), and now we can add Chrysler Town & Country ownership to the list. 

Enjoy my fab friend's take on taking the minivan plunge:

In Heather's words:

Tim and I just purchased our very first minivan, and although I have received a little flak from a few friends, I have decided that I am not even one iota ashamed of how much I love it. Yes, I fought the stigma just like many suburban moms—those of us who hide in SUVs, choosing to believe that the gaggle of children following us into Trader Joe's doesn't already give away our secret soccer-mom life.

But seeing as we are adding another little person to our family of four in August, I finally felt like I could hold my head up high and purchase this sliding-door little slice of heaven.

What is it that holds so many back from the dreaded minivan? Wouldn't you like to prevent your 3-year-old brute frat-boy-in-training from cranking his door open and into the Mercedes parked next to you? Am I really going to fold down the seat 14 times a day when my daughter needs to crawl into the “back-back?” How many times have you tried to shimmy the infant pumpkin seat into your car when some blockhead parks on top of you at Target? Do I even mention gas consumption? Why do we fight the minivan stigma so?

I blame marketing. Somehow, somewhere, we have been brainwashed to believe that if we sell out and purchase this vehicle (that actually totally fits our needs and potty training/carpooling stage of life) that we are throwing in the towel on all things fashionable and sexy and telling the world loud and clear that we want to live forever in grey sweat pants and messy buns. That we have, in fact, given up.

I vehemently disagree. I think buying this car (that I might mention is pimped out with heated seats, heated steering wheel, back-up camera, DVD screen and remote start) makes me pretty fly. My kids have never been happier to have the freedom of opening and closing their door with a simple push of a button. I am already dreaming of all the supplies/accoutrement we can stuff in the van on vacations and trips to see family.

Big wheel, bike trailer, tent, sand toys, entire bag of black sandals because you can't make a decision? No problem! Just let me stow this seat. Extra kid need a ride to dance? Yep lovie, I've got a spot for you AND your tutu. Leather seats for whomever spills their juice (or other bodily function). Check. Captains chairs to keep children from playing “I'm not touching you” or “Mom, she's on my side!” for seven hours on your way to find warm weather? Got 'em.

I have even gone so far as to say “my van is pretty dope.” And I stand by that, dang it. (I may have already have shown my “age” by using the word “dope.”) I AM A SUBURBAN MOTHER, for heavens sakes, and I am kissing 40! The happiness this car brings me from clicking a button when it's raining and having my little people jump in without getting totally soaked is dope. While I may not be super sexy and fashionable in my maternity jeans, I have not given up, and feel like maybe, just maybe, I might even be hitting my stride.

Minivans, to me, you are the new little black dress—which I might add looks mighty fine on us 30-something suburban moms.

Kidlit Craft: The Watermelon Seed

If you kicked off summer over Memorial Day weekend with a slice of watermelon, this craft is for you! (And the kids, of course...)

Inspiration comes from the picture book The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli. My girls LOVE this book. Their reaction to it affirms that: Silly Animal + Silly Food = Silly Fun

You'll Need:

• Paper plates
• Dot stampers
• Tissue paper
• Raisins 
• Scissors
• Glue

STEP #1: Prep the Paper

Start by cutting the paper plates in half. Then cut a few "bites" in the plates. (I did this, but big kids could probably handle it just fine.) While you have the scissors handy, cut the lime green tissue paper into 1- to 2-inch squares.

STEP #2: Get Stamping

Stamp the area inside the half-circle with a pink dot stamper. You could use marker or crayon, but the stamper color is the same brilliant shade as the book, and these special markers are fun to use and easy for kids to control.

Special Accommodations: My 5-year-old daughter, Elsa, has substantial developmental delays, and doesn't have the motor planning to hold or manipulate many things. This makes glueing and stamping pretty tough. But we power through. For this craft, I provided hand-over-hand support throughout, and we also used the tool EazyHold to encourage sustained grasp.

Here's a video of how the EazyHold works. Please forgive the abrupt ending. I was using an amateur videographer...

STEP #3: Add the Rind

This was a favorite step for my kiddos. Using glue, make dots around the plate rim. Then press the green squares into the glue. Tada! Textural rind is in place.

STEP #4: Glue on the Raisins

Raisins work well as a watermelon seed stand ins. And they also make a convenient mid-craft snack! 

Complete! My littlest gal especially loved this activity. When daddy got home from work, the first thing she said was, "Craft Daddy! Craft!" Just the sweetest. Hope you give it a try! Let me know how it goes.

Opting Out & Leaning In: A Guest Post by Betsy Osman

You are in for such a treat! I'm so pleased to share a guest piece by Betsy Osman. For those of you who don't know Betsy, I am certain you'll enjoy the perspective of this insightful, funny, inspirational mom and writer. Meet Betsy! 

Betsy married my stand-in brother Aaron Osman. (I was lacking in that department, as the middle of three girls.) Aaron's sister, Sarah, was my childhood bestie. I spent years under the Osman eaves: Admiring Jim's rose bushes, listening to Vicki on the piano, playing cabbage patch dolls, sliding head-first down the carpeted stairs, dressing up poor Molly the basset hound.

Fast forward 30-ish years, and I'm lucky to call Aaron's wife Betsy a friend and Instagram pen pal. Our girls are close in age, and we share many of the same hilarities and hurdles. Here's the lovely Osman family of Mt. Zion, Ill.

Below you'll find Betsy's take on opting out (of the traditional workforce) to be a Stay at Home Mom, then leaning in again, when the time was right. Had me in laughter and tears! 

In Betsy's words:

A little over a year ago, I made the decision to leave my full-time job and try my hand at being a Stay at Home Mom. I was worn down - tired of marshaling out all my resources and carrying the heavy, guilted weight that came from missing out on my kids' everydayness. I longed to be able to apply my creative energy to my family; to make each day less about my “To Do” list, and more about my “Do, too!” list.

So I took the off-ramp, directed toward home.

The months that followed were … lifey. Busy. Happy. Hard. Exhausting. Freeing. I loved and loathed the pace of home life. Some days I appreciated my husband for allowing me to have this time in life. Other days I completely resented how easy things seemed for him.

I watched the girls grow and change. And over our long days together, I came to enjoy them in new ways. They didn’t always get the best version of me, but they always got me. For everything. Every question, every special event, every field trip, every lost tooth, every nightmare. I was witness to each of those moments.

Over those months, I struggled with new ways to define my own value. I wasn’t meeting huge professional goals and deadlines. I wasn’t building endowment funds or capital campaigns. I was building humans. In my professional life, my successes were seen and acknowledged. At home, my forward-momentum was usually anonymous. Overlooked and underrated. And the pay sucked.

One day I was talking with a girlfriend, confessing my fear that I wasn’t living a value-fueled life. My years of study and education and professional accomplishment – what was it all worth? I’d worn yoga pants three days in a row, spent an hour researching “coffee filter snowflake projects,” and had just literally burst into tears watching Dumbo’s mama be sent to circus jail. I didn’t need a university degree for this work.

“It matters, right?” I asked my girlfriend, swallowing hard over the lump in my throat. “My kids will remember these days and that I’d made them the priority, right? That’s where the value is, right?”

She hugged me tight.

“Betsy, you don’t need to assign where your value lies,” she replied. “That idea is fickle. And false. Our value as women and mothers and human beings is inherent. We don’t need credentials or a title or even a witness to our hard work. We’re valuable. Hard stop. End of story.”

Hard stop. End of story. And the beginning of a new way of thinking.

While fear, anxiety and self-doubt threaten to rob women of our joy no matter where our work is happening, I have come to realize that our value isn’t tied up in what or even where. It’s tied up in who.

In the end, you are the valuable person doing the work, instead of a person doing valuable work.

My season at home is soon coming to an end. I’ve just accepted a new marketing position and am so looking forward to re-engaging my off-ramped professional self. I’ll be taking with me all kinds of new talent I’ve cultivated during my time at home. Multi-tasking, encouraging otherwise unwilling individuals, patience, and ninja-level coffee filter snowflake project googling skills.

And huge handfuls of humility.

I’ve learned much about how it feels to sit on both sides of the fence: Opting out and Leaning in. And whether I’m wearing yoga pants or high heels, I’m leaning in to the acceptance that our value lies simply in who we are.

I hope you see yourself in that idea, too.

Lemonade Stand for Good

Nothing says summer like a lemonade stand. 

Messy handmade promo posters. Refreshing tartness in clear plastic cups. Sweet little people overseeing quiet card tables.

If you have kids, chances are good that you'll host a lemonade stand (or two) this summer. But what if your stand was more than a low-stakes exercise in entrepreneurship? What if your stand STOOD for something? What if it made a difference in another child’s life?

This summer, the Schulte girls will be hosting a lemonade stand for the Ben Smiles Memorial Foundation - the St. Charles, Ill.-based nonprofit that honors the life of young Benjamin Gerlach.

Sweet Ben passed away exactly one year ago. He was a triplet and a Chapelstreet Church Masterpiece kid, who attended Buddy Break with our Elsa. (Masterpiece and Buddy Break are incredible ministries serving children with special needs, and their families.) Here is Ben with his sister and brother.

God placed Ben's mom, Elizabeth, at my table for the 2016-17 session of Moms Together (another amazing Chapelstreet Church program). I've so enjoyed getting to know her! Elizabeth and her husband, Rob, launched a foundation in Ben's name this spring.

Ben was a beautiful light in his family and community. Here's a little bit about Ben, in his momma's words:

Benjamin, his brother Colin and sister Ava were born prematurely at 25 weeks. They spent their first months of life in the NICU at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Born on June 30, 2012, Ben finally came home almost five months later. He had an extremely tough time while in the NICU. A loss of oxygen to his brain at one point during a serious infection resulted in his primary diagnosis of Cystic Encephalomalacia. We knew this would impact his development but not to what extent. At 10 months, he was diagnosed as Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy. In addition, he had a feeding tube, vision impairment, epilepsy, was nonverbal and had severe gross and fine motor deficiencies.

The last year and a half of his life, Ben struggled with respiratory viruses/illnesses and was on oxygen support full time. Where a sniffle or runny nose might not be a ‘big deal’ for a typical kid, for Ben, it most likely would mean hospitalization. After numerous viruses and hospital stays, he caught Adenovirus and passed away from respiratory failure on May 2, 2016, in the PICU at Lurie Children’s. Despite his daily struggles, Ben was a happy kid, who loved being around his brother and sister. He was in a blended preschool class for almost a full year and loved it. He had many friends who cared about him, and he laughed and smiled a lot. I miss his smile every day.

I cannot imagine Elizabeth and Rob's heartbreak. Within a year of Ben's passing, they started Ben Smiles, which donates adapted toys, communication tools and other devices to children with developmental delays, who would benefit tremendously from such technology. The foundation works with Chapelstreet Church, Easter Seals and District 303’s Early Childhood Program to get equipment in the hands of kids who need it most.

Ben's siblings recently ran a lemonade stand fundraiser for Ben Smiles, and the family would love it if their community continued the momentum in Summer 2017.

What do you say?

You too, Grandparents - what a fun and meaningful activity to do with the grandkids when they're on your home turf! Beyond the obvious lemonade stand goodness, a Ben Smiles lemonade stand helps to teach the little ones in your world that:

• Some kids are on a different journey,
• And sometimes their medical and physical needs can be involved,
• But they still love to learn and play,
• And God gave YOU the ability to help them get toys that meet their needs.

Here are 5 simple steps to running a stand for Ben Smiles in Summer 2017. Get the kids involved in every step!

1. Set up your stand with all the fixins.
2. Decorate a sign that says "Lemonade for Ben Smiles."
3. Work your magic, and sell that lemonade!
4. Share your stand pics on Facebook and Instagram, and tag Ben Smiles in your posts. (#bensmiles)
5. Pass along your donation to Ben Smiles HERE.

Elizabeth and Rob would love to see 50 lemonade stands hosted across the Midwest (and beyond?) this summer. Visit Ben Smiles on Facebook to notify Elizabeth of your stand and share your pics, to keep the fun and inspiration running all summer long!