“There is hardly a mention about breast cancer prevention without the reference to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. But do you know who Susan G. Komen actually is and how this dynamic organization came to be?” This is from TheSavvyGal.com website.  Check it out.  And check your breasts this month too.

It’s not too late to start (or pull the old plans that you are still losing money on and start over):  http://www.collegesavings.org/index.aspx

How many books do you have laying around or piled up in your book shelves that you will never read? Or ones that you tell yourself you keep because you will read them again? And how many children’s books are in your home that have not been touched in years? Or school books/workbooks taking up valuable storage space?

With 12 million children, most in low-income families. lacking books at home, there is a great need for donations. Your donations. Access to books is the key to literacy. You can provide that key.

Go through your bookshelves, cupboards, boxes in the garage. Stop saving them “for a good reason” and start donating them to impact the lives of millions of children and adults. Call around to your local library, schools, or children’s organizations to see if they will accept donations. Clearing some space in your home can ignite the imagination of a child.

“None of us are without struggles and pain.”

Click on the banner below to watch the trailer for an inspiration movie about successful women entrepreneurs.

Dealing with preteen and teenage boys has been a handful. Someone I thought might understand was my mom. She is always so supportive and well, listens without judgment, which I have come to learn at this point in my life, is what a truly supportive relationship looks like.

Recently, my teenage son spent a few days with my parents. Upon returning him to me safe and sound, my mother had also gone through her extensive library of books and pulled together a selection she thought might be helpful. What you must know is that my mother loves books and does not “get rid” of them after reading them or let go of them lightly. Having not thought of this fact in years (since helping her clear out the magazine collection dating back to 1960), I was once again gifted with this knowledge as I howled with delight at the unique selections she bequeathed upon me to deal with my boys. Now. In the year 2010. Following is a selection of my favorites:

Hi There, High School! by Gay Head (seriously). @1953. With chapter titles like “Come and Get It” and “Heads – You Win,” this little gem alone has provided for hours of amusement – among the adults only, mind you, anything else would be bad parenting.

How to Live With Your Teenager by Peter H. Buntman and Eleanor M. Saris, ©1979, states 31 years ago what every parent I know proclaims today: “Never before has it been harder to be a teenager. It’s harder still today to be the parents of a teenager.” I can’t help but ride my high horse on this one and wonder how it could possibly have been hard in 1979 as compare to now. But then again, I suppose everyone in the “now” thinks their situation is harder/different/unique/more difficult – making the “now” irrelevant. In reality, there are probably more similarities than differences, regardless of when “now” is. So, I dismount to join the conversation.

And, not that it has anything to do with parenting, per se, but the TWA Flying Library book (OMG, does anyone else remember those? And the free playing cards/pins/activity books/pillows they used to give kids on airplanes?) Jump Ball by Oscar Robertson, ©1972, brings up a few key points that resonated…”…To play a winning game you should have it (confidence) in great abundance. And you will, if you believe in yourself. Your confidence will grow as your skills grow. You’ll feel it happening.” Lord knows I have developed parenting skills over the last 14 years. And if I were to start all over again with what I know now, that baby would probably have a different up bringing. But, honestly speaking, the basis of my beliefs and morals that I have tried to instill in my kids so that one day I can release them out into the wild as good human beings, probably would have dominated any ancillary changes I made with that new knowledge.

Perhaps the best advice I read for raising kids is again by Oscar Robertson, and although he may be talking about basketball, no one is ever really just talking about one thing, are they?

“The only rule is to avoid using any fake twice which didn’t work the first time.”