Back to School

Hands Down

This Will Be the

Best Year

EVER!

It is almost back to school time here in the Midwest. It makes me so sad to send my kids off and miss out on all that time with them, but I value public schools and especially the teachers there, who, let's face it, are incredibly undervalued by society.

I always like to try my best to show my gratitude for them and develop a great relationship, starting from day one. This year, I doodled a gift. The image file can be pasted into a Word file and is the perfect size for putting two on a landscape page. I printed mine on cardstock and the hand is the perfect size to affix a small hand sanitizer or nail polish.

This year the Sally Hansen Crayola line was too cute to resist.

I mean, who among us can resist the appeal of a fresh box of crayons with their perfectly pointed tips?

We chose cerulean and attached

the coordinating crayon.

What color will you choose?

Enjoy!

Download Hands Down the Best Year Ever doodle here.

Comments

I Was a Coward

I knew I needed to do it. I was too afraid to start. I rehearsed the conversation in my head over and over, but still didn't know where to begin. I had excuses: They are too young. They won't understand. It doesn't directly affect them. They don't have the historical perspective yet. But the truth is, I was afraid to tell my children about Charlottesville, because I was afraid to reveal to them the ugliness of humanity, the failure of my generation and their grandparents' generation to address social ills and instead to sweep them under the rug. I was afraid to see my pain, confusion, sadness, guilt, and fear reflected in their innocent faces. It was hard enough to address the inadvertent mispronunciation of the African country, Niger, by a classmate, and the loving, necessary correction of that mispronunciation by another of their friends, last year, and the conversation about words the people use to steal the humanity away from other humans.

You Do You

I am so over our competition culture. Can we all agree to be confident enough in our own life choices that we can stop overselling them to our friends and family? And stop arguing or at least implying that our choices are superior to theirs? You do you. Click here to download You Do You doodle. And I'll do me. We can all be happy doing what is best for us. Home school or public school or private school. Daisies or succulents. Cable or Netflix/Hulu or no TVs. Disposable diapers or cloth. Mini-van or SUV or truck. Color your hair or go gray. Heels or flats. Vegan or vegetarian or flexitarian or carnivore. Read the book or watch the movie or both. Coke or Pepsi or "I don't drink pop." Pop or soda or soda pop. Run or lift weights or dance or don't. From scratch everything or go out to eat. Chocolate lover or someone who obviously doesn't have tastebuds. Of course, of course, I have an opinion on all of those things (and more!

A Prayer for our Schools

O Holy God, Our Creator and Sustainer, I ask you today to draw near to our community and hold us in your hand, tuck us under your wing, as our children go back to school. I pray that our children are encouraged, brave, bold, and compassionate. I pray that their school communities lift them up so high that can easily rise above the culture of bullying that has invaded our world. And, God, I pray for their safety, I pray that the violence that has permeated even our most innocent institutions will stop, not just here, but everywhere. I ask that you grant them a peaceful place of learning, where they are able to free their young minds from worry and fill those minds with learning. I ask for flexibility and understanding in their spaces of learning, and I pray that our children and their teachers know, truly know, that their worth is indeed not measured by any test score, and are heartened to strive for their best, without fear of comparison. God, especially hold new students and

The Whole Kristen ca-Doodle

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