Busy, busy summer!!

Just a quick post for now, and then I do eventually plan to go back and resume my parenting/ education related tips. I have had a crazy busy summer, what with having a combined graduation party for my girls, my older daughter moving to San Jose to start her residency at Stanford, my parents coming over from India to attend my girls graduation, Alaska cruise etc etc....
All through this, I have still been crafting, and want to share some of my latest felt mats...posted on Etsy....

I have also been beading, but I am realizing that I tend to leave my beading projects unfinished. Ummmm...will need to find a way to rectify that!!

Well, I guess I can sneak in a quick parenting tip- following up on the "being a good role model"...    Another way I was a good role model is that I was always working really hard, and expecting the same from my kids. For about 7 years, I was teaching full time and also either working on my second Master’s degree and then my Doctorate degree. IN addition to this, I was always taking care of my household, attending to my girls education, AND pursuing my crafting endeavors as well. Did I forget to have fun?? No, I don’t think so….Achieving in itself is a lot of fun. We were social, got together with friends, went on trips, but my socializing was never Number#1 on my priority list. It struck me as odd that sometimes students would assume that my girls don't have a "social life" because they are hard working students.

That's it for now...will continue later!

Some more felt mats, and my first "tiger mom" tip!

So yes, I am still on my felt candle mat kick.....Have been cranking them out like crazy, just was not getting time to take pictures and to post :) Here is my latest lot......

The cupcake one is really fun, I added bugle beads as sprinkles. Not yet listed on my Ebay or my Etsy, but will be up there pretty soon.

 As I promised in my previous post that I will start writing, not just for the sake of offering some help/ insight for like-minded and concerned parents, but also just documenting for myself, some steps I took in raising my daughters. Following up on that is my first tip :  

1.      being a good role model- Heard often, but used......ummm, let's just say, not that often. There is a saying “An apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”, and yes, it is very much true. Here are some steps. Today, I'm sharing the first one-  I took to stay a good role model-  I made conscious decisions to stay a teetotaler so that I could expect the same from my girls, with full conviction. I remember one of my students telling me during my first year of teaching, “there is no way your daughter will graduate high school in America without drinking”. As a “fobby” immigrant, I actually remember being seriously scared by that. Well, 12 years later, I am happy to report that it never turned out to be an issue. 

I hope to continue documenting a comprehensive list of actions/ tips here on my blog, so please check back or comment if you have a question. No meanness please. I was taught that it is better to stay quiet if you do not have any thing positive to contribute, so I'm hoping others will also respect that :)