Choose Love

It has been hard to find the words.  It has been hard to face the day in 2020.  Masks are worn and isolation is felt all around.  Yet as America slowly reopens, one angry thought overshadows even a pandemic.  An angry thought was felt nation-wide this week and our hearts feel it.

In the first week of June 2020, we are saddened.  We are vulnerable.  We have fear and anger at times in our hearts.

Over the course of these recent days, many families and individuals have come to mind.  Scarlett Lewis is the most recurring voice because she personally knows the pain caused by an angry thought.  Her inspirational message and social-emotional program were developed because of tragedy from an angry thought.

When Scarlett speaks, she always points out that her son, Jesse, lost his life as a hero at Sandy Hook Elementary because of an angry thought.  Scarlett has reached a global scale with the Choose Love Jesse Lewis Movement.

In the first week of June 2020, let’s think like Scarlett.  Let’s Choose Love.   If love is all we need and our actions are driven by love or anger, why can it be so hard to Choose Love?

Scarlett, keep spreading your message and inspiring others to Choose Love.

Reflect.  Hope.  Be Brave.  Choose Love.

“Am I fat?”

Body image and confidence can be a struggle at any age.

Impeccable words and explicit attention to building confidence in our children is incredibly important.  We work hard to craft language that helps our children feel strong and healthy, along with encouraging exercise, activity, and healthy habits.

Tears of anguish brought the house down on this topic the other night.

“Am I fat?” was the question because a young man in Kelsey’s class said she was fat and she was deeply upset by his inquiry.

“Of all the challenges I have right now, I do not want fat to be one of them,” was her eloquent expression stunning us right there before bedtime.

Teaching our children kindness and love could never be more imperative in our world.  Helping our children understand to be kind and full of love when someone tells them otherwise is more difficult than we imagined as parents.

Steroids cause a moon face and a puffed look that an eight year old child cannot help but misunderstand.  His comment may have been with ill intent or perhaps it was simply innocent.  Either way, we want our children to love themselves for who they are and never let one feature define the young men and women they will be today or become in the future.

We call her strong and brave.  Of all the challenges she faces, those are the words we hope she sees when she looks in the mirror.