Now that I’m the mother of two boys, I’m taking the time t re-read Raising Boys, by Steve Biddulph. I remember reading it after the birth of my first son and feeling better equipped at raising a boy, and while I am more experienced this time around a refresher course never hurt.  Not only will it remind me what to do with my baby, but I will better understand what to expect of my four year old.  While leafing through the pages this morning, I came across a wonderful passage that I firmly believe in:

TENDERNESS IS TAUGHT

In the 1960s, anthropologist James Prescott carried out a very large scale study of child rearing and violence across different societies.  He found that those societies which gave less touching and affection to young children had by far the most violence amongst adults.  It’s clear that the more tender and warm are the lives of children, the safer and more loving they will be as adults. (Sex offenders and other sexual predators almost always have a history of rejection, institutionalization and disrupted childhoods.)  Treating children with warmth and affection immunises them against the wish or need to harm others.

All my clients will attest that I’m a firm believer in hugs and kisses.

I’ve also got The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids, by Madeline Levine, Ph.D. The title is intriguing and I certainly don’t want to raise disconnected, unhappy children. So I picked up a copy in the hopes that I will be confirming that I’m on the right track, or worst case scenario, learning where to make corrections.

Sure, there’s nothing like real experience, but when it comes to something like parenting, I firmly believe you can learn from other people’s successes and failures and books are a wonderful source of invaluable information. Looking at my bookshelf, I think going all-kindle might be the way forward for me.

What great parenting books do you recommend?  I’m always interested in learning.

Clockwise, photos above via the following links: Fresh lemons from here, Lemonade Cookies and recipe from here, Lemonade Stand from here, Lemon Cupcake and recipe from here, and Lemonade in Mason Jars from here.

The above is a page from my virtual notebook of ideas.  Nothing says summer like lemons and hopefully you are lucky and have a lemon tree growing in your backyard, so your raw materials are free.  When we think of a lemonade stand, I think most of us just think of serving a drink… but if you have a customer who’s already made the effort to stop by your stand, why not tempt them with other goodies, such as lemonade cookies, or lemon poppy seed cupcakes, think like a big chain and have the kids offer bundles.  They’re never too young to learn a few selling tips.  Also, I believe in packaging.  Not only should the product you offer be the best, but your packaging should reflect it, that way you differentiate your lemonade from the lemonade being sold down the street.  Dressing up your lemonade stand couldn’t be easier with the FREE printables below.

Lemonade stand prinables here

Vintage lemonade label printables here

photo via Peta Pixel

WHY:  1. I don’t think you’d want to use this application on your most treasured/rare photographs, but it definitely works well for snapshots you love, 2.  if you don’t adhere the photographs permanently you can easily interchange and add photographs to the display, 3. you can make it even more personal by having your little ones draw inside a few of the frames (I’m not big on drawing on walls, but in this case or with a chalkboard wall I think it’s OK). I think it would work well in a hallway or in a playroom.

photo via apartment therapy

WHY: 1.  As you’ve seen here before, simple frames of the same size and color help to bring visual coherence, 2. When I’ve seen old family portraits displayed they tend to be framed in darker woods with darker mats, I love that this display makes older photographs feel modern and crisp, 3. older photographs tend to be smaller, but by floating the photographs within larger mats you not only help give the photograph breathing space, you give it some additional gravitas.

WHY:  I love this photograph applied as wallpaper 1) The use of a black and white image makes the image more neutral so that while the photograph has a lot of impact it manages to coexist peacefully with the furnishings in the room, 2) this particular technique should definitely only be applied to one’s favorite photograph as this is not a treatment you can overlook, in this case I think the image makes the homeowners smile everyday at seeing the joy of their children, and that’s always a good thing.

photo via 4.bp.blogspot.com

WHY: If you have a collection of small prints that you treasure I think the above display works well because, a) the  ledge keeps them organized, they are not just sprinkled around the house, b) the size of the prints and frames is fairly similar, so it creates some cohesion, c) the sheer number of framed images makes this display dramatic, impactful and quite graphic.  This would not have been achieved with a ledge and 3-4 images.

photo courtesy of Real Simple

WHY: I think that most of us look at a photo and see it as one piece, but the display above shows that a) your favorite image can gain interest and importance through splitting, b) diptychs, triptychs, or in this case quadtypchs have been used for centuries by artist as a way to display their work on multiple panels, so while this treatment seems unusual it has been tried and tested many times over.

photo via Christie Chase

WHY:  I think that in modern homes in particular larger images work especially well.  They a) keep the lines simple as there aren’t multiple frames for the eyes to move around, b) create a great focal point in a room, c) can be used as a jumping off point for a room’s color palette.

I particularly like this image, because while it’s a family portrait no actual faces are shown.  In spite of the stiff pose, the piece is lighthearted. I’m sure the images makes the family smile whenever they see it.

photo courtesy of Domino Magazine (RIP)

It’s a simple idea that can easily be replicated.  I think it looks great above a bed as shown here, or  would look great in a hallway. While the site I pulled the image from doesn’t have a tutorial, I’m pretty sure the tutorial would be along the following lines: buy multiple cheap frames all in the same color and size, affix them together to create a grid either permanently using brackets, or something less permanent but still strong like duct tape.

WHY: It’s not always easy to bring together colored photos, because color, light and vibrancy can differ so widely, but the grid creates order. I love a) that you can reproduce this idea as big or as small as you’d like, and b) that some frames are purposely left empty and filled with an accent color which allows you to both pick up colors from the surrounding photographs or room, but also gives your eye an opportunity to rest.

We all have a ton of photos, whether professionally taken, or taken on vacation, or with our phones.  It’s a shame if these photos never see the light of day.  So my new “series” is intended as inspiration for you to bring your photos out.  Here’s my first pick:

photo courtesy of Ohdeedoh

WHY:  What I love about this display idea is that it a) has repetition, and repetition or groupings of like items is a good thing, b) allows for easy rotation of images, c) is whimsical.