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Keystone Montessori
El Cerrito, CA
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May 2013
Our 18-month-old is starting at Keystone soon, and we're optimistic and excited as it seems like an awesome place. Two ''anxious mama needing some reassurance'' questions: 1) Has anyone seen any asthma or breathing problems in their kids related to the fact that the outdoor play areas are adjacent to somewhat busy streets? 2) Do you feel that the school communicates well with parents about negative incidents, or brushes things under the rug? Many thanks
Our child attends keystone and started in Dawn's sandpiper class. Dawn is such an amazing person - she really made the transition to preschool seamless for our child and she really is a toddler whisperer. We were pretty sad when our child transitioned out of her class, although the other teachers are wonderful too. We never had any issues with street pollution or noticed it as a real problem. We toured many schools (and some where we did notice pollution), but Keystone was never a problem. No asthma or other breathing problems. keystone fan
Sept 2012
I can't speak highly enough of Keystone. My son has attended this wonderful school since he was 20 months. They are extremely caring and kind, and we are always incredibly impressed with the quality of instruction. Our son has been reading and doing basic math for a while now, and he never felt pushed to learn. They use concrete strategies that make the learning fun. We plan to send our daughter there soon. Hannah
Sept 2012
If you are looking for a preschool in the El Cerrito area I highly recommend Keystone Montessori School! I am an early childhood educator and speech-language pathologist, director of Word Works in Oakland. I have worked with children at many different schools throughout the East Bay and was thrilled to find Keystone for my son who is 27 months old. He made a quick transition to full days at school, including nap time! The teachers at Keystone are experienced, loving, and attentive to every child's needs. Activities are exciting and keep the children's attention for long periods as they become engrossed in learning and engaging with peers. My son is so excited to go to school every day and loves his friends and teachers. The Montessori environment allows for independence, exploration, respect for the environment and for others. Keystone has classrooms full of enriching work activities to build fine motor skills, develop a love of art and music, and many math and pre-reading learning tasks. The outside space is great as well with large climbing structure, bikes, swings, sandboxes, etc. The children have plenty of outside time as well. They feel safe and loved and are so happy! We are thrilled to be a family at Keystone. I encourage you to go visit! Feel free to email me if you have questions. Tamara
Sept 2012
I felt a little bit nervous when my 4.5 year old daughter started keystone because she was a shy girl and she didn't know much English. During the initial period, my daughter was always around teachers and didn't dare to play with other kids. Teachers were very patient with her and let her progress at her own pace. After a few week, I was amazed to find out that my daughter started making friends. Her friends list started from one, two to ten. I am so happy that my daughter can make progress in social because I know it is a big challenge for her. She is still a shy girl now but it doesn't prevent her from enjoying the social life. When her dad picks her from keystone, she doesn't want to leave and stays until the last minute. Sometime we pass by keystone in weekend, she would point to the house and say '' That is Keystone. I love Keystone''. I feel so lucky to have found a right place for my daughter and would like recommend Keystone to anyone who is looking for schools.
Dec 2010
As we are preparing to leave Keystone Montessori in El Cerrito, I wanted to put the highest recommendation out there for the place. Our 4-year old daughter was first in Dawn's sandpiper class (love her, as well as Juana), and then in Joe's blue Heron class, and now in Jackie's Snowy Egrets. I wasn't initially even looking for a montessori school, but our daughter has thrived there, and i am amazed at how much she has learned every day. She has been taken care of intellectually, socially, emotionally, culturally and environmentally. I would wholeheartedly recommend this school.
July 2010
- Clean, well organized, spacious classrooms
- A well-rounded preschool curriculum that is effective, creative and prepares the children for Kindergarten
- Experienced lead teachers who are professional, warm and friendly
- Well trained staff who enjoy working with children
- Management that is very responsive to individual family's needs and situations
Here is the contact info: Keystone Montessori School 6639 Blake Street El Cerrito, CA 94530 Office: 510-236-7479 www.keystonemontessori.org
April 2010
Re: Summer preschool for entering kindergartener
I suggest that you check out Keystone Montessori. We have been an active family in the school for the last 5 years. They are a preschool but are doing something unique and fun over the summer called Camp Keystone. While still using the Montessori method and maintaining the structure that has made them a fantastic preschool, they have planned weekly themes to keep the kids engaged and excited. Each week will include hands on activities, field trips and an opportunity to learn interesting things about a particular topic. Keystone also will continue its tradition of walking the kids to swim lessons at El Cerrito Pool and to the library for stories and to check out books each week throughout the summer. My older son, now a 1st grader, has fond memories of these outings and my younger son, a very happy 4.5 year old in the Snowy Egrets classroom, asks daily whether camp starts tomorrow and when he'll get to start walking to swim class and the library. Check out their website: www.keystonemontessori.org and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Good luck! Kelly
March 2010
Re: Preschools in Albany area that potty train students
I have been very happy with the preschool my older son is an alumni of and where my younger is currently a student, Keystone Montessori in El Cerrito. The teachers there are amazingly engaged and patient and were integral in supporting the potty training of my boys. They have a fantastic combination of routine and flexibility to help kids learn the good times to go potty but also allowing to them to go as needed. My boys have had fantastic overall experiences there and have grown academically, emotionally and socially. The amount of independence given to the children results in a level of confidence that shows itself in all aspects of their day and certainly is key to successful potty training. I would highly recommend contacting the school and touring it to see if they are a good fit. Their website is: www.keystonemontessori.org and their phone number is: (510) 236-7479. Also feel free to contact me with any specific questions. Between my two boys, we have been a happy Keystone family for the past 5 years. Kelly
Jan 2010
Re: Program for 4 yr-old not quite ready for K?
I think my son's preschool, Keystone Montessori in El Cerrito, would be a great fit for your daughter. We have decided to send my son to private school and he misses their birthdate cutoff by just a few weeks. On top of that, we think he would benefit from being more socially mature so we are keeping him at his preschool for another year. The beauty of a Montessori classroom is that it is designed to be mixed age but the school has also developed some unique materials and activities specifically for the group of kindergarten age kids whose parents choose for them to stay there either for kindergarten or as a bridge- K. This group gets special lessons and work that is fun yet challenging. There is great friendships built based on the amount of work the children do together and this group of older kids really blossom as they are looked towards by the younger ones in the classroom as role models and leaders. You can check out their website at: www.keystonemontessori.org. Best of luck with your search. Happy Keystone Parent
Sept 2009
Our son has been attending Keystone for nearly 2 years since he was 2 years old, and we have found many positive things about the school, particularly as compared to other schools that we have been enrolled in or have visited. One of the most important things is how comfortable our child feels at the school. The teachers are genuinely caring and warm toward the children, holding a child or directing the child to a fun activity to ease a potentially teary dropoff. It's also no problem if your child isn't potty-trained, uses a pacifier at naps, or has a special lovey; other preschools we visited were not nearly so tolerant, and we feel like Keystone understands a child's need to feel secure.
The school puts a great deal of thought into how the classrooms are run. The school is conscientious about the environment: they grow an organic vegetable garden and teach the children to use green waste bins in the classrooms. The classrooms are spacious and filled with interesting toys, books, or learning tools for the kids. The outdoor playspace is fantastic, including a tricyle area, a large playstructure, sandbox area, swing area, and play house. There are also regular events to bring families together, from school pizza nights to a summer pool party and the annual holiday performance. The school offers are a number of extra classes for a fee, such as dance, music, Mandarin and Spanish classes; furthermore, older children can elect summer swimming classes at the El Cerrito Pool, which has been very convenient for our schedule. Finally, we love the school's ethnic diversity among both the teachers and students; this diversity really enriches our child's learning environment.
Communication with the school administration and logistics are generally well-managed. While every parent may have different concerns about their child or the way the school is run, we have found the Director Linda to be open to those concerns and wiling to work with parents to find solutions. They provide multiple methods to facilitate parent communication, including parent mailboxes, teacher-parent books, e-mail announcements, monthly newsletters, and in-person meetings. You can choose a variety of schedules, and if needed, you can request extra hours or changes in schedule easily; this flexibility has been a tremendous help for us, and is definitely not the case at other preschools. The Secretary Kim is also very friendly, which is a real plus (we've dealt with our share of prickly bookkeepers or office managers!)
The downsides are the number of vacation days per year that the school is closed, including sometimes when they are closed for 2 weeks at a time. With two working parents and no grandparents living locally, the vacations are difficult for us to manage, particularly when considering that the tuition and annual fees are on the high end. In fact, when we made our initial list of potential preschools, Keystone was nearly at the bottom of our list for these reasons and because we were more interested in a play-based school. But after we visited the school, we were impressed enough to take a shot at making it work. The school may not be for everyone, but if you're interested in a Montessori school, make sure to at least take a look. A Satisfied Parent
August 2009
We have been part of the Keystone family since my oldest son started in the toddler room in 2005. Now my younger son just moved to the Snowy Egrets classroom, a move he had been dreaming of and anxiously awaiting. While both of my kids had sort of a rough transition, the loving, caring, nurturing teachers helped them both get through the separation anxiety, get involved in the classroom and ultimately develop friendships that we hope will last beyond their preschool years. My boys have very different personalities and while I believe no school is perfect for every child, Keystone has come through for both my very outgoing son as well as my very reserved one. They have both grown in their social and academic skills, blossomed into confident children and generally have become avid learners. While the number of vacation days is very challenging, I honestly believe that the teachers deserve to get time off and refuel. Over the 4 years that we have been at Keystone, I have seen Linda, the director, try to engage the parent community more and more, whether it be trying to setup a babysitting co-op over spring break to take some of the burden off of working parents or organize social activites such as a schoolwide pool party at the end of summer, because she recognizes that more and more families want to feel a greater sense of community. It's hard for working families to find the time to get to know other school families but if everybody puts in the effort, I know the community will continue to grow stronger. Our closest friends now are families we met when my older son was at Keystone. While no school is perfect, we feel very lucky to have found Keystone and would recommend it to anybody looking for an academically challenging, socially engaging and generally fun school with flexible hours, great teachers and amazing families. Kelly
August 2009
We love Keystone! Our daughter just graduated and will attend Kindergarten this fall while our son is beginning his second year there. The teachers are engaging, loving and challenge each child to achieve his/her best. There is a strong emphasis on academics, wrapped in the ''work is fun'' philosophy which, I believe, sets the groundwork for a lifelong love of learning. Along with music, Spanish, Mandarin and dance classes (which you can add for a fee) there are great field trips (ie: Chabot Space and Science Center) which supplement what the kids are learning in class. Teachers focus on a new theme each month and parents can be as involved (or not) as they want. The director Linda is very professional with the parents and loving with the students. The teachers are treated well (no burn-outs!) and seem genuinely happy to be there. Whenever I have had questions about my kids and how they were doing she has always made the time to discuss them and came prepared (a full page of notes on a legal pad) having observed them. Another thing I love about Keystone is its HUGE emphasis on multiculturalism. Rather than rolling a bunch of holidays into one - or worse not celebrating anything - Keystone takes the opposite approach. If there's a culture or country having a holiday, Keystone celebrates it. From Persian and Chinese New Years to Hannakuh, Christmas, Kwanzaa, St. Patrick's Day and Halloween, Keystone kids celebrate with food, games, music and costumes. In short, this place rocks! We looked at 4 or 5 other Montessori schools before we found this jewel. Lizette
June 2009
We have two boys at Keystone Montessori and are extremely happy with the school and its teachers. The Montessori curriculum and philosophy offers the children a structured environment in which to grow and learn. From a very young age they learn to choose their own activities, clean up after themselves, and work together to achieve goals. Many of the teachers have been at the school for 10 or even 20 years. These are true professionals who obviously love what they do. It is very reassuring to leave our children in their care. In the past Keystone has been noted for having too many vacation days, but recently that has changed, and its schedule is now in-line with most other preschools. Ken
Nov 2008
Re: Daughter will be ready for K, but is too young
Have you looked at any Montessori preschools near you? Not sure where you live but I have one child currently enrolled at Keystone Montessori in El Cerrito and because of the mixed age environment, there are plenty of kids who are 5. Some are there because they miss the cut-off and others actually choose to stay for kindergarten. The school is well established, has fantastic caring teachers and a great program. My first went there as well and was well prepared for kindergarten. Most importantly, we learned that being ready for kindergarten meant emotional and social readiness more than academic readiness and I think Keystone does a great job in that area. Good luck with your search and if El Cerrito is doable, I'd highly recomment checking Keystone Montessori out. Happy Keystone Parent
July 2008
Re: El Cerrito/Albany/Berk. Preschools
First, definitely go visit these and notice how the children act to one another and in general. I can only speak to Keystone, but have one child there now and an older child who went, also. We love it!
Things we love-- after being at an earlier preschool that suffered from a lot of teacher turnover, we really appreciate the low teacher turnover. My child's teacher has been there 15 years, another longer than that. I think that says a lot about how a school is run and how the teachers feel about being there.
--It's diverse and interesting. So many of the teachers, and quite a few of the kids, are bilingual and regularly travel to other countries that my kids started to assume all adults were bilingual. It piques their interest in other places and how people in other places live.
--Respect. The kids are taught to respect each other, each other's ''work,'' the teachers, and it's genuine, not a half-hearted ''sorry'' after some negative act.
--My kids are excited about learning. My child was really ahead in Kindergarten, and it wasn't learned with flashcards, but in an engaging way that was never boring. That's worth so much! Linda--It's not corporate-owned, she owns it and runs it. She's been doing it a long time and seems to really know what she's doing. I don't know how receptive she would be if someone wanted to change things, but we have been pleased with how things are run.
Drawbacks--It's a lot of $$!!! For us it's worth it for a great foundation, but maybe half the kids go on to private school and it was a bummer for my kid to not to go with them. For public school, most go on to Madera, it seems.
--Maybe because it's expensive, it's many 2 parent working families that you only see for a harried minute at 5 pm. It doesn't have the same parent community you would get at, say, a co-op.
--You don't get detailed feedback about what your kid is doing. For us, this was a minor problem, because we decided as long as our children are happy in school, occasional communication is OK.You can always talk to a teacher and they have 2x a year conferences. Again, we had a preschool that gave daily written info, and we found that it wasn't nearly as worthwhile as you would think (noone ever says your kid is unhappy and learning negative behavior here! or learning nothing!)as long as your kid is happy and engaged.
Overall, we are very happy with Keystone and recommend it highly! Happy Keystone Parent
Dec 2007
We are considering Keystone Montessori for our 2 year old son for next fall (he will be almost 3 at that time). I can't seem to get over the fact that everytime I call the school to ask questions, the front desk woman does not seem very friendly. I don't want to make a decision because of this initial impression and am hoping current parents whose children attend/or have attended Key Montessori can provide some recent feedback on the school - good or bad. EC Mom
Hi there,
My child attends Keystone Montessori. He was in Joe's class last year and now he is in Nori/Carmelitta's class. I really love this school.
Whenever I have had an issue - I have taken it straight to Linda and she has addressed it immediately... whether it is about my bill or a behaviorial concern. I like that whenver my child gets hurt (which is often) that I get an accident report in my mailbox telling me what happened, who, if anyone was involved and what they did to soothe him.
I think that the teachers and Linda have great insight... once I called because my son was falling down alot and we were beginning to get frustrated. Linda asked Joe about him. He said that my child didn't fall any more than anyother child and that when he does that they tell him to take a breather. So, I started doing this at home. One day I found him sitting on the stairs - I asked what he was doing -- he said he was taking a breather. I loved that he was self-monitoring his own behavior. About a month into school - he started getting anxiety - they suggested that he bring something to share with the class - he brought bubble wrap 3 different days - and was so busy cutting it up and handing it out that he forgot to cry when I left. It was brillant.
When we were touring preschools - I found Keystone to be the calmest of all of the schools that I visited. And, this is what I wanted for my child. And, we could tell that he felt immediately comfortable there. In fact, the first time we walked into Joe's class he sat down in the circle with the rest of the kids. It was amazing for us to watch - especially in comparison to our experiences at the other schools we visited. Also, when I was still visiting other schools - Linda asked us if we wanted to come for a few morning visits. We did. And, when we finally chose Keystone - she invited us back several more times over the summer - at no charge to us. It was a great way to introduce our child to school.
I also like that you can be as involved as you want. There is a sign up sheet - so it's at the parent's convenience. And, many parents participate in the classroom to teach about their cultures/holidays. Also, each year I have had a parent/teacher conference where they have told me the areas he is doing well and the areas he needs to focus on.
I read on BPN about a parent at Keystone concerned about two teachers bringing their babies to school. I personally love this and I love when I have come to pick him up - and have found him holding a baby in his arms. so precious. And, isn't this what ''practical life'' is all about? Also, a new study came out about the benefit to your child's IQ if they are communicating with both adults and their younger sibling.
To address your concern about the person that answers the phone. My opinion - she is just shy... and I wouldn't let her influence your decision in any way.
Anyway, I have been very happy with the school and the teachers and it was a great fit for our child. Good luck with your search. Elizabeth
Oct 2005
I am looking for feedback on Keystone Montessori Preschool in El Cerrito. I have read the comments on the website, but they are 2-5 years old and I would like to know if anyone has anything new (either positive or negative) to add. Thanks. Anne
Our son, who is now 4.5, has been at Keystone for over 2 years and our youngest, who is now 2.5 just started this month. Keystone has helped to develop in my son what I believe is a great gift: a love of learning. The varied and stimulating ''work'' in the classrooms teaches the children important life skills and builds their curiosity and their confidence. The work has also given my son strong motor and analytical skills. The staff is very attentive and nurturing and my son feels safe and comfortable with each of them. My son has really blossomed in the Keystone environment. There is also a wonderful music specialist who comes in once a week. The school is very professionally and thoughtfully run by Linda Shehabi who, always to my amazement, knows exactly what is going with every chil! d at all times. Linda has never failed to promptly, effectively and kindly address any questions that I may have. I highly recommend the school. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions you may have. Carla
My 3.5 year old daughter started attending Keystone in July and we've had a terrific experience. I was concerned with the separation process because we had a very bad experience the previous year at another school, but this could not have gone any better. Linda, the director, had great insight about putting my daughter in the youngest class because they are the least structured and then move her to the older class as she got comfortable with her surroundings and following directions/rules. The teacher in that class, Dawn, is amazing. You can tell she has lots of experience with the separation process and gave me some great suggestions. Things went so well, my daughter was going to the older class after about 2 weeks!
Though we are still new to Keystone, it feels like a really well- run school and that they are not lacking funds. Most of the teachers have been there for a long, long time and to me, that is always a good sign. My daughter's current teacher, Joe, must have taught there for at least 14+ years because he taught my nephew who is now 16!
Recently they restructured the 2 older classrooms so it's structured more like a traditional Montessori classroom. That is, instead of having one class for ages 2.5 to 4 and the other for ages 4 to 6, they have the whole range of ages in each classroom so all the kids can learn from each other. Happy Momma
December 2003
Interested in hearing opinions on this school in El Cerrito. Mayra
Hi. My son is 3 1/2 years old and has been attending Keystone since this past March. My husband and I are very happy with it. The school's director, Linda, built the school with her husband, a contractor, about 15 years ago, according to plans that they helped create. The school has three classrooms, and three play areas. The classes are grouped according to the following approximate ages: 18 months to 30 months (2 1/2), 2 1/2 to about 4, and 4 to 6. Children can do kindergarten at the school. The classes are a good size, and there is a nice outside play area for each, with the ages mingling some times at play. In our experience, the teachers seem quite warm, attentive, and experienced. There are lots of productive activities (art, music, early exposure to letters and numbers and shapes), and the children seem very happy - certainly our son is. It took him a couple of months to adjust, but now he often insists that my husband stay a bit and play when he comes to pick our son up. I had heard some concern among other parents who looked at the school, or had children attending for a while, that the class for 2 1/2 to 4 year olds perhaps overemphasized rules and structure. But, our child is in that class now and very happy. In our experience, the balance seems to be good - and the children do not seem upset by the structure. And the teacher has been very attentive to our son and always has stories to tell us about his day when we pick him up. Overall, the school - Linda and all of the teachers - have shown a lot of caring, interest, and concern in our child's progress and comfort, and we are very happy to have him there. Debora
Jan 2002
I am wondering if anyone has any experiences they can share about Keystone Montessori Preschool in El Cerrito. I have visited it and yet have never heard anything about it from other parents. Much appreciate any positive or less than positive reviews on their program, teachers, reputation, etc. Thanks. Joanna
I sent my daughter there for over one year (until she started Kindergarten). I was very happy with the program, facilities, teachers, supplementary programs, and the director. She is very organized and has a good sense of all the children as individuals. I will send my next daughter there when she's old enough. We moved from SF, where my daughter was in a Montessori school, so I checked out every Montessori school in Berkeley, Kensington, and El Cerrito--there are a lot of them. I felt best about Keystone for my child. (I always thought it was strange I never saw anything on UCB Parents about this preschool, too.) Kellie
- My daughter went to Keystone for 2.5 years from age 2 1/2 to 5 years. The staff and director there are excellent and the program is rich and well-rounded. I credit the Primary teacher Nori Grimes at Keystone for my daughter's success. She blossomed under Nori, eagerly expressing an interest in reading, writing and math which continues to this day. A little science, history as well as important interpersonal relationship skills are built into the program the program and the day always seemed fun. I was amazed to see how much my daughter and her classmates grew and learned under Nori's care. Nori is a truly dedicated Montessori teacher and I would send my daughter back to her in a heartbeat if I could. Keystone's director Linda Shehabi is also easy to talk to and very responsive as are the rest of the staff. The school is clean and very safety and security conscious. If you have any specific questions I would be happy to speak to you directly. Monica
We have been very happy with Keystone Montessori School in El Cerrito. Both our boys (ages 5 and 3) started attending at 18 months. They both still love the teachers and we feel very strongly that they are getting quality care and a good beginning education to boot. There are three rooms of care, generally separated by age. All the teachers (and assistants) are warm and involved. They also have a male teacher (which appealed to us) in the older class, but he also supervises the outdoor play. The learning/educational materials they have are interesting and engaging and my sons have thrived there. I'd be happy to discuss the school more if someone is interested. kym
My son went to Keystone from 21 months to 3 years. He was very happy there--really blossomed. He loved circle time and having control over his work. He was a total hog for the teacher's lap at the end-of-day storytime.
However, we really wanted him to retain his Spanish-English bilingualism and had been on the Cento VIDA waiting list for about 18 months when...we moved him. It was agonizing to take our son out of Keystone. We had alot of confidence in the teachers and director (more about that in a minute).
Now, after 18 months at Centro VIDA, we have just moved our son back to Keystone. Although Centro VIDA is a wonderful preschool with loving teachers and fabulous meals --it wasn't a good fit for our son. The funny thing about picking school/childcare is that seems to be all about "fit"--for your child.
I'm being hustled off to dinner so I can only say a couple of things:
1. The director. Linda is my idea of an "educator". She really knows ALL of the kids. I was not surprised
that Linda knows every child by name but I was surprised on more than one occasion at her insights regarding my son's developmental stage. She also seemed to know him as an individual. She is not only the director but (with her husband) the owner thus a very stable staff person.
2. The head teacher for the introductory class. Shawn is one of the best teachers I have ever seen. She not only loves kids, she likes them. My son blossomed intellectually as well as socially in her class. Her ability to help kid's "use their words" and empathize with each other is awe-inspiring. My son adored her and hogged her lap at the end-of-day storytime. It gladdened my heart to come for him at the end of a long day and have him pat the spot next to him to signal me to wait while he enjoyed Shawn's lap and the rest of the story.
3. They are well organized and do not ask parents to volunteer hours.
4. It is expensive. There is a $400 annual fee in addition to the monthly tuition.
5. There isn't much of a parent-community but we do have some particular friends among the parents.
6. It is a VERY diverse community but it is quietly diverse. There are more languages spoken by kids at Keystone than among any student population at any preschool we looked at.
Good Luck. Sojeila
April 2000
In terms of hybrid daycare/preschools that cater to working parents, I would highly recommend Keystone Montessori School in Richmond Hilltop (El Sobrante border). This school has a 2-4 year old class and a 4-6 year old class serving mostly families of working parents. I believe they offer an 8 am to 4 pm program with before and after school care available. The full time program is much less expensive per hour than part-time program. The facility is modern, clean and well lit with a big open, fully equipped backyard area. Although I have only done a couple of observations there, my good friend's son has gone there a couple of years (she found out about the school through me). We are both impressed with how content and well-adjusted most of the kids in the program appear. The kids are open and encourage new kids to play with them. This school is one of only a couple of places I would seriously consider leaving my child if I return to work on a full time basis. In my view, the school provides the right blend of nurturing, sense of security, opportunity for learning and safety that are critical considerations for placement in a preschool (and especially a daycare facility where a kid will be spending almost every full day in the environment). The teachers convey a calm and professional demeanor with a show of genuine concern for the children's well being. The teachers help kids resolve conflict by encouraging kids to talk about their feelings and they work on developing conflict resolution skills. The children also benefit from a Montessori curriculum which provides the kids with plenty of stimulating learning opportunities. The school-like environment may be viewed as a downside to some. This is not intimate homelike setting some parents (and kids) might prefer. Although my friend's son adjusted quite nicely having previously been in a home daycare setting. Jennifer
In response to the request for information on Keystone Montessori, my daughter attended there for a little over a year when she was 4 years old, before she entered kindergarten (she's now in 1st grade at Windrush). There were many things I liked about the program and she learned a tremendous amount (including learning to read). The teachers were stable, thoughtful and attentive. The only drawbacks I felt were that they were a little strict about things I don't find that important, and they aren't as warm and affectionate as I would have liked. But my daughter was happy most of the time, made some good friends, had enough play time, loved the music program, the gymnastics, Spanish, the reading, and didn't resist the structure much. Windrush is less structured in the way they teach, and I think her creativity and spirit have flourished much more in that environment. Helen
From: Helen
To Christine looking for summer day care for a 3 year old - if you are interested in El Cerrito (near Del Norte Bart Station), there is a good Montessori pre-school which has a summer program, full time. My daughter goes there, and will be there through August, after that its Kindergarden. The name of the school is Keystone Montessori, they have a new facility with 3 classrooms, and take kids from 18 mo - 6 years, have a large outdoor play area, and generally kind good teachers. I am impressed with the quality of the educational aspects of the school. Their phone number is 236-7479. Good luck!


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Loren Shealy, a rising senior on the UNC field hockey team, has earned Academic All-America honors, recognizing outstanding athletic and academic performance. Shealy is one of 14 women named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Women's At-Large second team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and announced on Thursday.
The Division I at-large teams for the Capital One Academic All-America program include the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis and water polo as well as bowling, rowing and field hockey for women and volleyball and wrestling for men. First, second and third teams are named for both men and women. Nominees must have at least a 3.3 cumulative grade point average and be sophomores or above.
"It's such an honor to be recognized in that way, but it's also a tribute to the University and the team," Shealy said. "We couldn't have had such a successful season without everyone on the team, and that obviously plays a big part in these kinds of things. And I appreciate the coaching staff and my friends and my family for the support they've given me, both academically and athletically."
A business administration major from Charlotte, N.C., Shealy is currently traveling in Holland with the UNC field hockey team. Upon her return to the U.S., she will begin a summer internship in New York City.
Shealy and Duke's Lauren Blazing, who earned first-team recognition, were the only Division I field hockey players to earn Academic All-America honors for 2013-14. Other Atlantic Coast Conference student-athletes named to the women's teams were Emma Reaney (Notre Dame swimming, first team) and Ashley Armstrong (Notre Dame golf, second team), in addition to Blazing and Shealy. On the men's side, ACC student-athletes honored were Gerek Meinhardt (Notre Dame fencing, first team), Devin Carter (Virginia Tech wrestling, second team), Kevin Rice (Syracuse lacrosse, second team), and Jordan Wolf (Duke lacrosse, third team).
As team captain in 2013, Shealy led UNC to its fifth consecutive final four berth, playing in all 24 games and starting 18 at forward. She was the recipient of the NCAA Elite 89 Award for field hockey for second year in a row and was named the 2013 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for field hockey. The 2012-13 Sports Illustrated Female College Athlete of the Year, Shealy is a member of the prestigious Robertson Scholars program, a member of the Honors Program and represents the field hockey team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
"I continue to be so proud of Loren and the example she sets," UNC field hockey coach Karen Shelton said. "She is proof that it is possible to be both an outstanding student and athlete. The way she represents UNC is a credit to herself and to her family, and I hope that kids will look to her as a role model and an example of the things that a student-athlete can accomplish."
To see the complete 2013-14 Division I Academic All-America at-large teams, click here.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This is a discussion on Re-arming at a friend's house when... within the Carry & Defensive Scenarios forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; OK, here's a thought for you. Lot's of whiz bang techno gadgets out there to solve your problem. So would a long shank padlock and ...
OK, here's a thought for you. Lot's of whiz bang techno gadgets out there to solve your problem. So would a long shank padlock and a hard pistol case. Since your not worried about theft, just unwanted handling. Cheap, easy, what's not to like. lol
I prefer to live dangerously free than safely caged!
"Our houses are protected by the good Lord and a gun. And you might meet 'em both if you show up here not welcome son." Josh Thompson "Way Out Here"
That which does not kill us leaves us broken and bleeding...
Dont mess with the guy who can barely stand up. His remaining options for self-defense don't include your survival.
Convenire Volui Spectatus
Retired USAF E-8. Curmudgeon at large.
Lighten up and enjoy life because:
Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid... Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
You should never handle firearms while intoxicated...However, a drink or two isn't going to cause me to bury my ammo and put gun locks on all my weapons......alcohol intoxication is a physiological state that occurs when a person has a high level of ethanol (alcohol) in their blood. Common symptoms of alcohol intoxication include slurred speech, euphoria, impaired balance, loss of muscle coordination (ataxia), flushed face, reddened eyes, reduced inhibition, and erratic behavior
Another thought on this story.
Tonight I went out for dinner and had a couple of margaritas with my meal. As it happened, I wasn't carrying - no need tonight. But if I had been carrying, the two margaritas would not have made me pull my gun out and start shooting people.
What they did, in this case, was make my enchiladas taste better and sharpen my arguments about double-blind pharmaceutical tests and some other things that came up during dinner discussion.
If you're going to drink 3 or 4 beers over the course of a long evening and you don't trust yourself with a firearm on your person, then something's wrong with the picture. Would a bottle of Guinness cause you to pull your gun and start playing Russian Roulette with yourself? A fifth of Jack Daniels, OK, maybe it's a good idea to lock that gun up. But a Brewskie or two? Leave it loaded in the holster and don't mess with it.
Or, as suggested, leave it secured in the car or at home. The problem here wasn't the friend (who is untrained) mishandling the firearm, it's the fact that the weapon was unsecured and out of your control and available for third parties to handle as they saw fit.
"It may seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first."
I think your friend realizes he made a serious mistake. Take it as a chance for both of you to learn from it.
Many have suggested a gun safe, This is good, but if you want to save some money check into the local police department. Some of them will give you a free gun lock. Some states require the dealer selling a new gun to provide a lock.Unload the gun, leave the action open, insert gun lock cable through the barrel. Lock cable into gun lock, remove key, swallow key. Now no one can load the gun and it obvious that the gun is unloaded. Now teach your friend that even a gun in this condition should NEVER be pointed at someone or something that isn't meant to be destroyed!
I often have similar evenings with my friends but we sometimes drink a little more than 1.5 beers each. Regardless, I only drink at 2 different friends' places. One is my best friend, the other is a cop, both are very proficient with firearms handling. I've been to the range with them numerous times and have allowed them to handle my guns as well, so I know they're safe. I simply store my carry rig in their bedroom, hidden, where only the two of us know where it is, and we have the understanding that NO ONE touches the gun except for me unless SHTF(in which case I'll still probably be the first to get to it). Just to clarify: No, I do not even look at my gun while drinking, let alone handle it!
get a lock... drunk people can open drawers!
"a reminder that no law can replace personal responsibility" - Bill Clinton 2010.
The problem with rules is that people believe that if they follow the rules they no longer have to think. Safety rules can get you killed and many should be looked on more as suggestions than as hard rules.
The best bet is to never leave your guns around where anybodey can get to them I would and have before locked it up in my glove compartment in my car if I was to have drinks and a friend house . well try to learn from this and you will be safer in the future im sure of it.


text:
A Double Strand Pearl Wrap Bracelet with Champagne colored Faux Pearls in graduated sizes and two Copper Spacers. The Double Strand Champagne Pearl Wrap Bracelet is from the 1940's and is in terrific shape. The Pearl Bracelet measures 2 1/4 inches in diameter and it is 1/4 of an inch wide. It does need a cleaning as the pearls have some discoloration from the wire, which does rub off. A fun piece that can be worn by both an adult and a child.
~ Something for Everyone ~
Memories from the Past Cherished for the Future


text:
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Total news: 25Last news: March 26, 2008 16:59:26
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Some of the most painful and unexpected girlfriend breakups occur during the roller-coaster middle-school years. Alexa Young's engaging new teen novel, Frenemies (HarperTeen, 2008) is a book that moms will want their daughters to read in preparation for this rude awakening. The book tells the story of two eighth-graders and BFFs, Halley Brandon and Avalon Greene, who have always agreed on everything. But after spending a summer apart, they've changed—physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually.
Alexa graciously agreed to answer my questions about her book.
Why did you decide to focus this series on middle-school girls?
Because my editors made me (!)—but with very good reason. After all, middle school is arguably the time when female friendships can really start to unravel, largely because girls go through so many life-altering changes during those years. Obviously, there are all the puberty-related physical and emotional changes, as well as all sorts of new social and academic pressures. It's also the time when most girls really start to break away from the familiar voices of authority in their lives, to develop a more independent outlook and pursue new friendships, romantic interests, ideas about what they want their future to look like. All of these things can cause huge shifts and upsets with the people we're closest to—and that's what the FRENEMIES series is all about: Growing up and changing and drifting apart (and then lashing out at the people closest to you in really inappropriate ways!). Obviously, these issues don't stop once you make it through middle school, but the tween years are typically when it all starts and when every tiny event in your life can feel like the biggest deal EVER. If your friend doesn't invite you to spend the night, your crush doesn't notice you, you don't get the must-have outfit or get to go to the biggest party of the year…YOUR LIFE IS GOING TO BE OVER! It really does feel that way. I know it did to me.
Why are female friendships so turbulent during this period?
Again, I think it has a lot to do with all the changes we go through and how much that can feed our insecurities as well as spark a lot of envy and jealousy. Some girls may be developing more quickly or slowly than others, some may be getting involved in romantic relationships, some may be exploring new ways of expressing themselves—whether in the way they choose to dress or by making new friends or joining new clubs and pursuing sports or other extra-curricular activities. Some may be taking their academics more seriously than they ever have in the past. All of these things fuel a lot of excitement as well as confusion, self-doubt and—potentially—a whole host of awfully dramatic mean-girl maneuvers between supposed "friends." Speaking from personal experience, I was horribly self-conscious about the fact that most of my friends went through puberty in middle school while I was still waiting for all those "developments," and that they were all starting to "go out" with guys while I was pretty nervous and awkward around the opposite sex. I was a real late bloomer, and seeing all my friends advancing in physical and social ways sparked plenty of self-doubt. On the other hand, I began to flourish academically and in extra-curriculars, which helped to balance me out but definitely took me in new directions as far as my friendships were concerned.
How can a pre-teen or teen tell a frenemy when she meets one?
I think the red flags are there no matter what your age. There are the obvious acts of betrayal, like talking behind your back or stealing your boyfriend—but I don't think those are nearly as common as some of the more subtle ways a frenemy shows her true colors. That might include talking about herself but never taking the time to listen to you; only coming to you when she needs or wants something; not supporting your interests or goals; becoming threatened, jealous or envious—rather than excited for you—when things are going your way; constantly trying to one-up you; disappearing whenever you need her (e.g., when she gets a "better" offer to do something with someone else). Most important, it's a feeling you get when you're around her: You don't feel good about yourself, you don't like who you are, you don't feel confident being yourself around her, you feel drained rather than energized after spending time with her.
What are the lessons you try to teach in this book?
I'm actually not trying to teach any lessons at all. I think the moment you make a conscious effort to convey a particular message—at least in a work of fiction—it winds up backfiring because it's only going to come across as preachy and moralistic. As my editors say, "You're not writing an after-school special!" Particularly when you're writing for teens, they're going to see right through that kind of thing and run screaming for something less obvious. So all I'm really trying to do is tell the story with humor and heart. That's not to say there aren't deeper messages in there, though, because I think there definitely are—they just weren't messages I consciously tried to deliver. Some of the takeaways that I think (hope!) shine through: That insecurities can drive us to do absurd things to the people we care about the most in our lives—and that that can be awfully unproductive; that it's okay to pursue new interests and express yourself in new ways, and that people who've truly got your back will support you; that if you're feeling threatened or uncomfortable or hurt around your friend, you need to explore those emotions—possibly with her—rather than lashing out and making the problem worse. I think the book illustrates what not to do a lot more than what to do, though! I guess that's why, ultimately, it comes across as fairly light and humorous with subtle messages woven in, when all is said and done.
Can frenemies ever really turn into besties at the end?
It really depends on the nature of the relationship and what's causing the tension. If one friend betrays or hurts another in an unforgivable way, then I think it's going to be awfully hard to get past that. However, if it's a matter of two people drifting apart and pursuing different paths, I firmly believe they can be best friends again—if and when their paths and interests and lives converge again. It may take years, even decades, for them to find that common ground…but I absolutely think it's possible.
How can moms help their daughters learn to navigate female friendships?
Wow. Great question. As a fairly new mom myself, I think the biggest thing all parents can do—no matter how old their children are—is to lead by example. A mother who has loving, supportive female friendships in her life is probably going to do a great job of raising a daughter with the same. Beyond that, I think moms can encourage their daughters to pay attention to how they feel when they're around their friends, and to honor those feelings and instincts. As I mentioned before, if your daughter feels insecure or unhappy or unable to be herself in the presence of her friends, that's a major problem and something that needs to be addressed—most likely, she needs to make some new friends. Another really important message Moms can reinforce: Don't view differences between yourself and other girls as a sign that any of you are doing anything wrong. All relationships are about the right fit—so if you don't connect or click with a particular person, that's doesn't have to mean one of you is any better than the other…it just means you're not meant to be friends. Emphasize that everybody is different—not better or worse.
About the author: Alexa Young spent the first several years of her professional life working in the music industry and subsequently worked as an editor for the now-defunct teen magazine JUMP, as well as for SHAPE magazine. As a freelance writer, she'Äôs contributed to a number of national consumer magazines, including Marie Claire, O: The Oprah Magazine and Family Circle. She holds a bachelors degree in Literature/Writing from the University of California, San Diego, and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, son and dog. FRENEMIES is her first novel. The second book in the series, FAKETASTIC, is scheduled for a January 2009 release. -Ý[ReadÝmore]
Remember me? I introduced myself and welcomed you to Chappaqua in a letter that
appeared in The
Washington Post in 1999. You even took the time to acknowledge it, writing me
a personal note afterwards. Like other neighbors in our small leafy hamlet (the way it's referred to
disparagingly in the press), we never really got to know each other.
Actually, we did speak briefly on three occasions that I am
more likely to remember than you---at your book-signing for Living
History at the Chappaqua
Library sponsored by Second
Story Bookshop (our independent bookseller); at a talk you gave for the Wise Wonderful Women of Westchester
(held at Temple Beth El); and at a presentation
you made at the Crabtree's Kittle House
restaurant sponsored by Second Shift
(an organization of career-moms in Chappaqua struggling with work/life balance
Admittedly, you've accumulated quite a few frequent flyer
miles and haven't had the chance to be here as often as you or I would have
liked. As often happens in small leafy hamlets like Chappaqua (and enormous virtual
social networking sites like LinkedIn), you
only recognize many neighbors by sight and know people who know them (If it helps with
the introduction, you're a friend of my some of my friends).
As an aside, I might add that from the time you first moved
to Westchester County and were immediately bestowed
with a welcoming carpetbagger label, both you and the President have been wonderful
citizens and neighbors. My now 20-year-old son, Andrew, heard you speak about citizenship at
the Robert E. Bell Middle School and couldnt wait until he was old enough to vote (Unfortunately, the outcome of his first presidential election turned out to be hugely disappointing).
By the time he got to high school, you were splitting your
time between here and Washington,
DC as our U.S. Senator and he had
the privilege of being in the audience as your husband addressed the entire
school body in the gymnasium at Horace Greeley
High School. You've consistently marched down King Street in our Memorial
Day parades, appeared at local benefits for various health and social causes (without
any fanfare or efforts to turn it into a media event), and have made other
quiet but significant, non-public contributions as a townie.
I think you got shafted in the primaries from every side.
But then you've been a lightening rod for critics and naysayers ever since I
first knew you (once removed) and you've been strong and committed enough to take it. I'm
writing to remind you that there are many women in town like me who have
profound respect for the road you've paved for your daughter and other women's
daughters. We appreciate your intellect, tenacity, and your love for your family,
community and country.
I'm writing now because everyone knows that losing isn't
easy, particularly when you've worked so hard and the loss is so public. It has
to take the wind out of your sails, at least for the summer. You need a
friend's shoulder.
Ironically, I'm completing a book about female friendships and
I have never been so lonely---you and I both know what it's like putting off
friendships to focus on work. I recognize through my research and personal
experience that you are a prime candidate for a condition that I call female friendship deficit disorder.
Women with this disorder simply don't have enough time for
female friendships---even though we recognize how vital these relationships are
to our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. At this point you might be
saying, "It's kind of like sleep. We know we should get more of it, but there
simply isn't enough time!"
But when you do have more time, all of a sudden that hole in your life hits you hard. You're in your house alone and feel awkward picking up
the phone to call a friend whom you haven't talked to in months or years. In short, I'd
love you to come over to my house to chat over soft-scrambled eggs (which you say is a favorite of yours on your MySpace page) and a cup of cappuccino---or a glass of red wine with
cheese and chocolate if it's later in the day.
Leave your pantsuit home and come casually-dressed. We'll
share feelings, laugh and enjoy the beauty of spring in the Hudson Valley.
We might talk about the challenges of taking care of aging moms or raising only-children,
but I promise we won't talk about politics, husbands or the state of healthcare
in America.
Do you need a female friend?
With warm wishes,
It wasn'Äôt my birthday or any other day celebrated by Hallmark people.¬Ý It was just an ordinary rainy day when a small beautifully wrapped packaged appeared in my mailbox to make the day stand out from the rest.
I found inside a pretty ceramic plaque with purple and pink painted letters that read "Best Friends bring sunshine to each day,'" along with a hand-written note. (I thought of hanging it above my desk but my desk is in the middle of the room so I quickly regrouped---finding a proper place over the kitchen sink.}
I'm a friendship author, friendship scholar, and friendship expert but ironically, like too many busy women I know I never seem to have enough time for my own friendships, to be the friend I want to be.
Anyway, good friends have a gift for knowing what to say and what to do at just the right time. Good friends quietly bestow the unexpected without asking---on a rainy day when it is most needed.
Dear Irene,
I have experienced a catastrophic rift with my friend of
over 10 years. "Em" and I met in college, and weve been through lots
of life changes since then. Over the years, Ive introduced her to all of my
friends and she has become a fixture at our social gatherings.
Our relationship began to sour after I met my husband a few
years ago. She is resentful that he has "replaced her" and that I am
happy in life while she goes through a series of failed relationships and
failed jobs. I feel increasingly that I can never do enough to be a good friend
to her.
So, after she said some profoundly hurtful things to me, I
decided the best thing to do is make more room in my life for my healthy
friendships and relationships. The only problem is: I dont know what to do
about our mutual friends. I have no intention of telling them to choose sides,
because that would be childish. But I fear that she will sabotage those
friendships, and I dont know how to go about protecting them while I remove
her from my life.
This Thursday, theres a joint birthday party for two mutual
friends. We have both RSVPd. What do I do?
Anonymous in Virginia
Dear Anonymous in Virginia:
Of course, you should go to your friends' birthday party.
You may feel a bit uncomfortable but it won't be too bad. Just say hello to
"Em" and focus your attention where it should be---on the Birthday Girls.
Friendships change as our life circumstances change. If you
met your friend ten years ago at college, consider how you've changed and grown
since then, and all the other changes that have taken place in nearly every other
realm of your life. Isn't it natural that the nature of the friendships you
need and enjoy might change as well? As one example, you met "Em" before you
met your husband. Prior to that, as two single women, you may have had more in
common and therefore, you may have been more patient in catering to her whims
and neediness.
Now that you have insight you have no choice but to break
lose. Over time, connections between close friends become tangled like vines.
Friendships that begin as twosomes extend to relationships between families and
groups---and the risk of collateral damage after a breakup is real.
While you may suffer some losses, my hunch is they won't be
significant ones. If "Em" is grating, she probably is just as grating on
your mutual friends. (She may even be worse without you as a buffer.)
Your true friends will remain your friends.
Forget the hurtful things "Em" said and let go. If anyone at
the party asks what happened, say that you drifted apart without going into
details. If "Em" goes
on to intentionally sabotage your mutual friendships, smart women will see
right through her.
Like you, even couples who split---married or not---have legitimate
concerns about subsequent fallout. But if you recognize your relationship with
"Em" is toxic, you have no choice but to go forward with the split---or at
least a friendship sabbatical.
Please get the word "catastrophic" out of your head. Yours
is not the first friendship to fracture and yours won't be the last. The
relationship with "Em" was a good one when it was more reciprocal. I know that
the change still feels painful but you have lots of supports in your life and
things will smooth out over time. Let me know how it goes and thanks for reading my blog.
Do you have a question about female friendships that is
bothering you? Please write me at firstname.lastname@example.com and I'll try to answer
as many of them as I can.
Oops, I blinked and I missed it. I just found out that Sunday,
June 8th was Best Friends Day, which completed passed me by. I don't know how. I
didn't even pause to pay homage to my own Besties on that day. Shame on me!
That morning one of my closest friends called
while waiting for her flight at an airport terminal in Tampa. I'm sure Linda didn't know it was Best
Friends Day but she seizes every moment to catch up with me when she is
waiting----sometimes in the strangest of places.
This typically includes doctors' waiting rooms; hair salons
during the trip between the sink and the
stylist's chair; dentist chairs while she is waiting for the doc after her
cleaning; ladies room while she is tinkling; nail shops while she is waiting
for her nails to dry; and long post office lines---to name just a few. Only a
few short years ago it seems, she would call while she was waiting for her now-grown
son to get dismissed from school and run to her car.
Well my promised day for me, Best Friends Day, eluded me
like so many others: laundry, dishes, chores and then a brunch/fund-raiser for a local
NAMI group. But it wasn't all work and no play. I met some lovely work-friends at
the event. Afterwards I came home to write one of the remaining chapters of a
book on schizophrenia that I'm finishing up finally (more to come in a future
post). At least it wasn't another day of writer's isolation which has come to
characterize so many recent nights and weekends as I wait to wrap things up and
get back into friendship.
They say that all good things come to those who wait. Check in with me again on August 3rd, Friendship Day. Can you please remind me if I forget?
If you haven't yet realized it, graduation from high school
or college can be a friendship-killer. When you are no longer living side-by-side
or seeing each other every day, it will never be quite as easy to keep up
once-close female friendships or to make new ones.
With more than $55 million in domestic box office sales, Sex and the City made its mark as the
highest-grossing chick flick in history on its opening weekend. Why did working
women and working-at-home women leave their boyfriends, husbands, and kids
behind, flocking in droves to see a movie that will likely be available on
Netflix and pay-per-view in the blink of an eye? They wanted to see each other.
Sex is the
ultimate excuse for a girl's night out---something that women are desperately
craving as our multi-tasking lifestyles leave less discretionary time for
female friendships. The march of Stilettos to movie houses across the country
was nothing short of a surge. Women clicked on Fandango and lined up for
tickets because they were eager to redress their friendship deficit. Regardless
of our age or stage in life, many women simply don't have enough friends to meet
their needs for understanding and being understood.
Sex, both movie
and the series, hit the nail on the head when it comes to female friendships.
We all covet the close friendships like the ones mirrored by Carrie, Miranda,
Samantha and Charlotte. Women went to see Sex
but they were more excited about the before and after cocktails, dinners and
parties they had planned with each other. They wanted to walk in the footsteps
of the foursome.
Getting back to my commencement remarks---Graduation often
means going home or moving away, leaving the familiar and making new starts. As
a result, it is a time when many of us lose touch with women whom we see every
day and call and text in-between---both besties and entire friendship circles
that are meaningful parts of our lives.
Make yourself a promise to keep up with your school
chums---especially the ones with whom you have been able to share both
happiness and heartbreaks. As you age and life becomes more complex and
demanding, you'll realize that you have given yourself the most wonderful
treasure. A few of the basics:
1) Always make friendship a priority (right up there after
family). If you need a rationale to convince you, here it is: Research shows
that social support and close friendships are linked to improved health and
emotional well-being.
2) Get rid of toxic friendships that are consistently
negative and emotionally draining. We all have one or two gal pals that are
annoying to be with, people we feel ambivalent about and who probably feel ambivalent
about us. Just let go of them.
3) Find any excuse to create rituals to stay in touch with
the good friends. It shouldn't be a one-time affair. Make a plan to get
together every month or at least several times a year. It can be on milestone
birthdays or periodic girlfriend getaway jaunts. Or even the opening of a
long-awaited chick flick!
4) In-between, use every way possible to stay connected---via
cell phones, Blackberries, and old-fashioned letters until the next time your
see each other.
Female graduates: Congratulations---Go forth with your
This post also appears on The Huffington Post. Sign up to become by fan at www.huffingtonpost.com/living and receive my posts directly in your in-box.¬Ý
One of the nice things about traveling is that every trip
offers opportunities to make new friendships or nurture old ones--if you make
it a priority and take the time. You could ask an old friend to travel with you
or simply engage in conversation with a potential new friend you meet across
the aisle on a plane.
You can rekindle an old friendship by making plans to meet
someone from your past who lives en route or at your destination (perhaps
someone you knew from childhood or college).Or you can take a chance and catch
up with someone you only knew virtually.
Every connection starts with one person being brave enough
to make a move---to take the initiative and hope the other person will respond
in kind. As scary as it might feel at the moment you do it, it usually works.
Last weekend, I was visiting family in Westlake
Village, California and took advantage
of a serendipitous opportunity to meet Victoria Clayton-Alexander,
another writer whom I knew lived just a few blocks away. I invited her to visit
me at their home and a few hours later, she arrived with a smile on her face
and a box of yummy Italian pastries. We all sat around the kitchen island drinking
coffee and the conversation flowed effortlessly. I soon realized that she and I
had many more connections than our writing.
High on that experience, a few days later when I got to a meeting in Phoenix, I emailed another writer I had only
known virtually before. Jackie Dishner, a fellow member of the American Society of
Journalists and Authors, responded enthusiastically and was willing to meet at
my hotel. We were soon sitting on lawn chairs drinking iced tea in the warm Arizona sun while we
exchanged stories about our work and our lives.
Yes, instead of making these connections, I could have
visited another museum, spent more time with my husband, gone shopping, or
fallen into the trap of staying on top of my email in my hotel room, but these
brief interludes turned out to be amongst the most memorable of my trip---and I
have every hope that the friendships will be lasting ones.
Do you have any stories of travel and friendship to share?
Have friends enhanced your travel or has travel enhanced your friendships?
Last night I was in Phoenix
on business when I stopped by the Biltmore
Fashion Park
to pick up a gift for a friend. As I approached the mall, swarms of women with
swag bags walked past by me---many of them with pink Cosmos in hand.
In an instant, I realized what I had tripped upon. Without even
knowing where I would find myself, this friendship blogger had fallen into the
Phoenix Girl's Night Out event: two hours of food, runway fashion and fun
celebrating Sex and the City. I caught up with the group just as they were heading
from the mall to the AMC Esplanade across the street to see a special screening
of Sex to benefit the American Cancer Society.
There is a Yiddish word called beschert, which can loosely
be defined as something that is "destined" or "meant to be." Thats the way I felt!
weekend Jessica Foley will be celebrating her friendships by joining four
friends for dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, Brown Sugar, and
then see Sex and the City with them at Fenway, a movie theatre near Fenway Park in
Jessica is an accomplished 30-something trial attorney whose practice at
Sullivan and Sweeney LLP focuses on family law, personal injury and criminal
defense. She graduated from Northeastern University School of Law (J.D. 2001)
and Smith College (B.A. Biochemistry 1997). She is
a member of the Norfolk County Bar Association, the Quincy Bar Association and
the Women's Bar Association---and she volunteers in local causes including the
Scituate Animal Shelter.
Jessica graciously agreed to discuss plans for her SATC Girl's Night Out.
Jessica, can you tell me a bit about
the friends who will going with you?
are all in our 30's. Three of us met in law school ten years ago and have
been close ever since. The other two are friends we met through each other. My
law school friends and I have seen each other through a critical part of our
lives. When we met we were young
and single and just starting out. If I recall, only one of us had a
serious boyfriend. We have seen each other through boyfriends, exams, more
boyfriends, break-ups, divorce, marriage, re-marriage and kids.
you often have a Girls Night Out?
not often enough. When we first met none of us were married or had
children. Most of us lived in Boston
or the vicinity and were able to get together a lot!
Why are you getting together for the movie?
and the City celebrates female friendships among very unique and different
women. We are all followers of the show and different from one another. For
me, it's a chance to connect. I went to Smith, a women's college, and formed
great relationships there. It taught me just how important it is for women to
support each other. I feel very lucky that I have such fantastic women in
my life!
What draws women to Sex and the City?
show follows women through their 20's, 30's and 40's---through marriage,
divorce, kids, infertility, boyfriends, and cancer. You name it, they cover
it! All while dressing fantastically! They also plan a time to get
together regularly.
What are some of the challenges you and
your peers face in maintaining female friendships?
work and life get in the way of making time for ourselves and each
other. We are all on crazy schedules and have different focuses – i.e. one
friend works part-time and has two little girls; one friend works at a big
firm, is newly married and very busy. I am married and work full-time. One
friend lives on the Cape and one works full
time and has a toddler. Add husbands and extended families into the mix
and it's tough to get together with just the girls!
How important are female friendships?
important. In my personal life and in my career, developing and
maintaining female relationships are very rewarding and help me keep my
Any other thoughts you want to share?
for asking me all these questions, now I am going to email and/or call some of
my college friends I haven't talked to in awhile. Thank goodness for
technology or we might never connect.
Dear Irene:
I love your blog (well, love it AND hate it, because I see
myself in too many of these posts!). You concentrate on "fractured
friendships" and right now Im feeling low because the Sex and the
City movie is about to appear in theaters...my favorite series, and I
have no gal pal to go with.
While others are organizing SATC movie parties, my two best
girl friends long ago "fractured" (well, they were complete breaks)
our friendships. One was my girlfriend since high school days who was my
maid-of-honor, and lives far away from me; the second, a more local gal who
took her place, and then gave up on me over a year ago. Inboth instances, they ended the longtime friendship because they
disapproved of my having an affair (an affair thats lasted longer than either
of these friendships, I might add...over 20 years). I never put any limits
on my friendships with women OR with men; I love them for who they are, both
the good and the bad traits. I dont judge.
But now with the SATC movie out, I guess Ill just have to
go alone to a matinee andgrin and bear it. I even asked my (woman) hairdresser yesterday when I was
getting a haircut/color if she wanted to go with me (shes half my age, and we
are friendly but not quite "friends") and she replied she "hates
going to movie theaters." [Darn those Gen Xers!]
Just wanted to bring this to your attention. This can be
tough for women sufferingfrom "fractured friendship syndrome." I have plenty of male friends
-- much to my husbands chagrin -- none of whom would be caught dead in that
movie theater with me next Friday! Keep up the good work.
Signed, Anonymous
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks so much for reading my blog and sending your note.
Sounds like you are experiencing a friendship
deficit, something that many women experience from time to time. Its been
there but reading my post about Sex and the City probably made you more aware
of it. Thats good! Now you know you want to make more new friends. And just
like relationships with men, you have to kiss a lot of frogs until you meet a
Not wanting to see the movie with you doesnt mean your hairdresser rejected you.
Instead, it may suggest that the person you selected may be a poor fit for you.
I find that I have a hard time being friends with people who dont laugh at Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, two of my favorite
TV shows. Its not a fatal flaw but often is suggestive that there may be too many
differences between me and someone else to be really close to one another. I do
think that you can tell a lot about a friend by the entertainment she likes.
My suggestion would be to go see the movie alone. Im sure you wont be the
only "single" there. Sit next to someone else who is alone and start
up a conversation. If you cant find an empty seat that fits the bill, having
seen the movie will still serve as fodder for conversation with another
potential female friend.
You seem to have no problem making male friends so you certainly have the
relationship skills you need. Just put yourself in more situations with other
women and give your relationships time to grow.
My best,
What will you be doing when Sex and The City (SATC) hits the
theatres on Friday, May 30th? If you are
female and haven't thought about getting together with friends, you must be
living in a cave. The trailers and marketing blitz have reached a feverish
On that evening (and the weeks and months that follow), single,
divorced, widowed and married women will be making a beeline to local theatres
in their Manolos---sort of like voting with their feet. They are seizing a girl's
night out (GNO)---away from husbands, boyfriends, jerks, work, housekeeping, caregiving,
cooking and kids to enjoy and support one another.
The larger-than-life friends we all wish we had---Carrie,
Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda---are making it to the Silver Screen, providing
the rest of us the kick in the butt we need to take time off to kindle our own friendships.
A small sampling of what's happening:
After the movie, 20-something Kristin Albano and friends
will be heading to a favorite Italian place in the North End for Cosmos and
dinner. Women never have enough time for friends: "Since we've all graduated
from college, it's hard to keep up friendships," she says. "We work and have
boyfriends, families and many other things that need our attention."
Sarah Socarros and three others (Is this group of four a
mere coincidence?) will shop, dine, and catch the flick at the Dolphin Mall followed
by cocktails. "This is the perfect excuse because guys aren't really that into
the phenomenon. We can be more candid - a la SATC if ya catch my drift," she
Carol Stevenson and friends (suburban mommies with young
kids) will dine at The Bowery and go to The ArcLite Theatre and order Cosmos.
Designer duds don't always cut it when your days are spent changing diapers and
cleaning up spills so this group is looking for fashion and fun. "My friend
Sylvia is a great planner of adult-only functions," she says. "Who needs a
better excuse than a chick flick? Women love the fantasy of the lives the women
on SATC lead. Most of us have never been able to be that carefree, even before
we got married and had kids!"
Another group from Sherman Oaks has chosen The ArcLite where
Monica Sagaser will be one of ten 30- and 40-somethings celebrating friendship.
"The truth of the writing and the characters is compelling and addictive," she
says. "The girls of SATC are imperfect and make lots of complex, humorous and
entirely identifiable mistakes. Also, the complexities of friendship are
integral to every episode. We all dream of having that special BFF---but the
world is too busy."
Sarah McClellan-Brandt and three others will be sipping
Cosmos at a local (only in Texas)
"movie tavern." "It's a great excuse for a GNO because SATC is something guys
understand but don't want any part of," she says. "There are so many women who
will let their female friendships wither once they are in a serious
relationship but SATC shows how important it is NOT to do that."
It's never too late. On May 30, Dominique Pryor-Anderson will
purchase tickets online to watch the movie with 19 other friends on May 31 at
the Paradiso Theater, followed by sushi and drinks. "All women have or want to
have camaraderie like the girls had on the show," she says.
"As a woman living in NYC, I feel it necessary to pay homage
to a show that embodies the essence of women across our great city," says
Denise Espinal. "It always feels good when you see yourself in someone else and
I believe each one of the SATC characters is relatable. She had intended to
share the special night with five of her closest friends until "word spread"
and now there are thirty. "The impact that the show has had on my life is worth
spending a night out in the city, wearing brand new stilettos and getting all
dressed up to sit in a movie theatre. In a city full of stress and mayhem, busy
schedules and deadlines, it's good to find an escape."
Lauren Burke sent out e-vites to 25 co-workers and friends
in Birmingham.
(She even sent me one, on the condition that I wouldn't come). "I will be
having ladies over to my apartment for a premiere party. " They'll play SATC
Trivia, with Season 6 of the show playing in the background." Lauren's asked
everyone to wear an element of pink, or to rock a big Carrie flower, or to come
with some Samantha bling. But for her too, it's the friendships that count: "Women
love to talk about their lives and relationships. When you have a bad date, at
least you have a story to rehash with your friends!"
"All my girlfriends, their sisters, and their sister's
friends are planning a big night out," says Natasha Nelson. "We all grew up
together and since many of us have started families and companies, we don't get
a chance to hang the ways we used to. Most women I know have girlfriends but
the SATC girls really spend a lot of time together and seem to be each other's
true support."
Three weeks ago, Dani Gibbs relocated to Minneapolis be with her fiancée. She had planned
to attend a GNO with old friends in LA (at the ArcLite too, coincidentally).
Suddenly, she was in a new place without any old friends. It didn't stop her. "I
used MinneapolisLinkUp.com to host a quickie event to meet some people and then
inquired about doing a GNO for SATC and--TA-DA! Yep, chicks in Minneapolis were
interested too. It's a good excuse because it's a girlie movie and common
ground for a lot of different women/personalities," she says.
GNOs are an every-other-week-thing for Julie Ma and her
friends, most of who just graduated from college. There is always an excuse to
"catch up with life, talk about whom we're dating, how work is going, what our
goals are, and to meet people and network," she says. "We live in a fast-paced world
and you have to have girlfriends to catch you when you fall, rescue you from
the creepy guy on the dance floor, toast your successes and back you up on
challenges." After cocktails and hors d'ouevres, Julie's group will see a
midnight show.
Skirt! Magazine has invited lucky Kristin Harmel to attend a
premiere in Atlanta
on Tuesday. Kristin, who fancies herself as a real-life Carrie of sorts, is
making an evening of it with fashion designer friend, Amy Tangerine. "We plan
to get our hair blown out and wear our Carrie Bradshaw best. Then we'll head
out for dinner and drinks," she says. "Im a big believer in looking inside
ourselves for happiness and establishing strong female friendships instead of
looking for men to 'complete us' -although I think its wonderful to find a man
to compliment the lives weve already built for ourselves." Kristin already has
plans to see SATC a second time as part of a foursome in Pittsburgh with friends Kristen, Megan and
Mary Ann Miller and three friends are attending a Pittsburgh preview on
Friday evening. "They were avid followers of the TV program and while I wasn't
as committed to watching, they always kept me up to speed," she says. The local
women's center and shelter is sponsoring a cocktail party followed by the
screening. The group has been meeting monthly for dinner for almost a decade
and has silver Tiffany bracelets with a GNO charm.
After Cosmos and appetizers at a friend's apartment, Megan
Erhardt and 20 friends will be hailing cabs to Georgetown to watch the movie. For her group,
the movie will bring back lots of memories. "Many of our best college memories
include watching the show or referencing scenes, fashion, relationship issues."
Her pal, Mariel Poole, will be there too. "Girlfriends become your extended
family," she says.
a grand scale, an organization call Success in the City, whose
goal is "uniting women of achievement" will host a day-long SATC festival with
a pre-party the night before. "The event is called, BIG, REALLY BIG,
BIGGER THAN MR. BIG!" says CEO Cynthia
de Lorenzi. An after-party is planned at Saks Fifth Avenue in Tysons Galleria Mall,
aptly called "Saks in the City"---with Cosmos, shopping discounts, and networking
opportunities. Guests will receive a SWAG bag and an opportunity to enter
a drawing for an Eiffel Tower Purse like the one that Carrie carries in the
Suzanne Agasi is planning the ultimate SATC GNO. Her 150th
clothing swap, Swap in the City,
will be celebrated on Friday May 30th at the Intercontinental Hotel. Each
participant will get a ticket for the Century 9 theatre a few blocks away. Four
hundred SATC aficionados are expected to de-clutter their closets and exchange
clothes at the swap that benefits three local shelters.
It's not surprising that female friendships trump Sex.
Friends help define who we are and who we want to become. The movie release
provides proof positive of our need for close friendships and offers one convenient
avenue to nurture them. Women need to find more ways.
Childhood friends, school chums, colleagues, neighbors, teammates and
virtual friends---women accumulate hundreds, if not thousands, of friends based
on where they've been and what they've done over the years. Friends are the
living scrapbooks of our lives.
But every relationship doesn't stick. In fact, very few of them do. It's
easy for friendships, even very close ones, to slip away--sometimes for no real
reason at all. It just happens. A study of the friendship patterns of 10,000
people in the UK
found that the average Brit collects 396 friends over a lifetime but winds up
staying in touch with only one out of 12 of them.
This week a friend with whom I was once very close was diagnosed with a
terminal illness. I hadn't spoken to her in almost a decade and now I fear
there might be time for only a brief reconnection, even though she is special to
me and our friendship was an important chapter in my life story. Yes, we live
in different states and no longer work in the same office. But why hadn't I
kept up the relationship? Was I really that busy? Maybe there wasn't time to
see her, but the ease of staying in touch via cell phones and e-mail make the
excuse of being busy sound lame.
I know I'm not the only woman who is dancing as fast as she can. I once
tried to introduce a close friend who moved to Washington DC
to another close friend who already lived there. I thought they would enjoy
each other as much as I enjoyed each of them. "I don't even have enough time
for my own friends so why would you ever think I would have time for yours,"
said the DC native. And I understood.
Recognizing that life is finite (is that a new insight?), many of us have
started composing "life lists" to set priorities. People are thinking about
where they would like to go and what they would like to do before kicking the
bucket. It's not surprising that the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die
became an instant best-seller. The same list-making mania has morphed into
websites like www.43things.com.
The film The Bucket List, which opened earlier this year, chronicles the story
of two men, each with one year to live, who escape from the hospital where they
meet to hit the open road and live life as they please.
Life is short. My suggestion: Make a list of the friends you truly want to
keep in your life. To make the goal achievable, you don't have to list 100
names and you don't have to actually see those friends (unless you want to).
You can just make ten phone calls or send ten e-mails, whenever it's convenient,
to tell your female friends how much they mean to you, before they disappear
from your life.
This blog post also appears on www.HuffingtonPost.com/Living
Might it be time to call it quits?
My best friend is
finally dumping her jerk husband of more than a decade and Im glad about that but its
all wearing me to a nub.
Her frenzied dating is making me nuts. She talks about her boyfriends
constantly, and about how many men are chasing her. She is convinced her life
will be right back on track when she has a boyfriend, even though the divorce
isnt even final yet.
Shes really into psychotherapy which I hope might help her. I think she needs to stabilize before she gets involved with anyone but who am
I to say? I dont know how to be supportive, honest, and not make my tongue
bleed by biting it all at the same time.
I used to think that when she finally got away from her husband, who was
emotionally abusive, she would grow into the woman she could be and our
friendship would deepen. Now I just dont know. Im feeling distant from her
and irritated.
Please help!
Dear Anonymous:
Sounds like you've had a
hard time supporting your BFF's choices almost as long as you've known her but
you deluded yourself into thinking her rotten choice of mate was
circumstantial: that she simply picked the wrong guy and had a hard time
getting out of it.
In large part, people choose their circumstances, and if they don't because
they've fallen into them by mistake, they do have the free will to change them.
Eighteen years of abuse must have eroded your friend's self-esteem completely.
What half-normal person would put up with all that stuff for that long?
Admittedly, this is probably a very difficult time for your BFF. She must worry
about whether she will eventually land on the ground with both feet
standing---and you may be wondering the same thing about her too!
Being indiscriminately "boy-crazy" diverts a woman from thinking about their own
life (How do I know? Been there, done thatJ).
Her interest in psychotherapy suggests that on some level, she would like to find
her true self.
But let's get back to you. It's impossible to support a friend when you
consistently don't support her choices, unless she has other qualities that
outweigh the negative ones. The value of every female friendship is determined
by how well it meets our needs---I like to call this the concept of
reciprocity. Friendships usually work when two friends feel like they are
giving each other more---or at least as much---as they are getting. Sounds like
this one isn't working for you.
In this circumstance, what are your choices? You can leave things as they are
and bite your tongue (but I think you are having a problem doing that or you
wouldn't have written to me). You can tell her things she isn't ready to hear.
Or there is one more approach that I think is the most prudent. I suggest that
you take a friendship sabbatical.
You need to step back and give your friend
time to work things out---and you need to give yourself time to think about
whether the friendship is worth the angst. You can tell your friend that you
need some time and space for yourself but you really care about her and what
she is going through. In the meantime, spend more time with other friends and
see if they can fill the deficit. Let me know what you decide and how it goes.
Best, Irene
Mothers Day celebrates motherhood---as well as children, flowers, candy, and greeting cards. But theres a seedy side to everything---and motherhood is a known friendship-killer. Motherhood challenges female friendships for a variety of reasons:
• You are a mother, and your BFF isnt one and wants to be one. Her fertility problems are making her extremely frustrated, depressed, and angry at you.
• Your BFF is a merry mother of six and you have no desire to even be a mother of one. When youre together, she never stops talking about her brood.
• You and your BFF both have children but they are at different ages or stages (And one of hers is a biter).
• You and your BFF have vastly different views on child-rearing. Youre permissive and believe in letting kids be kids. She believes in turning children into little adults.
• Your children and/or spouse dont get along with your BFFs children and/or spouse. When her son punched yours in the nose, her husband said your son provoked him.
• On a practical level, all other things being equal, you have less discretionary time for friendships than high-school or college-age women, married women without children, and older women. With all your responsibilities, you barely have time to shower.
• You are a mother-martyr who places the needs of your children and family above your own social needs.
• You have fewer opportunities to meet new friends than you did when you were younger and more care-free---you only go to noisy, active places with children where its hard to have heart-to-heart conversations.
At different times of our lives, there are real shifts in the number and nature of our female friendships. Living in a dorm, you may have been surrounded by a circle of close female friends. For one or more of the reasons mentioned above, motherhood is one of those times when you might have more than your share of problems making or maintaining female friendships.
Many of us spend so much time juggling our roles as daughters, wives, workers, caregivers, and mothers that we wake up one morning and suddenly realize we have a serious friendship deficit! We think: If only there was someone we could call---or have coffee with---who could understand the gaping hole it has left.
This Mothers Day, give yourself a little gift that no one else would ever think of. Jot down an appointment on your calendar to have lunch with a friend, or to have a girls night out. Its the equivalent of putting on your own oxygen mask first.
Taking small steps to build female friendships enhances our own physical and emotional well-being, and makes us better mothers in the long-run. -Ý[ReadÝmore]
Not sure how I will find this once I post it, but here is a
good question about women and friendship. If you are busy with
work/play/school/other responsibilities and have a totally different time and
life schedule, is it okay for a friend to drop by anytime without calling?
I have a friend/maybe had, that feels a friend should never
have to call ahead to visit. She says her door is always open. We had a blow-up
over that very issue. She was upset that she spent gas to come here and didnt
get to be invited inside. I had left with someone, taking their transportation,
not my own, so she assumed (car is there-pets are there) that I must be home
and not answering.
I say, even if I had been, that is okay too, to not want
company unannounced. My apology and an offer to give her money for gas led to a
response that any friend would welcome me as I do them, open door. And she said
though I did say sorry to get on with my life and if I want to visit her I do
not need to call ahead.
Dear Anonymous,
You're asking about whether it's okay for friends to drop in
on one another. Theres no right or wrong: It depends on their relationship and how each friend feels
about it.
In your case, it sounds like you may have an out-of-sync
friendship. You seem to be on a fast-track, juggling multiple responsibilities;
your friend has enough spare time to take a cruise to your house not knowing
whether you'll be there or not (even though the price of gas is nearly 4 bucks
a gallon!) One of you is a casual type and thinks it is perfectly okay to drop
in on a friend unannounced; the other would always call and expect to be called
if the situation were reversed.
What concerns me more than these differences is that your
friend is unwilling to accept the boundaries that make you feel comfortable,
and she doesn't trust or believe you when you tell her something.
Seems like your communication problems ended in what must have been an uncomfortable blow-up.
These are your options: You can apologize when cooler heads prevail; you can make believe it never happened and
visit her to "patch up" the friendship, or you can let go of the friendship---if it feels toxic and makes you feel uncomfortable.
Whatever you decide to do, hopefully, this unpleasant experience has taught you something about yourself, about your friend, and about the complexities of friendships.
When I picked up the mail last week, I was pleasantly
surprised to find a brief note from my friend Linda hand-written on beautiful
Although Linda and I now live several states apart, we stay in touch by cell
phone and email---usually several times a day. But there was something special
about her note.
I immediately realized that Linda, who is probably as busy
as me and you, stopped what she was doing and took the time to write a couple
of paragraphs. It made me smile inside and out. Yes, email is quicker but her
taking the time to slow down to tell me how much my friendship meant to her was
more precious.
I reached out to Sandra Lamb, author of Personal Notes: How to Write from the Heart for Any Occasion to
pick her brain about the topic:
Question: Is there still a place for personal notes between
female friends in a world laden with email, social media sites, and cell
phones? Have such notes become dinosaurs or ironically, perhaps, has technology
made them all the more special?
Answer: Email is great, and always welcome, and so are the communications that
occur on social media sites. And its always good to have a heart-to-heart
chat on the phone. All three offer the possibilities of an immediate and
intimate connection. But, yes, theres still something very special about
going to the mailbox and seeing an envelope that contains a personal message,
complete with a handwritten address--your name and your address. It says more
clearly than these other methods of communications that the writer has committed
time, care, thought and deliberate action to make a personal connection.
Question: In your experience, is writing personal notes an
art form that can be polished?
Answer: Yes, writing personal notes is an art form that can
be polished and perfected until it sparkles like gold. There is something
quite wonderful in the very act of writing by hand that allows us to go into
the very deepest and truest parts of ourselves. What a wonderful way to
create strong and lasting bonds of connection.
Question: Since Mother's Day is approaching, what are your
thoughts about personal notes between mothers and daughters?
Answer: The habit of writing personal notes to each other can create a rich, true, and
cherished legacy for mothers and daughters. These heartfelt connections can
be preserved and shared over generations. Its something that may well be
missing in our society so its well worth the effort of reinstating.
If you arent sure what to write, when to write, or how to say it to a friend, Lambs book will inspire you to find just the right words to express whats in your heart.
Friendship and friends continue to remain central to our lives. The relationship that we share with our friends is grounded in a mutual concern as our friends help us in shaping up our personalities as well. Even in this age of online social networking and ecards, the need of expanding the network of friends, whether [...] -Ý[ReadÝmore]
The largest online relationship community. Its more than a dating service - It is your one-stop solution for finding romance, pen pals, new friends, and activity partners. No matter what youre looking for, youve come to the right place!
The ideal place to be if you dont want to put aside your personal relationships. You can [...] -Ý[ReadÝmore]
A common plea: But, were just friends. However the emotional connection is quite obvious by the amount of time spent in communication and the vibes that are set off.
These emotional connections often arise at work or in a social context in which working intensively toward a common goal consumes energy.
Here are a few observations of [...] -Ý[ReadÝmore]
Weve all heard the ravings and rantings about how important it is in direct sales, to relate - that success must be built on starting and building relationships. Sometimes they call what we do relationship marketing. Some say thats why network marketing is a natural thing for women to do.
Yet, the things people are taught [...] -Ý[ReadÝmore]