Celebrate Today- ceremonies and celebrations to make your days count

It's that time of year again when it's time to "boo" some of our neighbors... We've had fun with this  through the years  so we decided to bring in the Murray family and Byron last night who had never done this before. Such a fun tradition....  To “boo” someone, you sneak onto a neighbor's doorstep in the dark of night and leave a small bag of treats for them.  The most fun part is knocking on their door and then running as fast as you can after you leave the gift trying not to get spotted or caught.) 

After I posted about my time with Anna at the Melting Pot yesterday, I got a delightful email from my friend Marcia who shared the following with me:  "Esper and I actually just had a fun evening together the other week, not because she has started her period, but to talk about how she will be starting and the whole idea of it not being something to dread but a part of her journey and growing beauty. My gift to her (inspired by book Keeping the Little In Your Girl) was a basket containing the following: --feminine supplies (so we could look at and talk about how to use them and "because when it does start you won't want to wait for a trip to the store") --a cute oilcloth pouch for her backpack, to carry feminine stuff in --a pretty tissue box cover for her room ("because if you ever feel like crying and don't even know why...you won't be the first!") --a bar of chocolate ("because scientifically and emotionally, it does help!&

This text above deserves some background....  When Anna was in 6th grade or so, we went a fabulous talk that Julie Metzgar gave at Children's Hospital about puberty.  The talk was presented under a program called "Great Conversations" and is tagged as one that is for "helping preteens and their families in conversations about body changes, sex and other growing-up stuff."   During one of the talks about girls getting their periods, Julie Metzgar showed slides of girls in villages around the world where the girls are honored and highly esteemed when they get their first periods.  This rite of passage  is celebrated as girls are preparing for their roles as women.  In some cultures, these celebrations are as lavish as weddings and they are significant markers for the young women and their families.  Rather than whisper about this behind closed doors and pretend that nothing has happened, Julie encouraged us to talk to our daughters about somethi