Tickled Pink

Best Gift of All

I'm on vacation this week.  We just spent a long weekend with my parents, aunt, sister and brother-in-law here at the beach.  We celebrated my parents 40th wedding anniversary....wow! that's a long time.  My sister and I got my parents this very cool gift; a customized print that included memories from their life together (check out http://www.yourmemorylane.com/).  My mom & dad LOVED it, even made them cry.  The best part was that my sister and I worked on it together...without even arguing (at least not much).  The gift gave as much to my sister and I as it did to my parents.  It was a time for she and I to re-connect, reminisce and work productively on something for people we love.  After all is said and done, the best gift is still time with family, friends and ones you love.

Green makes Pink

I was tickled pink this evening to attend my 3rd grader's music program....for a few reasons.  The most obvious is, of course, just being a proud mom and seeing her up on the stage.  The second was the notable difference in the skills of these kids that I've been watching each year; this year in particular, their abilities have reached a whole new level.

And the source of most my tickled pink moment was not pink at all but green.  The theme of the program this year was "My Planet, Your Planet".  All of the songs had titles like "Everyday is Earth Day" and "Recycle Rap".  I was truly thrilled to see the kids using the arts to learn about the environment.  So with that in mind I say: Do something green today....it'll be sure to make you tickled pink.

Making the Grade

Today was report card day.  I was tickled pink that both kids (3rd grade & kindergarten) did well.  But what really got me tickled pick was the improvement in the kindergartner's grades and, more importantly, how proud he was of himself.  He was just bursting to show me the report card and how much he'd improved.  I think we should all be graded on 'Conduct'...and I think the kindergartners could teach lots of us a thing or two about it.

Tickled Pink and Blue?

My cousin called me last night.  She lives in NJ and is 10 years younger than I am, so while I love her dearly, we don't talk very often.  I was pretty sure what she was calling about.  She got married last April and you know what comes after that.  I am completely tickled pink that she's pregnant.  As she said, "I can't say I'm having a baby...because I'm having two!"  Yep, twins.  She's thrilled and nervous.  She said, "I'm not sure I know how to take care of one baby, how will I take care of two?"  But she once she has them, she won't know any different.  I think we all tend to worry about unexpected events like this one and then find out, we always had the answer right there inside of us.  It just takes the unexpected to bring it out.  So here's to being tickled pink and maybe tickled blue too!

The family that skis together...

For those of you who subscribe, first off THANK YOU! and secondly, sorry for a few days missed.  I took some time off with my family and went skiing.  Regardless of the ski conditions [the southeast US isn't known for its skiing for a reason!] I was tickled pink to have 3 generations out there on the slopes!  It was such great fun to have my kids out there with their grandparents and it reminded me of my own childhood.  In our teenage years, my sister and I used to joke about who had to ride the lift with my dad.  Dad would usually pick the ski lift as a time to have deep conversations with us about college and what we wanted to do with our lives...he knew he had a captive (or maybe captured?) audience which with teens you don't get very often.  Now, I see the genius of his method and I'm grooming my kids for similar experiences.

Oh, for those of you who subscribe, stay tuned for some great surprises coming soon!  I'm sure you'll be tickled pink!  Invite others to GetTickledPink and subscribe now so they can enjoy in the fun too!

A Reflection on the Treasures in Our Lives

I was completely tickled pink today that my friend Mary Beth wanted to share her tickled pink moment.  Here it is:

"As I was in the bathroom getting ready for work this morning, my middle son, who is seven, kept asking me to move away from the mirror so he could check out the back of his head with a little hand mirror.  I told him to take the hand mirror into my bedroom and use it with the full length mirror as I was trying to put on my makeup.  I walked into my bedroom a few minutes later and he was lying face down on the floor of our walk-in closet just gazing into the hand mirror which was laid flat on the floor beneath his face.  "Mom", he said excitedly, "I see a treasure in here."  His very active imagination had created a window from the mirror to magically 'see' treasure in the ground beneath our closet.  Unaware of his fantasy, I took his comment literally and told him, "Yes, I see a treasure too - YOU!"

I was just tickled pink at this unexpected and touching reminder that our lives are full of treasures and most of them are right in front of our faces.  In fact, how often do we overlook the very treasure that greets us as we gaze upon our own reflection - the treasure that is in each one of us!" - Mary Beth

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING! GetTickledPink, share your stories here.

Average is exceptional

I was lucky to attend a meeting last night where the featured speaker was Rebekah Pierce of Average Girl Magazine (www.averagegirlmagazine.com)  Rebekah's unique combination of inspiration and humor while talking about how to care for your self had all of us tickled pink.  Her story about starting the magazine after her cousin died after being assaulted by her husband was both inspirational and a great reminder of how many women suffer from domestic violence (visit www.safeharborshelter.com/ for more information about domestic violence prevention).  It reminded me just how lucky I am in that department.  That along with the reminder that I need to take care of myself was just the thing to start the year off.  How will you care for yourself today?

Welcome Aidan!

A new baby right before Christmas...now that's something to tickle us pink!  My friend Missy just had her second child, Aidan, on Saturday 12/22.  I am just tickled pink for her!  Have a new addition you want to tell us about?  Add a comment below.

No Complaining

A friend gave me the book A Complaint Free World as a holiday gift.  I read it a couple of weeks ago and I have taken on the 21 day complaint free challenge.  Its basically exactly what it sounds like: go 21 days without complaining.  And as a learning aid, you wear a rubber bracelet on your wrist which you move to the other wrist whenever you complain. I've been working on it for a couple of weeks and I don't think I've gone more than 21 minutes yet...but I'm working on it.

The kids were curious about the bracelet.  So I explained to them what I was doing.  I asked the 8 year old if she thought I could do it.  She reflected for a moment and then said "Um not with my brother in the house."  Her brother is 6, so she has a point. 

But here's just a couple of the things I want to celebrate about my kids right now:

• If you ask them what the best part of Christmas was, they'll say "Spending time with our family"
• They played in a piano recital at an assisted living facility.  They smiled, played (nearly) flawlessly, bowed and helped to brighten the room.

What did your kids do today to help you GetTickledPink?  Add a comment below and let us all know.