A Snowflake Girl is born.

One winter day my daughter who was 6 at the time, was home sick from school. Crafts is a love of both of ours so it was a great way to pass the time on this cold winter day stuck in the house. So we started making paper snowflakes.

My daughter shared her knowledge of snowflakes and how no two are alike. I said “just like people!”. Then as we were unfolding the paper snowflake we noticed how before they fully unfold they look like wings. Then my daughter made a paper doll and we attached the wings. The first Snowflake Girl was born!This new fairy brought up a great way for my daughter and I to talk about differences in people and how the true beauty of a person, just like a paper snowflake, is the work you do on the inside.

That night I couldn’t stop thinking about how great it would be if these Snowflake Girls were like guardian angels that visited young girls and helped them with good character choices. Over the next couple of days the very rough draft of the first book was written. The actual full development of the book took over a year.

I wanted the girls that they helped to be real girls of today. I didn’t want them to be some fantasy of a “perfect” family. So these girls are very diverse. The girl’s differences include physical differences, likes and dislikes, and family structure. However, all of them are beautiful. Not because of their looks but because of the work they do on the inside. They all try very hard to make good choices and that alone makes them amazingly beautiful and unique…just like a paper snowflake!

Why We Do What We Do.

A wise woman once told me, “You need to teach your children everything really important by the time they are 12”. I was a new Mom with a 3 month old at home and thought seriously? 12???? Then she said, “because once they hit those ‘teen’ numbers they are listening to everyone BUT you. Ah, yes, the teenage years…it all makes sense now. Then, this wise woman proceeded to say, “but if you have been talking to them up to then they will think everything that you have instilled in them is their own thoughts and opinions” and the fact of the matter is it will be their truth. Then as I saw my kids growing up in a blink of an eye in front of me and I saw them making such hard choices at such a young age I realized that she couldn’t be more right. So I ask a lot of questions, talk a lot to them, and try to listen to them as best I can.

So because of these wise words I am a perfect parent, right? No, I am not a perfect parent. I never will be. I do not have perfect kids. I never will have. Don’t get me wrong I try everyday to be the best I can be and it goes without saying that I have absolutely amazing kids – don’t we all??? But I still make mistakes and they still make mistakes and that will never change.

Like all parents I want the best for my kids and after I got my head out of the clouds and realized that I would never be perfect I started to think of what gifts I wanted my kids to have. The funny thing was that beyond basic needs (food, clothing, crafts, and football – yes, these are basic needs in our house) none of them had to do with money. I wanted them to not only be great kids but great people. The fact of the matter is if I had millions of dollars tomorrow I still would not have perfect kids or be a perfect Mom. BUT I can give my kids the gift of practice. We practice everything that we want to do really well, don’t we? When we are a child we practice our ABCs, math, history, etc. and as we grow older we practice everything from recreational sports to job interviews in front of the mirror. So why not practice good character? Good choices? Good Safety?

But, how do we practice good character? Unfortunately, we have to wait until a difficult choice finds us and we have to hope we get it right…UNTIL NOW! When the Snowflake Girls idea was born I thought “what a great time to practice hard choices and open up the dialog between a parent and a child.” So I added the “What would you do?” lines within the books. The questions appear once before the character lesson and once after. I was amazed to hear my kid’s responses to the question before the character lesson. It was VERY interesting to hear how my kids would try so desperately to get it so they could do both choices even though it clearly says “you can not do both”. The lesson then directly links the guiding factors in their decisions. Things like trust, honesty, integrity, you get the idea. The concept is to open up the dialog so that a parent has a chance to feel their kids out and help guide them in the right direction.

If you read these books and buy these products will your kids wake up masters of good character? Not necessarily. I do, however, believe that every opportunity you have to speak with your child about good choices is an opportunity you do not want to pass up. Practice may not make perfect in this case but I do believe practice can make them more prepared for what comes at them in life. So we listen to them, talk to them, practice good choices, demonstrate good choices, and then do a whole lot of praying. Why? Because we love them. Always have. Always will.