Susan Egan, The Secret of Happiness

Last spring at the Disney Social Media Moms conference, we were introduced to Georgia Stitt and Susan Egan. Actually, Georgia and I actually go “way back”. We were in the same undergraduate class at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. We survived 8am freshman theory classes with Dr. Rose. Just imagine 8am at the exact opposite end of campus from where you live… and it was required of all incoming freshman. All 40 of us. We got know each other very well!

After Georgia and Susan presented/performed, a Disney cast member grabbed and brought me back to reunite with Georgia. I think I cried, and I’m pretty sure I babbled about how cool it was to see them up there. I always get a little crazy when I see my fellow music school friends doing great things. It is not an easy road and when I see where so many of them have ended up there is a sense of pride. Not the patronizing kind,but the awesome kind.

Even more awesome than hanging out with a Disney Princess? (Susan was the original Belle on Broadway). We pushed Susan over the edge and onto Twitter that afternoon, and she literally took to it like a fish to water! Georgia had been blogging since way before I had. In fact, her blog was the first blog I’d ever read. Now the two of them publish Glamour and Goop – a definite must read about two Broadway-types continuing to build their musical careers while raising their families.

Today, November 15th, Susan releases her new album, The Secret of Happiness, and Georgia Stitt produced the album and wrote many of the songs. It’s a compilation of songs that will speak to so many women who have known the joy and humor in that crazy transition from whole woman to whole mother. That phase of your life where you wake up one day and your entire outlook on life has turned upside down. If you’ve ever thrown a cardigan on to cover up the cookie drool stain on your shoulder, if you’ve ever cried the ugly cry of exhaustion while smiling and thinking you’d jump in front of a train to save the screaming creature looking back at you, if you think this sounds familiar then you’ll giggle, cry, and smile your way through this album. And if you should catch yourself tossing your hair, looking in the mirror, and belting out the last few lines of “All things in Time”… once or five times, well then, you are not alone-just sayin’

For me, the absolute BEST part of this album is Susan’s cover of a song we all know well. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a gutsy song for any artist to take on. I mean really, who doesn’t know the song, who doesn’t have the Simon and Garfunkle version burned into their memory? I love it – I love Susan’s version of this song, in fact I love it more than Simon and Garfunkle. Her voice creates the most perfect ethereal sound (in harmony no less; I’m assuming there was a bit of studio work involved there!) and truly, my daughter dances around like a princess on a cloud when it’s on, which is often, since Susan and Georgia are now totally on my play list.

You can, and should buy Susan Egan’s new album at Amazon or if you order from LMLMusic.com and enter the promo code MOMBLOG, Susan is giving the fabulous a 20% discount.

A HUGE Congratulations to Susan Egan and to Georgia Stitt! Georgie, just remember I knew you WAY before the drool and goop!

Check out the music video for “Nina Doesn’t Care” …..

Susan Egan, The Secret of Happiness

Last spring at the Disney Social Media Moms conference, we were introduced to Georgia Stitt and Susan Egan. Actually, Georgia and I actually go “way back”. We were in the same undergraduate class at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. We survived 8am freshman theory classes with Dr. Rose. Just imagine 8am at the exact opposite end of campus from where you live… and it was required of all incoming freshman. All 40 of us. We got know each other very well!

After Georgia and Susan presented/performed, a Disney cast member grabbed and brought me back to reunite with Georgia. I think I cried, and I’m pretty sure I babbled about how cool it was to see them up there. I always get a little crazy when I see my fellow music school friends doing great things. It is not an easy road and when I see where so many of them have ended up there is a sense of pride. Not the patronizing kind,but the awesome kind.

Even more awesome than hanging out with a Disney Princess? (Susan was the original Belle on Broadway). We pushed Susan over the edge and onto Twitter that afternoon, and she literally took to it like a fish to water! Georgia had been blogging since way before I had. In fact, her blog was the first blog I’d ever read. Now the two of them publish Glamour and Goop – a definite must read about two Broadway-types continuing to build their musical careers while raising their families.

Today, November 15th, Susan releases her new album, The Secret of Happiness, and Georgia Stitt produced the album and wrote many of the songs. It’s a compilation of songs that will speak to so many women who have known the joy and humor in that crazy transition from whole woman to whole mother. That phase of your life where you wake up one day and your entire outlook on life has turned upside down. If you’ve ever thrown a cardigan on to cover up the cookie drool stain on your shoulder, if you’ve ever cried the ugly cry of exhaustion while smiling and thinking you’d jump in front of a train to save the screaming creature looking back at you, if you think this sounds familiar then you’ll giggle, cry, and smile your way through this album. And if you should catch yourself tossing your hair, looking in the mirror, and belting out the last few lines of “All things in Time”… once or five times, well then, you are not alone-just sayin’

For me, the absolute BEST part of this album is Susan’s cover of a song we all know well. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a gutsy song for any artist to take on. I mean really, who doesn’t know the song, who doesn’t have the Simon and Garfunkle version burned into their memory? I love it – I love Susan’s version of this song, in fact I love it more than Simon and Garfunkle. Her voice creates the most perfect ethereal sound (in harmony no less; I’m assuming there was a bit of studio work involved there!) and truly, my daughter dances around like a princess on a cloud when it’s on, which is often, since Susan and Georgia are now totally on my play list.

You can, and should buy Susan Egan’s new album at Amazon or if you order from LMLMusic.com and enter the promo code MOMBLOG, Susan is giving the fabulous a 20% discount.

A HUGE Congratulations to Susan Egan and to Georgia Stitt! Georgie, just remember I knew you WAY before the drool and goop!

Check out the music video for “Nina Doesn’t Care” …..

A Picture is Worth How Many Words? ~ Wordless Wednesday

*I can’t take credit for this photo-my friend, Martha, is the genius behind this one!

First Time at Summer Camp? – “Later Ma”

I have a teeny little feeling in the pit of my stomach tonight. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt anything quite like it so it’s very difficult to describe but I am 100% positive that it is related to the fact that I dropped my boys off at summer camp today. I’m so excited for them and, despite feeling as if I might vomit at any moment, I know that they are in for a life-changing two weeks at Sanborn Western Camps. From the moment we arrived at their cabins both boys were swarmed by fellow cabin-mates curious to know their names and where they were from. The counselors introduced themselves with a handshake and helped them in with their gear. It’s all a bit of a blur. Well, except for the part where the kid and parent are supposed to embrace in the most desperate of hugs and promise to miss each other and write every day. Or maybe it was just a nice long hug and wave as they watched me drive away.

That part?

Pretty sure it never happened. In fact, it did not happen. Neither version happened.

I knew both boys would be fine, that there would be no tears. I’m a huge advocate of summer camp, a good portion of my work is now centered around summer camps and both boys have been quite excited about being able to head off on their own for the first time. My eldest is a bit miffed that he’ll be gone over his birthday but you’d never know he’d even given it a though by the way he brushed me off as I tried to hug him goodbye. I wasn’t prepared for him to not want to hug me goodbye!

I even said to him, “Let me hug you in here so I don’t have to embarrass you outside with my mama love.”

“Mooooom,” he said as he turned away from me and headed out the door to hang with his new crew.

OUCH.

Too cool for even a secret farewell on his very first time at sleep-away camp? I’m swelling with pride and swallowing tears at the same time. How on earth did my sensitive, feeling, lovey guy suddenly become so grown up??

Henry’s cabin had been our first stop and he had been so darn “Happy Henry” that he literally plopped his things down, claimed a bed (not a shock that it happened to be in the center of the room), hopped up on it and lay back all settled as if he’d been there a million times before. This is my happy guy and exactly how I expected it. I even got a quick distracted hug as he ran off to be with his new friends.

My boys are in a spectacular setting at one of the best camps in the country with camp professionals that I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know very well since their involvement with a program MomActive streamed live on MomTV last spring. I joke with Ariella that fate brought us together but this is no joke, friends! I know this, not just because Ariella has directly impacted my personal and professional world in more ways than could ever be expressed in one post, but because she was there today and she hugged me. She hugged me hello and she hugged me goodbye. We ate lunch, fed horses, and chatted up the goats, and she hugged me goodbye. In fact, she may have hugged me goodbye twice. She was my surrogate hugger. Tell me that’s not fate.

The reality is, I know that my boys are safe. I know they are well. I also know that I miss them more than they miss me right now! I sure am glad that Baby Bear didn’t get invited to summer camp. I wonder if Henry knows that I’m taking very good care of Baby Bear and making sure he doesn’t get lonely? *sniff*

Parenting Is Tough Business

The hardest part of parenting for me is letting go. Letting my kids travel a path I know has an easier route is incredibly frustrating. I’ve been a parent for 11 years to one, 8 years to another, and 5 to the youngest. All three are their own unique brand of “Bryan” and I’ve learned that there is no one formula for loving each of them. Children are miraculous and frustrating every moment of their lives. Until I became a parent I didn’t know true love, I didn’t know true frustration, true anger, true admiration, true wonder, true shame-I didn’t know the true feeling of desperation and fear. Nothing prepares you to be a parent-to experience such deep and raw emotion.

Learning to let go is a daily challenge for me but it is a challenge that I have realized I must purposely practice each day. I find it difficult to observe the “helicopter parenting” that seems to pervade our culture and while I feel confident in many of the choices we’ve made for our kids, I still have to remind myself to stand back and allow them the freedom to make their own choices and to experience the consequences of those choices, good or bad.

One of the areas of greatest tension with our kidlets is their instrument practice. In our house, my husband and I have decided that music is an important part of our children’s overall education and they would each take lessons on an instrument of their choice. Those of you who know me well know that I studied violin from a young age and have both bachelor and master’s degrees in music. I no longer play or teach professionally but I feel very strongly that music and music education are an important part of the greater academic picture for our children. In fact, while we require they play an instrument, I secretly hope that none of them is seduced into the profession because it is an incredibly challenging life, one that was not ultimately for me. They fight practice, as most children do, but each time they perform or have a good lesson the pride and confidence in their smiles reassures me that this is important and will be with them for a lifetime.

In any case, here we are, over a week into summer break and the boys are actually quite independent in practicing their violins every morning, then checking in to show me what they worked on before heading off to enjoy freedom. Since pulling myself out of the daily practice sessions they have actually done very well on their own. Proof in my argument that children gain more self confidence and a sense of responsibility when they are actually handed the responsibility and held accountable for the things we ask them to do.

On the other hand, my 5 year old is still dependent on me to help her practice piano.  Oh, how painful it is for a parent to watch their child so agreeable and brilliant in front of their teacher, only to pull out the drama during practice sessions at home. She turns into a silly child that refuses to focus and doesn’t even seem to try. The tears and drama from this child could be award winning!

Three years ago they all loved the violin.

… I’ve gone through this phase with 3 kidlets now. Friends will tell me how jealous they are that I am able to practice and help my kids with their musical instruments but honestly, I think my kids would be happier if I didn’t know anything about what they were doing. From the time they started I search for the best teachers, the teachers that engage me as part of the process and enable me to help them practice at home…..my kids are able to practice more efficiently because they don’t pick up bad habits, and I know all of the best practice techniques to get ‘er done. They hate it though-they have all fought me and I know that it is common but as soon as my oldest was given direction from his teacher to practice on his own, without me,  he began to progress more quickly, take pride, and most importantly gain confidence. H (8 year-old) and I now have an agreement that I’ll only practice with him every other day and this has worked very well for us. Maybe Kat would do better to practice on her own some? She and I will have two weeks on our own this summer and I’m hoping that we can get into a routine without the distraction of our usual daily chaos…..

I’m sure every parent has an area of experience they think they might be able to influence, prepare, or protect their child from. The reality is that human nature forces us to operate from a place of experience and no matter how hard we try we cannot instill true experience in our children – we can do our best to share our experience but until they experience and organically grow through and get to where it is we want them to be, we will have to let them take their own path. That path is a little bit longer than the one we may feel they need to take and sitting back and sitting on my hands, smiling and watching this is the hardest part of parenting for me.

Do you have an area of experience that you feel benefits your kids? How do you work with them to share that experience?

Don’t Fret the Sweat

B.O.

Coming from my kid?

Nobody expects to smell the “sweaty boy smell” coming from their baby. Well, my son is in double digits and will turn eleven in about month, so I guess that makes him a “tween”. Have you had to talk about “the stink” with your tween yet?  It was a pretty straight forward conversation in our house but I have to admit, I wasn’t prepared for how quickly all of these changes would be upon us.

I had the opportunity, along with several other moms,  to talk to Rosiland Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees, about the tween years, and the challenges moms face.

Check out dontfretthesweat.com Don’t Fret the Sweat Facebook page (sponsored by Unilever – maker of Degree, Dove and Suave deodorants) for money saving offers and expert tips, tools and real life stories about how parents helping their ‘tweens become confident and self-reliant teens.

*This post has been sponsored by Bliss TV and Unilever. Opinions and experiences are my own based on my own experiences.

Valentine’s Guilt

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today my favorite Valentine turns 8 years old! He is a lover, a feeler, a very sweet child. Evidence:

I crawled into bed last night and found this……

Sweet Valentine

Look at it very closely….

Ouch...

Dear Mom and Dad, I love you so much. Why do you go on trips so much?

I may never travel again….

Perfect Moment Monday ~ Catch a Flake

I snapped this shot of Kat trying to catch snowflakes with her tongue on Saturday night in Steamboat Springs, CO. We had just come down the Gondola from a fun Western BBQ at the top of the mountain. We had eaten ourselves full and danced ourselves silly but Kat still had enough energy to twirl about in absolute bliss while we waited for the shuttle. I was so enamored by her joy that I actually turned my head to the sky and stuck my tongue out just to get a taste of what it was like to be 5 again.

Definitely a perfect moment. What Perfect Moment have you recently been aware of? Visit these moments of others and share your comment love.

Vacation Mode In Full Swing

I’m fairly certain that my mother has seen me at my worst-many times-but as an adult I definitely don’t want her to see me as a lazy unmotivated slob. My mom rocks, she’s totally laid back and that makes it even easier for me to go into vacation mode when she’s around. We always have big plans but somehow we sleep in and sloth around a bit and then the day is mostly over. I love these visits but I wonder if she loves them as much as I do?

I just spend the last four or five days cooking, eating, and napping. I’m done with the food part of that cycle. My body is rebelling and I honestly think I could fast for a week and not feel the least bit hungry. Why do we overeat on the holidays?

We had lots of sloth-ish family time while my 9 week old baby nephew was here and I think my sister-in-law enjoyed it just as much as I did. I’m a little bit of a freakishly excited new aunt but my nephew loves me mucho. I’m good with babies, really good. I think it might be partially due to the squishy comfort they find in my arms-let’s not mince words, my boobs make me a very comfortable place to hang out. Mostly, I think babies can smell love and I love this baby, he’s adorable and has such a great temperament. We’re going to be buds, of this I am sure!

What do you do when family is in town? Do you go into “tourist” mode and entertain or are you like me and just let your hair down?