While we live in a world of “Influencers”, I’m always looking for purposeful and positive influences for my kids. I remember when I was growing up in the 80’s, I watched female sports stars and astronauts on TV who were wow-ing the world! They showed me that anything was possible. Now that I have a daughter of my own, I try to keep an eye on what my children are watching, and I want them to see young women accomplishing goals and living a happy life. That doesn’t always happen of course, but it can happen more if I encourage it by doing a little research and directing my daughter’s attention to it. I love to watch her light up with the thoughts of her own possibilities and I can see on her face when new dreams are hatching in her head! It’s kind of like when we watched them take their first steps, or learn a new word as a toddler.

I know a lot of Moms like me right now who have kids that went into quarantine during Elementary school and came out in Middle School. During the interim, they dealt with so much! Being involved in our kids’ daily life and encouraging important talks has become an essential part of parenting my tween. I’m also trying to stay current with TikTok and Stranger Things and the return of high-wasted jeans.

These Kids Are So Creative!

It always impresses me how creative people are. I taught a few art classes at my children’s school and was constantly enamored by the world that was being made right in front of my eyes. Really cool experience I recommend if you are ever asked to fill in as an art teacher, just say “Yes”.

Here this Tween runs an amazing company as the CEO of Buttonsmith, and one of Forbes 30 under 30 to watch. As the story goes “Buttonsmith®, Inc. began out of a fourth-grade class project on trading Henry completed in 2013 when he was a student at Fall City Elementary in Fall City, Washington. Faced with the challenge of making something to trade at a school trading post, he rejected baked goods (“Mo-o-o-om, the baked goods market will be totally oversaturated!”) and instead made pinback buttons to sell to his classmates. His dyslexia had made success in school a real challenge up to that point, so when his products were very popular he was thrilled!” I shared this story with my own son who has overcome a lot in school. It was really inspiring! (I think you can order on his website and on Amazon!)

I don’t know if you have heard of the Mini Monet but this girl in England loves to paint and she’s amazing at it, so her work started selling for thousands. Her name is Daisy Watt and she’s British. Now she’s a Teen who donates all of the proceeds from all of her artwork to charity. She’s world-famous, but in a really really good way.

More recently she did a painting to help raise money for frontline workers. I found her on Facebook and she also has a website. I think I need to order one of her paintings for our house. I can’t think of a better way to decorate our new home down south. A beautiful reminder of how much hope and generosity there is in the world. I’m getting on for the kitchen where everyone will see it.

Last week I met a tween who discovered she had a talent for voicing cartoon characters, and then landed the job of a lifetime at the age of 13! So many kids don’t want to do what their parents do because it’s “uncool”. Meli Povenmire just rolled with things during the quarantine in Los Angeles, and so did her showbiz Dad. They spent time together at home while he made his shows and she helped out here and there. Her acting and writing skills were already apparent, but when she read lines for his newest show that was about to launch, magic happened! Meli was the perfect fit for the lead role as she overcame any uncertainty about being able to do it. She auditioned for the lead, up against other actors, and she was cast! Now she plays Gretel in “Hamster & Gretel” for Disney. She is so humble too. She said to an i nterviewer at ComicCon: “I’ve done temp lines before, I’ve done auditions, but this was the first time where it was just a transition from doing the temp lines to doing the actual voice and it was so exciting,” explained Meli Povenmire, Dan’s daughter, who voices Gretel. Other actresses were auditioned, but nobody else fit the character’s voice quite like Meli. “It didn’t really hit me until a few months into recording, like, oh my gosh, this is happening. I am this voice.”

Please share any of your favorite inspirational kiddos in the comments! I would love to see more and share with my family. Thanks for reading and liking. You can Follow me on Twitter @kristincruz.