:: all i really need to know about business, i learned from my son's preschool evaluation ::

this week, we got evan's first little school evaluation. his first series of checkmarks and assessments. can he tell a story about an event that already happened? yes, he can. does he share well? yes. hold a pencil correctly? not if his life depended on it.

unsurprisingly, the boy came up strong in language skills (something about nuts falling near trees, right?) and social skills (well, not this tree) and large motor skills, and he tanked on fine motor skills. can't hold a pencil or scissors correctly. doesn't try to write his name. he can sing the alphabet, even the LMNOP part, faster and clearer than i can, but trying to get him to trace a letter on a piece of paper is about as satisfying as peeing into a doctor's urine sample cup when you really have to pee.

and seeing his evaluation, it got me thinking about my business.

i swear. just go with it.

because seeing his evaluation, my brain went through a series of thoughts:

1 - yup, this is about what i expected.
2 - i wonder how many of the other kids can hold a pencil properly.
3 - i wonder if i should be working with him on fine motor skills.

it's a totally predictable pattern of thoughts. i'm guessing that every single parent in the classroom ran through the same general thought process.

but then my next thought was:

4 - or maybe instead we should just develop the hell out of his language and social skills.

that's the entrepreneur in me. it's the part of me that thinks mcdonald's should stop selling cappuccino and starbucks should stop trying to force us to buy their breakfast sandwiches.

i think when it comes to preschool, there's a good argument to be made for developing our weaknesses. evan's going to have an awfully frustrating school experience if he never learns to hold his writing utensils.

when it comes to three year olds, there's also a pretty good argument for waiting it out. chances are very good that evan's fine motor skills will develop without me sending him to occupational therapy or embarking on my own home-study-course of preschool needle threading and pencil gripping.

but when it comes to business, i think there's a good argument to be made for accepting our limitations and weaknesses and instead developing the hell out of our strengths.

what do YOU think?

:: laundry and other hard things about parenting ::

so here's the thing, and i know you already know this and so do i: parenting is so hard. i am only a parent and not a grandparent or anything yet, but i can just tell that being a grandparent is, one day, if my kids have kids of their own, going to be so much better than being a parent.

because the thing about parenting that's so hard isn't necessarily the kids, or the tantrums, or the illnesses, or the fights. it's the complete-and-total-responsibility of it all. it's the needing to be the person who pays attention to things like nutrition. it's the policing the TV use and teaching small people how to be good small people first, and then good bigger people. it's the paying attention to the thermometer and telling the kids "no, you can't go outside today" when even the thermometer is shivering from the cold.

i totally love the exception days. the days when i'm less like a parent and more like a grandparent. the days when we get mcdonald's for lunch and watch two movies in a row and forget to brush our teeth and eat stuff we dropped on the floor. the days when we take fun-only-no-cleaning baths. i am, as a parent, totally made for those days. if i could, we'd jump on beds all day long and when the kids are a bit older maybe make up rude limericks just for fun. i'm the parent who encourages babies to feed themselves even if its so-freaking-messy. i'm the one whose son sits down at arts and crafts at preschool and, while the other kids all look at the example snowman and try to copy it onto their own pages, creates the kind of snow man that makes the teacher ask, "evan, what have you drawn here?" i'm the one who's totally proud of him for that.

but i'm also the one who is teaching her thirteen-month-old daughter to say thanks (it comes out "sanks" and boy oh boy does it impress strangers), and the one who enforces bed times. i'm the one who mops the floor now because the pediatrician said that the baby's got a slightly elevated lead level and it's probably from lead in the dust on the floors.

i totally hate mopping. prior to this january i don't even recall the last time i did mop. but i'm nothing if not a responsible parent.

which sometimes i also totally hate. it's just so much less fun. so much harder. don't get me wrong, i actually do think i'm doing a pretty good job with these-here-kids. truly, i do. i think i find that space between indulgent grandparent and order-shouting military commander and squeeze myself and my kids right in there. but while i sit there in that space, i sure do wish we were eating raw cookie dough off the floor.

that sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon.

i think the thing about being the kind of parent i am, the kind that wants to be creative all the time and have fun and break molds and be a little bit contrary but who really believes in raising kids who can both break those molds and also sit comfortably inside them when it's a good idea to do so, the thing about that that's so darned hard is that the regular days? the days when we do brush and wash and clear our dishes and only watch a little TV? the routine days? they kind of make me feel like they're making me less creative and fun.

i want my kids to know that there's a time for folding laundry and a time for getting into laundry-throwing battles of epic proportions.

i guess i just wish that didn't mean i had to spend a significant portion of time actually folding laundry.

:: trade show bound ::

i've sent in my deposit and gotten my booth number and up up creative is in the national stationery show directory, all of which means it's official: i'm going to the show. no, wait. i'm not just going. i'm exhibiting at the show.

the picture above should give you an idea of how overwhelmed i'm feeling, although i'm simultaneously in awe at how prepared i feel, overall. i mean, i have no idea what i'm doing, what my booth will look like, what i will wear, etc., but i just feel kinda ready.

i feel good.

:: also available: new valentines ::

in addition to the wedding designs i released this month, i've also got five new valentines in the shop for 2011.  there's one design in the new collection (shown above) that i described as being for "when you feel like shouting it from the rooftops, but your aesthetic is a bit more whisper in the dark..." i'd say that pretty much sums up all five of the new cards now in the shop: lovey but unsappy; bold but subtle; somehow graphic but with nary a graphic to be found.

ah, me and my contradictions.

find the new cards here. or peep them below.

:: slow launch ::

 you've heard of the slow food movement? well i'm apparently initiating a similar movement called the slow launch movement. what you do is this:

1. spend months working on a new product or collection
2. set a december deadline for launching that new product or collection
3. finally actually release the product or collection in your shop in january.
4. make a halfhearted attempt at telling people you did this, preferably by using your personal (not your business) facebook page to post one link without any real explanation.
5. wait at least a week and then finally get around to writing your newsletter and sending it to your 429 adoring fans.
6. after this, maybe put something on your blog where the same 429 adoring fans, plus approximately 235 additional subscribers and readers, will read it.
7. finally realize that you might want to let some folks outside your inner circle know about the launch.
8. write a press release. send it to your favorite blogs and magazine editors. spread the word on twitter. finally put something on your business facebook page.

and that, my friends, is how it's done.

now watch and learn because i'm about to break out step six, in which i finally announce that my winter 2011 wedding collection is now available and getting some keen interest. hooray!

now, before i get to step 8 in my slow launch, i'd love to have some feedback from you. specifically, i'd love it if you could give me some words to describe individual pieces as well as the collection as a whole. what are your impressions? how is this collection like and not like my previous 12 designs? who do you think the collection appeals to? what are your favorite designs?

:: the blogger's dilemma ::

i've been putting off my first post of 2011 because i wanted it to be thoughtful. but come on now. it's the eighth. so instead of thoughtful i thought i'd give you a quick, thoughtless hello so we can move on already.

'ello. hope you're well. i've missed you.