I Think I'm In Love With Wendy Kopp

The first time I heard her name, she was almost a peer.  Just a smidge ahead of me in school (except I wasn't at Princeton), I knew her name because she'd put her thesis to the test.  She theorized about sending new graduates who excel at academics--not necessarily education majors--into the toughest areas of our country, the areas where no one wants to start their teaching career.  And then she did it.  

She put her idea into practice and my roommate applied to be one of the first teachers selected for Teach for America.

My roommate grew up sheltered and, dare I say, privileged, in a beautiful town outside of Minneapolis.  We attended a similarly sheltered private school on the east coast.  Our friends were accepting jobs with Morgan Stanley and Anderson Consulting.  She accepted the role with Teach for America and started teaching in Compton, CA, near Los Angeles.  She taught at an elementary school that was padlocked shut at 4:00 each afternoon for safety reasons; better get out of there and safely home before then.  She has a lifetime of stories from those two years of teaching.

And Wendy Kopp's story goes on.  TFA's been around for almost 20 years now.  It's grown and expanded and become the center of many discussions about reforming education in our country.  And Ms. Kopp's grown with it.  

But for all of the things I admire about Wendy Kopp, I think what I most admire is this:  She didn't file her thesis in a drawer.  She didn't have this great idea, write about it, develop it, and then turn it into cocktail party fodder, bantering back and forth with cute men in khakis and loafers, about how she had some really great ideas about reforming education.  Instead, she raised capital and she put herself out there.  She tried it.  And she made it work.

I love her for that.

I love that she took her Ivy League education and did something powerful and meaningful with it.  I love that she had an idea about how to change the world and she didn't listen to the naysayers that said it could never happen.  What a wonderful message for our kids:  Work hard.  Think about others.  Develop your idea.  Pursue it.  Stick with it.  Figure out how to do it better.  

Thanks, Wendy.

I Can't Stand My Mother-in-Law

No, no, not me!  That’s not my sentiment.  (Hello, Mother-in-Law, Faithful Reader that you are.) But it’s a sentiment that’s echoed in women’s circles day in and day out.  When it comes to the women who raised our husbands, there’s rarely middle ground.  As newlyweds, we try to embrace one another’s families.  We put on our manners, our best game face, and avoid discussing "hot button" topics.  We try, as new wives, we really do.  But in time, we discover that people are people.  There are bound to be disagreements.  

Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, they’re here to stay.  And we should be glad for that—because if all goes well, one day we'll  be the mother-in-law.  M-I-L’s to-be, that’s us.  Needless to say, it’s to our benefit to figure out how to live with them.  Not literally, of course (!), but to survive, and even thrive, as part of the same family.

Today, over at Blissfully Wed, I offer a few suggestions for navigating these waters.  Hope you'll pop by and read 'em.

photo credit:  blhphotography

Thank Goodness I Never Said I Was Perfect

In case you missed it, I'm not known for my technological prowess. But I have figured out to how schedule my blog posts, which comes in handy since I'm wi-fi-less for the summer. I write just about every day, and then every few days I hit the library for some lovely wi-fi access and to schedule upcoming posts.

Except sometimes I goof.

This week, for example, I scheduled Simple Rules for Summer Visitors to post on Tuesday. It did. For yesterday, I scheduled You Are My Sunshine. But, well, it turns out that I accidentally scheduled it to post on Tuesday also. So not many people got a chance to see Simple Rules for Summer Visitors before it got sent to 2nd page down blog neverland. Oops.

I'm trying, friends. I'm trying.

The biggest tech problem I'm having right now is that if you subscribe to my blog through Google Reader, Blogger is sending the wrong feed. Now, how on earth I fix that, I don't know. I need someone to help me, I'm just not sure who. I'm working on it. If you have any recommendations, please pass them along.

But for now, I'm off to the beach with my boys. I have absolutely no problems with that.

You are My Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you, please don’t take my sunshine away.

The other night dear, when I was sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms. When I awoke dear, I was mistaken, and I bowed my head and I cried.

How many times I sang this song to you, my sweet baby. I stood by your crib and sang; I rocked you in the rocker and sang; I sat on the edge of your bed and sang.

I can’t believe you’re already 7.

Happy Birthday, Sunshine!