Hey doll, who signed your chest and heart?? 

Hold on, i will tell you in a second, but first, who is this doll with his shirt pulled up? His name is Shoulders. He is one of my characters that was developed and licensed to Aetna/US Healthcare for their Johns Hopkins joint website for kids about a decade ago. He was and still is all about providing support and fostering honest communication as is today's (Easter Sunday, 4/12/09) Rhyme of Passion "If you get tired of asking, maybe you need to give it up!”  I wrote this several years ago when thinking about parenting and that to be a good "real" parent before you ask your kids to do something important or more likely not to, being honest, "giving it up" aka coming clean about your own imperfections, your own mistakes should be part of the "asking discussion".

Wether or not you agree with or like Hillary Clinton (and i do, on many things), i have incredible admiration for her communication and parenting skills. She spelled a lot of her life/parenting philosophy out in her best selling book, "It Takes A Village".  First Lady, Senator, Presidential Candidate, Secretary of State and being a Great Parent all have their share of challenges-especially the last one- kidding, not really. Being a parent in these challenging times is tough, but the one thing i know that cost nothing is simply the idea of coming clean about the good and the not so good in how we have lived our life.

This self directed empathy comes from the heart and can make all the difference in the world in asking the hard questions...of your kids or yourself.

BTW, it was Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton that were kind and generous enough to "give it up" to Shoulders!

Happy Passover and have a wonderful Easter Sunday!