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6 Truths About Failure GoldieBlox Can Teach Girls

April 2, 2015 by The Motherhood

The Motherhood is thrilled to once again partner with GoldieBlox, a brand that is helping girls develop an early interest in learning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) skills. Each GoldieBlox product features a fun story about a girl named Goldie, who has to solve a problem by building a simple machine. The products come with the same pieces Goldie has in the story, so girls can learn and build along with her. We love how Goldie encourages young girls to take risks, try new things and most importantly, never give up.

“The biggest reason for tears in our household are those of frustration. Tears of failure. Tears of being even too afraid to try. And I’ll tell you right now that no amount of saying to my children, ‘You can do it!’ – is going to make them really just try something again that they’ve failed at or were too afraid to try in the first place.” – Tracy, Sellabit Mum

Sound familiar to you? Unfortunately, fear of failure keeps many children (and adults!) from trying new things. Research shows that fear of failure is learned in young girls, not inherent, which means we can help reverse this mindset in girls!

Here are a few truths about failure that a group of awesome bloggers have been teaching their daughters using GoldieBlox:

1. Failure does not mean the end.

“It is so important for her to learn that failure is not the end! It is just a curve in the road. We talked about my failures. I fail all the time! But it gives me the push I need to keep going and try again. She has that same fire. I hope she never loses it! GoldieBlox encourages this too!” – Heather, Living on Love and Cents

IMG_5060-500x333 — Photo by Jennifer, Sweet T Makes Three

2. Failure makes room for creativity and innovation.

“Sweet T hauled Goldie and her zipline equipment to her room for quiet time this afternoon and innovated on her own without my help! She doesn’t know what ‘tension’ means, but she couldn’t get enough of it to make her zipline work so she figured out a way to tie one end of the zipline to her rocking chair and move it around the room to get the tension she needed. I checked on her a little later and she had solved the problem of an unstable rocking chair by placing her giant stuffed Eeyore underneath to stabilize it.” – Jennifer, Sweet T Makes Three

3. Failure’s lessons will make you better the next time around.

“It’s important to me that my daughter knows that it’s ok to fail. Failure is what makes us do even better the next time around. Failure is what makes us be our best.” – Mellisa, Mom Luck

Cakes-assembling-GoldieBlox-Zipline — Photo by Kelly, Texas Type A Mom

4. You can often avoid failure by remaining calm and confident.

“You know, it’s in the midst of trouble that our true character comes out, isn’t it? She began to get frustrated when she put the drum together, then realized the inside parts were not facing the right direction to finish putting it together. She had to tear the outside paper to get back into the drum to fix it. I wondered how this would affect her. Would she be disappointed? Discouraged? ‘Mom, we can just tape it!’ It was a no brainer! Problem solved. No biggie. There’s not much in life that we get right the first time, is there? Figuring out a solution without losing our cool is a great thing to learn!” – Esther, Laugh With Us Blog

5. Overcoming failure is empowering.

“Solving problems can make you feel powerful and GoldieBlox helps them achieve that feeling while having fun.” – Bridgette, Experimental Mommy

Goldie-Blox-2 — Photo by Allison, Some the Wiser

6. Failure is a part of life, and that’s not a bad thing.

“I love that GoldieBlox wants us to teach our children that failure is okay. Many great inventors and leaders failed, again and again. I don’t want my daughter to ever fear failure because failure can lead to innovation. We shouldn’t let fear of failure stop us from trying.” – Melissa, A Sparkle of Genius

“Knowing that adults don’t do well with failure makes it even harder to teach children about it. But as parents, it’s our responsibility to teach our children about failure. The sooner, the better so we can help them vocalize and overcome their failures from early age when those failures aren’t quite as significant as when they’re older.” – Kelly, Texas Type A Mom

Your daughters can experience Goldie’s stories while learning these truths, having fun and confidently growing in their STEM skills! Use coupon code Spring2015-2b8badcd to receive 20% off of any purchases on the GoldieBlox website. Hurry though, offer ends on April 5, 2015!

What lessons has failure taught you that you want your daughters to know?

4 Tips for Spring Cleaning to Feel Refreshed

March 20, 2015 by The Motherhood

After the year of record-breaking snow and bitter cold many parts of the country experienced, it’s safe to say that we’ve been counting down to March 20 — the first official day of spring! Several months after many people made (and perhaps dropped) their New Year’s resolutions, the spring season brings a welcome sense of energy and desire to refresh many areas of our lives.

Here are four of our favorite ways to feel renewed as we usher in spring:

1. Do a Closet Clean Out

Take inventory of our closets and weed out unused clothing. Organization experts suggest eliminating wardrobe items that don’t meet the following criteria:

It currently fits
You have worn it in the past 12 months
You’re likely to wear it again
It’s in good condition (or you are willing to get it repaired)
It accurately represents your personal style
It makes you feel confident

If you can’t check those boxes for it, that item doesn’t make the cut! Make piles for items to keep, items to sell and items to donate to streamline your clean-out process.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons user Emily May.

Another fun option for pieces that are still in good condition is to host a clothing swap! Gather a few friends and ask them to bring a suggested minimum number of items. Create a festive party atmosphere with fun food and drinks (check out www.sweetswaps.com for some great ideas), and let the swapping begin! To make sure everyone gets a turn to shop, draw numbers and take turns picking one item from the selections. After a few rounds, you can open it up to a “free for all” so every item can find a new home.

2. Tackle Digital Clutter

Now is a great time to delete unneeded content and back up important files that are on your mobile devices. Not only will you feel more organized, but you’ll have the security of knowing your digital memories, such as special photos and videos, aren’t in danger of being lost forever. There are several simple ways to back up your files, and a quick search of some of these methods will yield some easy-to-follow instructions:

Import files to your desktop
Store your photos in the cloud using Dropbox or Google Drive
Upload your images to Flickr

3. Revamp Your Recipe Repertoire

A pantry clean-out is a great spring cleaning idea, but another way to refresh your kitchen this spring is to add some new recipes to your rotation! We love the idea of making simple lifestyle changes, such as swapping full sugar for SPLENDA® Sweetener Products in recipes, to find balance and enjoy the sweet life.

Through the SWEET SWAPS™ Initiative, the SPLENDA® Brand is dishing out creative ways to swap full sugar for SPLENDA® Sweetener Products in order to save calories. SweetSwaps.com is a treasure trove of creative and delicious ways to use SPLENDA® Sweetener Products no matter what type of dish you’re preparing!

To celebrate spring and enjoy the sweet life without all the calories of added sugar, we’re loving the citrus flavor of freshly made lemon chiffon pie that swaps full sugar for SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener!

4. Develop a “Spot Clean” Strategy

Every house has a “hot spot” or two — places that always tend to accumulate clutter. Common areas include your dining room table, kitchen island or entryway. To stop tripping over backpacks or feeling overwhelmed by piles of paper, take charge of these hot spots and develop a cleaning and organizing system that works for your family. By installing a mailbox organizer with a labeled slot for each family member, or placing a coat rack and bench with individual cubbies or even some canvas storage cubes just inside your front door, you can help stop clutter in its tracks.

We’d love to hear your ideas for simplifying your life this spring! Leave us a comment with your favorite tips.

This post is part of the SPLENDA® Brand Sweet Life blogger program by McNeil Nutritionals, LLC. All opinions are our own.

The featured image at the top of this post is courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons user Tristan Martin.

Dad 2.0 Summit Recap: Our Top 5 Takeaways

February 25, 2015 by The Motherhood

Based on what we saw and heard last week at Dad 2.0 Summit, 2015 is shaping up to be a watershed year for dads. Whether bloggers, activists or “regular guys,” there has been a steady shift in perception about what it means to be a “real man” taking on the role of dad. (Just think back to how many brands stepped up and portrayed men as emotionally involved parents in their Super Bowl commercials this year.)

Both attendance and sponsorships at Dad 2.0 Summit increased significantly between 2014 and 2015, a recognition on both sides that dads have the microphone and are ready to speak their piece, many of them from their blog and social platforms.

What might they say? Here are The Motherhood’s top five takeaways:

1. Let’s bring perception in line with reality. As Dr. Michael Kimmel, a professor and sociologist specializing in gender studies, noted during his opening keynote:

The implication is that a masculine man can’t also be an engaged parent, equal partner and a good dad, sharing housework and child-rearing responsibilities. Kimmel made the point that men need to support other men in equating the concept of “good man” – and good dad/partner – with “real man.”

2. We have a voice, and we want to be included in the conversation. More and more brands are acknowledging dads as involved parents, and advertisers and marketers are starting to reach out to them in their own right. Some, like Similac’s popular viral video – which did a beautiful job of incorporating dads until ending with the tagline, “The Sisterhood of Motherhood” – come close but fall just short with dads.

Sponsors at Dad 2.0, including title sponsor Dove Men + Care, along with Kia, Lego, Lee Jeans and others, made a big splash with dad-centric programming, messaging and giveaways.

Screen Shot 2015-02-23 at 12.50.41 PM — The Motherhood’s Erin Olson with Trey of Daddy Mojo in the Lee Jeans suite.

3. Dads can make a real difference. Their presence as equal partners and parents impacts families, women, kids and men themselves in significant and positive ways, according to Men Care, a global fatherhood campaign represented by speaker Andrew Levack of Promundo at the conference.

Dad 2.0 Summit co-founder Doug French summed it up when he said, “The people who change diapers change the world.”

4. We’d like opportunities to be present at key moments – and then some – in our families’ lives. Paternity leave was a hot topic at Dad 2.0. According to keynote speaker Michael Kimmel, the U.S. is one of only four countries in the world that doesn’t offer paid paternity leave. With mainstream society recognizing that dads are “more than breadwinners who drink scotch and play golf,” as speaker and columnist Stephen Marche put it, dads are looking for a more formalized acknowledgement of their increased roles in their kids’ lives.

Marche noted that it’s not just about being there for the big milestones and fun moments, either, but about being part of daily household life, from making pancakes to vacuuming to watching Toy Story with your kids 43 times:

5. Partnership is key – in marriage, raising kids, business and blogging! At The Motherhood, we work with plenty of women whose significant others have made their own footprint in the online world. Whether they have independent sites or write in partnership on the same blog, equity (perceived fairness) in the division of responsibilities with housework, career and kids will contribute to happiness and success. We love that formula.

Screen Shot 2015-02-23 at 12.51.22 PM — Erin with Staci of 7 on a Shoestring and Heather of It’s a Lovely Life. Staci was on hand to support her husband, Colby, who blogs at Days of a Domestic Dad.

We look forward to seeing what else 2015 has in store for dads!