Coffee chat: Fundraising Parents

| Patti Webb

My first fundraiser was in kindergarten. Our school was selling candy bars, and I don’t remember if I volunteered to take a box or was voluntold. But they were chocolate almond candy bars and I really liked those.

When I got home, that box of candy bars sat on the counter for a month. My mom had no clue why they were there and, in the end, she paid the minimum $20 just to cover it. Obviously, I didn’t win any top-seller prizes, but I did get to enjoy the candy bars.

Over my childhood, I had to sell Girl Scout cookies, pocket calendars, magazine subscriptions, pizza kits, program ads, and sponsored race miles. I went door-to-door by myself at 7 and never again after that. I’ve done phonathons, ran car washes, and organized parents’ weekends for my club teams.

Now with an advertising degree and a work history that includes actual advancement fundraising, I have the mad skillz take my daughters’ money-raising requirements to the next level. However, you still won’t catch me knocking on doors and cold-calling businesses.

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Child(ish) Reads: Soccer Dad

| Patti Webb

This summer, I had a super quick Audible that I really enjoyed. We’ve had several posts on navigating youth sports, from why they are awesome to how they can be detrimental. What I was missing was a non-biased first-hand parent account.

What I liked about this short memoir from David Murray is that he fully admits that he’s not “sporty”. He knew nothing about soccer. He wasn’t going to be a de facto coach, and he wasn’t going to push his daughter to uphold a family legacy. This is his parent story of how his daughter, Scout, started in kiddie soccer and followed her soccer goals all the way through her graduation at Ohio University.

Soccer Dad by David Murray.
Blurb: Soccer Dad is the story of a soccer-ignorant, sports-ambivalent writer who saw his daughter from the kiddie leagues through the travel-sports gauntlet to a coveted Division I scholarship. And then realized his work had only begun.

David Murray’s daughter, Scout, loved soccer from toddlerhood. Her drive and skill pulled the Murray family into the world of youth sports—one as culturally obsessive as it is economically exclusive, where each new achievement presents more challenges.

Youth sports is fun, but it isn’t simple—especially for parents determined to raise a rounded human being.

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Food for Thought: Nutrition for Growth

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Kids need food to grow, that’s a given. But things get more complicated when they hit a growth spurt. Hunger can spike overnight, and parents are suddenly trying to figure out what’s normal, what’s excessive, and what actually supports healthy development. It’s easy to assume the answer is simply to “feed them more,” but the truth is more nuanced.

Growth spurts bring shifting appetites and evolving nutritional needs. Figuring out how to support that transition lays the groundwork for smart, responsive nutrition and eating habits.

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So, I Guess This Is Growing Up: The Growth Spurt

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Time is a thief, and nothing proves it more than realizing the tiny child who once tugged at your pant leg is suddenly standing at eye level. This isn’t the usual “they grow up so fast” sentiment. They are literally growing up fast and outgrowing everything they own.

Growth spurts are short, intense bursts of height and weight gain that happen throughout childhood. Every kid goes through them, but they’re often far more dramatic than parents expect. From the sudden appetite jumps, to the extra sleep, to the highwater pants, these spikes in growth are completely normal.

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Ultimate Mom Date/Girls’ Trip Review

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

I don’t know about you, but we’re obsessed with Real Housewives on vacation. Patti and I have even joked about recreating a few of them ourselves (minus the chaos, of course).

We’ve traveled together plenty over the years, but we had never taken a true girls’ trip. Not with a spouse, or other couples, or families; a real girl’s trip with 3+ adult women. This year, we finally made it happen with a getaway to Salem, MA, joined by Patti’s SIL and her best friend.

But honestly, the number of people doesn’t define a girls’ trip. It’s any intentional getaway shared between women, created for connection, fun, and a break from the everyday. Decidedly NOT a bachelorette. And for women in their midlife season, girls’ trips carry even more meaning because it meets the psychological, social, and biological needs that become more apparent in midlife.

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