Joyfully Green: parenting

Those Fleeting Moments...

Just last weekend, I had the immense honor of being hired to shoot the 2nd birthday party of a dear friend's daughter in New York City. When I arrived, the guest of honor was adorably toddling around her apartment wearing only a diaper. My goodness, that took me right back to when my own children were below waist-high on me. Time absolutely and positively flies!

Once the Party Girl had agreed to put on her festive attire, we all headed off to the lovely Carl Schurz Park. For those of you not familiar with Manhattan, that's a beautiful stretch of green lawn and lush trees (pictured above) running along the East River. It's also home to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City. "Green" and "nature" might not be the first things that come to mind when you think of the city, but there are definitely pockets of both to be found.

Because toddlers are not known for sticking to a parent's script, the Birthday Girl arrived at her party and promptly fell asleep--for about two hours! She did give me ample time to take some sweet snaps of her sparkly party shoes!

A couple of hours later, Sleeping Beauty had awakened and was ready to party!

Of course, her favorite part was birthday cake, and she had TWO of them to help her celebrate her big day! Do you think she enjoyed them just a little bit?

It was a beautiful afternoon for a beautiful child, and it reminded me (once again) to savor each and every one of our precious little moments, because oh my, do they fly!

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If you'd like to make more of your moments, my newest online photography courses will help you do just that. Centering on mindfulness practices and the quiet, meditative time we can find behind our lenses (or even the cameras in our smart phones!), Soul Focus: Finding Peace Through Photography and Soul Focus 2: Delving Deeper Into Mindful Photography are now OPEN for registration! Find out the details and claim your spots for these July 2017 courses by clicking this link for the first course and this link for the second course (which can only be taken after the first course, but luckily for you, they run right after the other this summer). If you have time for only one course, choose the first one. Let's make July picture-perfect together!

© 2017 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

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Posted on 06/29/2017 at 09:46 AM in mindfulness, parenting, photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Carl Schurz Park, Gracie Mansion, mindful photography practices, nature in the city, New York City, online photography courses, photo e-courses, time flies

We interrupt the daily news for ... guinea pigs!

WOW. It's so loud out there lately, isn't it? All of the world noise--I mean news--has made me even more grateful that we adopted these two little cuties for my daughter's tenth birthday this week. Say hello to Daisy (left) and Clover. The only sounds these guinea pigs make are the sweetest little squeaks and chirps. It's heaven!

We've never had guinea pigs in our family before, so this is a learning curve for us--a curve that often has surprising turns. For instance, we didn't know that potatoes are poisonous to guinea pigs. Or that they love grapes (which are poisonous to our dog). I've always had a soft spot for dandelions (here's the proof), but now I like them even more because they make our guinea pigs giddy with excitement. Most of all, I love the happiness these pets bring to our daughter as she reads them bedtime stories each night. (How sweet is that?!)

Our teenage son was worried about getting the guinea pigs, thinking it would hurt our dog's feelings. (And how sweet is that?!) To this, I responded with the title of Amy Bloom's short story from a few years ago: "Love is not a pie." There's always more love to go around.

This much I know for sure: Pets make the world a softer, kinder place.

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P.S. Next week, I'll be opening registration for my July 2017 online photography course, Soul Focus: Finding Peace Through Photography. Subscribers to Writing with Light (my free, monthly-ish newsletter about my favorite photography techniques and latest inspirations) will get early bird entrance to this space-limited course and a BIG discount. They also get my free, downloadable guide, Hey, How Did You Do That?! 20 Apps to Totally Transform Your Phone Photos. If you're interested in one or both, don't miss out...

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Posted on 06/09/2017 at 10:00 AM in parenting, wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Amy Bloom short story Love is Not a Pie, benefits of pets, children and pets, guinea pigs as pets, online photography course, potatoes poisonous to guinea pigs

Joyful Finds for the Weekend, Vol. 71: The Kindness of Strangers

I'm just guessing, but I bet I wasn't the only one whose parents warned them often and in no uncertain terms, "Don't talk to strangers!" In fact, I've been known to tell my own kids the very same thing. (I think it's in the Official Parents' Handbook, in the chapter called "Repeat These Phrases to Your Children Ad Nauseum.")

But sometimes, strangers turn out to be kind souls. I learned this recently, when I couldn't attend the BlogHer16 convention in Los Angeles to receive my Voices of the Year (VOTY) honor in-person for the blog post I'd written about my son called All of a Sudden: Twelve. It turned out that my nine-year-old daughter was performing in a local play on the same day as the VOTY presentation. I felt like I'd be a complete hypocrite if I skipped my daughter's play to fly to the opposite coast for a blog award about parenting!

Via BlogHer's Facebook page, some very kind souls (whom I've never met) offered to take pictures of my post at BlogHer and send them to me. (It's a BlogHer tradition to super-size all of the honorees' work and display it gorgeously in the convention hall.) The day of VOTY, I received a whole slew of emails and texts with pictures similar to the one below. It was the next best thing to being there!

To "pay it forward", I'm including links below from a couple of my kind new friends who snapped pictures for me. I do hope you'll check out their impressive work--they fully deserve the good karma!

Katie Reed, blogger at "A Mother Thing", was honored in the same category as I was, "MOMents that Matter." I loved her winning piece: To My Friend on the Birth of Your First Child

Casey Gates was a Voices of the Year honoree for this inspiring short film: What is Lady Brain?

This story warms my heart completely: Stray dog "adopts" a marathoner

Police find elderly couple in tears and cook them dinner

This is so strange but intriguing (and now I've got to read The Hidden Life of Trees): How trees communicate and care for each other

I hope that your weekend is filled with kind acts--given and received!

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P.S. I'll be taking a short blogging break for some highly anticipated family vacation time, but if you're on Instagram, I'll be posting (almost) daily visual inspiration from my wanderings, so come say hello to me on Instagram by clicking here.

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© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. The BlogHer convention picture within this post was taken by Casey Gates. Please do not use any photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to Joyfully Green via email or RSS reader: just click here.

Posted on 08/12/2016 at 09:01 PM in blogging, parenting, priorities | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: 2016 Voices of the Year honorees, blog awards, BlogHer, BlogHer16, good news, good Samaritans, How They Communicate-Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben, kindness of strangers, random acts of kindness, The Hidden Life of Trees book: What They Feel, VOTY, weekend reading, winning blog posts

What Makes Your Heart Go Mellow?

"Blue makes my heart go mellow..." sings my eight-year-old daughter in lullaby-style from her bedroom, where she is playing with a selection of her stuffed animals, pretending to be their mother.

I've always loved it when my children make up their own songs and sing them without knowing or caring if anyone is listening. I remember my son singing long ago about "a monkey walking down the street in his monkey pants with a monkey belt." And my daughter singing "squirrels in the trees like to nibble, nibble, nibble." These spur-of-the-moment songs are like a secret peek into their busy brains as they're making sense of the world, or making up new worlds entirely.

In the middle of my work, I pause to listen to my daughter's little song (and to melt). What a lovely turn of phrase: "Makes my heart go mellow." It makes me think:

What else makes my heart go mellow?

Seeing an elderly couple holding hands.

Whenever my velvety-eared dog (already a heart-melter) lets out a deep, contented sigh, right before settling down for a nap.

The heady scent of lilacs wafting on a spring breeze.

Every last little thing about Mourning Doves.

As soon as I saw the trailer for "Far from the Madding Crowd", I knew I'd be smitten by the movie (and boy, was I right!).

People who rescue animals for a living.

A baby's "Ritz Cracker" hands (you know, with those little dimples at the knuckles) and pudgy "Flintstones" feet.

The Collected Tales of Beatrix Potter. (And I love, love, love how Beatrix Potter spent her author royalties on buying up woodlands in England to save them from development.)

My 104-year-old great aunt.

Chipmunks, especially mid-scamper.

Ray Bolger singing as the Scarecrow, Gene Kelly singing in the rain, and Dick Van Dyke singing his children to sleep in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Studying tiny creatures through a macro lens and realizing they're just going about their day, doing the best they can to make it in a very large world.

Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah."

Remembering my gruff grandfather, who had a soft spot for me when I was very little and let me put sponge curlers in his thinning hair while he watched the Yankees and smoked cigars.

Coloring books, paper dolls, wooden pull-toys.

Typewriters--the very oldest ones with circular keys.

Looking through boxes of old photographs, curled at the edges and yellowed with age, of my parents and grandparents--and their parents, too.

Remembering so many furry friends who are no longer with us.

Remembering the magical woods of my childhood home.

Remembering, remembering, remembering...and being immensely grateful.

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Before you go...

Last few days to sign up for my brand-new online photography course "Beyond Auto Mode: How to Really Work Your DSLR Camera." Join students from around the world--just a few spots left! For all the course details and registration, click here.

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© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

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Posted on 06/02/2016 at 09:01 AM in BUGS!, e-courses, forest, gratitude, parenting, photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Beatrix Potter land conservation in England, DSLR photo courses, Far from the Madding Crowd, heartwarming things, Jeff Buckley Hallelujah, mourning doves true love birds, online photography classes, photo courses

All of a Sudden: Twelve

You don't need me to tell you that "time flies."

We've all heard it. We all know it.

But when you have children, time seems to fly supersonically.

Like a film fast-forwarded, burning up the screen.

Twelve years ago, I burst into hot tears at the first sight of him.

Tears of immense relief, of a certain brand of happiness I'd never known before.

There had been two miscarriages along the way: grey uncertainty, black sadness.

And yet: Here he was!

Our first child, our son.

What is the most powerful word for "grateful"?

For the highest, brightest peak of grateful? I can't find it now, but I feel it deep under my skin.

Epitome-of-grateful for a tiny baby boy, born twelve years ago today.

Not a baby anymore, and almost -- almost! -- taller than I am (which isn't tall, but still...) .

Someday (very soon) my son will look down upon the top of my head,

look down upon his mother,

his epitome-of-grateful mother who loves him more and more each day,

more than any words can say.

Children are like the most precious of days: Born, growing, glowing, gone.

I'm in no rush.

Let's stretch out the spinning minutes --

close our eyes,

and make a wish.

Happiest of happy birthdays to you, Z.

With so much love,

Mom xox

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© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not use any text or photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with proper credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

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Posted on 01/14/2016 at 09:52 AM in parenting | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: birthdays, bittersweet, children grow up fast, parenting lessons, tempus fugit, time flies

Joyful Reads & Finds for the Weekend, Vol. 57

Just a few of my favorite finds this week--enjoy and kindly share them!

Naturally, I'm sharing this: Homeless animals get adorable portraits taken to find forever homes

Stop giving away your power

My friend Dale shares a heart-tugging story of a special bond: Margaret and Me

20 healthy snacks to have on-hand

Finally, a must-read for any parents who routinely trip over their kids' Legos (that definitely includes me): Perspective

Happy weekend, friends!

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P.S. My next online photography course starts on July 6th! It's already a wonderful group of students from around the world--join us and sharpen your photography skills. More details and registration here: How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You

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© 2015 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any of my photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

Posted on 06/25/2015 at 09:02 PM in Joyful Reads, parenting, perspective, photography, YUMMY! | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: best blogs, dealing with messy kids, good reads, helping homeless animals, how to take better nature photos, Legos, online photo classes, parent perspectives, photographers helping animals, photography e-courses, weekend reading

May Madness, Taxi-Moms, and How Things Fall Away

We're in the thick of "May Madness" right now: School is winding down and the end-of-year activities are winding up--waaaay up! I've turned into what Pamela Druckerman says the French scornfully call "Maman-Taxi"--the crazed mom who shuttles the kids from one activity to another. I can barely figure out how I'm going to get my son from after-school play practice to his baseball game, with my daughter's piano lesson sandwiched in between. Taxi-Mom indeed!

I really dislike the idea of over-scheduling kids (never mind myself), because I remember my own childhood as being relatively low-key. I took ballet and piano lessons, but I had LOTS of free time for playing outdoors after school. And yet, here we are today: Tightly booked.

But the good thing about being temporarily over-booked is that it helps us to see what can fall away. To see which activities give us the most joy and which ones are just time-drains.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with my daughter's dance lessons. She's been losing interest in ballet, but now she loves to play the piano. So, dance lessons will be dropped after the big recital in June.

My son gave up fencing for similar reasons. Took too much time and didn't give enough joy.

But he loves, loves, LOVES baseball, so that one's non-negotiable.

It's not just the kids with multiple interests and minimal time. On my way to find my son's baseball gear, I nearly tripped over the sewing machine that I'd bought for myself over a year ago. I've used it exactly two times, including once for a beginner's sewing class. While the class seemed interesting on the day I took it, I have to admit that I can't even remember how to thread the bobbin anymore.

If I have a free half-hour, nine times out of ten, I'll reach for my camera. Zero times out of ten, I'll reach for a new sewing project. I'm terrible at math, but I think that says something.

I thought I could read the small stack of books I'd taken out of the library a month ago--cookbooks, a couple of novels, a book of essays--but they're all due today and going back to the library, all but two of them unread. (When exactly did I think I was going to be able to whip up those vegan cupcakes, anyway?)

Then there's the Mad Men finale. Some day, I might get around to watching it, along with the four shows leading up to it that are waiting patiently for me on TiVo. Frankly, I'm just not that interested anymore. It's hard to fit in TV shows when I don't have time these days to blow-dry my hair. (Sending out a big thanks to whomever invented the ponytail hole in baseball caps!)

There are only so many hours. Our ongoing task is to find the essence of our days--the things we love, the things we truly need to do--and skim off the rest.

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How 'bout you? Have you simplified your activities or are you stretched to the limit? Let's hear it in the comments section!

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subscribing (in righthand column)
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Posted on 05/20/2015 at 09:02 PM in parenting, priorities, simplify | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: figuring out what's important, focus, how to prioritize, multi-tasking, overscheduling kids, parenting, priorities

Snow Day? No Problem! 10 Fun Activities to Keep Your Kids Happy & Busy

Well, here we go again: The weathermen all predicted a veritable doomsday of a blizzard, so school was cancelled the night before, morning came and...there was barely any new snow! Somehow, this always happens on the days when I have the most to do. (Funny how that works, huh?) But I wouldn't let the snow day get the upper hand--here's how I kept the kids happily occupied, while keeping my own sanity...

1. Cooking up a creative meal together. The kids are slightly obsessed with the show "Master Chef Junior" (which I fully endorse, since it has the double-benefit of making them more helpful in the kitchen and more willing to try new foods), so we whipped up a french toast breakfast buffet, complete with pomegranates, clementines, powdered sugar, chocolate coins, and syrup. (Mornings are the one time when I don't mind if the kids eat some chocolate because it gives them a little wake-up boost but won't keep them up when it's bedtime. I just pretend that we're French, eating pain au chocolat!)

2. My son asked for a "proper camera" for his recent birthday, and we were happy to oblige! So, activity #2 involved a photo shoot of our breakfast. If your kids don't have cameras, why not lend them your phone to take some snaps?

3. Swimsuits on, bath-time for the dog! Delilah hates bath-time...

...but she loves it when we dry her off!

4. My daughter had the idea to make paper dolls. For added sturdiness, we pasted them onto cereal boxes before cutting them out, and then backed them with pretty decorative paper.

5. Legos! Need I say more?

6. Dress-up time with the grown-ups' stuff: Hats, jewelry, scarves, boots...the works!

7. Write and illustrate a book.

8. Musical instrument practice time!

9. This one involves pre-planning: When you hear forecasts for snow, make sure to hit the library for a new stash of books!

10. And finally...get out there in the snow and go wild!

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Posted on 01/27/2015 at 09:02 PM in creativity, dogs, family, food, fun, outdoors, parenting, photography, snow, winter, YUMMY! | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: creative fun for kids, creative ideas for kids' snow days, fun things to do on snow days, homemade french toast, keeping the kids happy and occupied when you have work to do, make your own paper dolls, Master Chef Junior TV show, snow day activities, what to do when there's no school, winter fun activities for children

Joyful Reads for the Weekend, Vol. 42

Here are a few little gifts just for you...unwrap and enjoy!

From Creative with Kids: 100 ways to be kind to your child (#18 and #33 are my favorites!)

From Josephine Corcoran: In the wee small hours, someone's working

From Higher Perspective: How introverts interact with the world differently than extroverts. (Yep, I'm definitely an introvert according to this--especially the part about talking on the phone!)

From Women's Health: What nutritionists eat when they only have 5 minutes to prep a meal

Last but not least, I am completely awed by the amazingly positive attitude of my friend Dale at A Delectable Life, who lost her husband only last month: Good-bye 2014, hello 2015 and all your possibilities

Wishing you a wonderful winter weekend (or a sensational summer weekend, if you're on the flip-side of the world!)

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Catch my latest posts by subscribing (at the right), "liking" my Facebook page, following me on Twitter, or circling me on Google+. (That last one is my favorite place to share--check it out!)

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Posted on 01/22/2015 at 09:02 PM in friends, ice, Joyful Reads, nature, parenting, perspective, priorities, snow, writing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: am I an introvert or an extrovert?, are you an introvert or an extrovert?, best blogs, good reads, healthy snack ideas from nutritionists, introverts versus extroverts, parenting with kindness, weekend reads

So We Started a New Holiday Tradition...

It's a challenge to come up with gifts for Hanukkah when (1) we're already tripping over the kids' overloaded toy supply and (2) we--the parents--don't want any more stuff for ourselves. Giving experiences has become one of our favorite ways to celebrate. But sometimes, you can combine a fun experience with choosing something small (and not pricey) to take home with you.

Case in point: Last Sunday, we combined something that we (our family of four) all love--books--with someplace we all love to visit--Strand Books in New York City. I've written about it before, but it's hard to capture the essence of the Strand in photos because it's just soooooo big and sprawling--four floors of books (most of them secondhand, many out-of-print or rare) taking up a full city block. Yet it's somehow cozy at the same time, as you blissfully meander around the chock-full stacks with everybody else who loves books just as much. It's our collective Happy Place, for sure.

We each chose a book that we instantly loved. (Actually, the kids chose three each, but they bought their other two selections with their allowances.) My 10-year-old son chose three spectacular pop-up books by Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda. My seven-year-old daughter chose beautifully illustrated versions of The Hobbit, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and a 3-D version of Cinderella.

I chose a book that's technically for children but I love it nonetheless: Maps by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinska. (I love a book that teaches me a hundred new things on every page.) That's a book I can put on the family room coffee table for everybody to pick up from time to time and devour.

After a quick bite and drink across the street, my husband suggested we walk down to Washington Square. I'm so glad he did (and not just because I love the Henry James book!). The arch was all lit up, framing the big Christmas tree under it. It was already almost impossibly festive, and then a big group of joggers (all wearing Santa hats) launched into "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to take it right over the top. Even though we don't celebrate Christmas, the sparkling city filled with music and lights was a beauty to behold.

At home, we hid our Strand books away until the first night of Hanukkah (yesterday). It was the perfect day in the city together, and we all agreed it'll be our new holiday tradition.

How 'bout you? Do you have a favorite holiday tradition? Let's hear it--I'm all ears!

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Join me in January...
My photography e-course, "How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You" is now OPEN for enrollment! (If giving the course as a gift, please let me know the name and email of the student in the PayPal comment section at checkout.) Click here for details and registration.

Holiday gifts without mall madness...

My favorite photographs (framed and unframed) are for sale at Society6.

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© 2014 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any of my photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

Posted on 12/16/2014 at 09:02 PM in family, gifts, happiness, holidays, Joyful Reads, NYC, parenting, perspective, priorities, simplify | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: best children's books, giving experiences instead of things, Manhattan in December, Matthew Reinhart pop-up books, New York at the holidays, New York City bookstores, Robert Sabuda, Strand Bookstore in New York City, Washington Square by Henry James, world's best bookstores