A great way to say thank you

There are going to be so many times in life when you have to do thank you cards. It might be for a birthday, graduation, a party, or a wedding. There is a fun and creative way to make cards that is cheap!

Take a lot of pictures at the event then on your computer create a card and on the front put pictures from your event then on the back and/or inside write a nice thank you letter letting them know you appreciate the gift or them coming to celebrate for a special event. That way you can print them yourself or go to Walgreen’s. It adds a personal touch from you and that way people have a reason to keep the thank you card and think of you.

An example would be if it’s your graduation on your thank you card you could put your graduation photo, your senior photo and maybe a group shot from the event. It’s something your family and friends will love and you can have fun doing so.

Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?

Girls With Dreams is excited to host author Vanessa Van Petten on her virtual book tour this week. Vanessa is creator of RadicalParenting.com a parenting website written from the teen perspective to help parents understand them. She is also the author of the new parenting book, “Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?”

Here’s what Vanessa had to share with us about being a teen and what led her to start her website:

When I was 16 I thought it was my Dad’s goal in life to make me miserable. I was convinced that he had a running list of all the ways he could embarrass me in front of my friends, trick me into doing more chores or make my curfew earlier.

Our relationship would have continued to devolve until one day I saw my Dad reading a parenting book. I flipped through it while my Dad was in the bathroom and realized a lot of the things he did that drove me crazy he was getting right out of this book! I looked at the other parenting books on our shelves and realized that they were all written by adults. I wondered—has anyone ever asked teens to write to their parents?

I decided to build a website where teens could answer questions and write to parents called RadicalParenting.com.  I couldn’t believe how quickly it grew and how happy both teens were to get their voices out and parents were to have a new outlet for connecting with their kids! We now have over 120 teen writers who give advice.

Teenagers, when given a neutral space LOVE talking to parents and often offer some of the best insight because they are going through it themselves. We have also be so excited to help parents who feel like they cannot reach their kids and teens.

I think teens and parents can work together to overcome their differences and learn to work best together. We have just come out with our book: Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded and it is a radical approach to parenting because it is written from the kid’s perspective! We would love for you to check it out—if you are brave enough to see what kids have to say!