To Lima and Beyond...

Tomorrow I leave for Lima, Peru, along with three wonderful colleagues and friends (and in tomorrow's case, valentines) to meet the women behind Krochet Kids intl and their #knowwhomadeit movement. In their words:

Krochet Kids intl. exists to empower women to rise above poverty. We accomplish this through the provision of fair-wage jobs, holistic education, and one-on-one mentorship. Through our programs, women are being equipped with all of the knowledge, resources, and skills they need to not just survive, but thrive.

The goal of the trip is to raise funds for the education of these women and to spend time getting to know them and their products (which are beautiful, by the way), the sale of which provides 80% of their funding. I am so looking forward to getting to know the women makers behind these beautiful products and doing what I can to elevate this incredible organization and the women who make it so.

And then, because life items happen in clusters, I fly from Lima to San Francisco to attend the Dad 2.0 Summit and speak on a panel about mentorship with three incredible men doing unbelievable things for men and boys. I am looking forward to talking about the importance of raising empathetic sons and learning how better we can work together to provide (more!) effective male role models for our boys and young men.

This topic is incredibly near and dear to me and I am honored to share the stage with these men in discussing the "what now" and "what next" in terms of taking action within our communities. (Hal recently signed up with Spark which offers apprenticeships to local youth, depending on your expertise.)

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I am filled with gratitude and nerves (and craziness as I pack two trips into one very small carryon suitcase), and I so look forward to sharing what I can, when I can, with you, here and on Instagram.

In the meantime, I have written a bit of a rant about heavy backpacks on Mom.me and would love to hear from you guys on whether or not your kids carry backpacks to school, or whether, like us, you've decided to trade them in for roller backpacks so that your kids can, you know, walk without falling over onto their faces...

More, here. 

Sending love to all. Have a wonderful weekend with your valentines, be them significant others, children, dogs, buddies, cats, books, thoughts, brothers, sisters, sisters who don't wear pants, etc.

Pants shmants.

HUGE shout-out to my mom who will be here, taking my place at home with the kids, for the next six days while I'm traveling. And to Hal, who is the greatest co-parent that exists. Lost without them both, I'd be.

Love to all,

GGC