I have a birthday present to buy this month and while I was browsing the internet, looking for ideas, I came across the birthstones for August. There are two: Peridot and Sardonyx. I don’t know much about birthstones, but apparently Peridot is associated with the heart chakra, and it’s a stone of compassion. Sardonyx embodies a vibration of happiness, optimism and confidence - Wow: August is a great month for birthstones that match our Supershoes mission!
Compassion, happiness, optimism and confidence are all qualities that we wish for our children, aren’t they? And how best to teach them? I guess as a parent, we do the very best we can to model those qualities for our children to pick up on. It’s hard enough being a parent when life is “normal” (whatever the heck that is!) But trying to be happy, optimistic and confident when your child is very poorly is a massive challenge. Compassion can even wear thin, in extreme circumstances. I appreciate, from speaking to parents daily, how tough it gets.
Which leads me back to August - It’s also the main school holiday month. I’ve made a calendar of activities for my daughter, so we have a good choice of fun things to do, as the weeks stretch out in front of us. But part of me is also thinking about the parents who are very restricted in what they can plan, because of the endless appointments, or because their child is too sick to take part in anything very physical.
I’m making myself a promise this summer: I’m not going to complain about the length of the holidays, my daughter and her friends making a racket round the house or the rainy days that stop us from getting out and about. Our Super Brave children and their families have far more scary, unpleasant challenges in their Augusts. Compassion, happiness, optimism and confidence: those are the words going on my fridge to remind me how I want to be, and how I’d like my daughter and her friends to be also. If you’re reading this, or trying to read it, and your children (or someone else’s) are being rowdy in the background, spare a thought for the children who aren’t well enough to be rowdy, and whose parents would so love them to be.
Enjoy your summer, whatever you’re doing and one final thought: Perhaps there’s a way to harness all that school holiday energy into a project to raise money for us?
Take a look here for some ideas!