Join the incredible mommy daughter duo, Carmen & Olivia Isaacs, as they talk about how they incorporate charitable giving into their family holiday traditions. Carmen gives us the most beautiful example of modeling to our children and how as parents we can empower our kids to utilize their strong will and gifts to bring light to the world. 

In this heartwarming episode you will learn:

1. Ways to engage in charitable giving this Christmas as a family
2. How to channel your child’s strong willed spirit for good
3. Simple ways to be a positive presence in the world

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Episode Highlights:

• Carmen & Olivia’s charitable journey
• Olivia’s work for Soles for Souls
• Olivia’s 4th Annual Fundraiser
• Modeling charitable behavior to your children
• Empowering kids to use their strong willed traits for good

Resources Mentioned:

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Not able to listen or want to read along with us?

Here is the episode transcript!

Wendy:
This episode is brought to you by the firm and kind parenting blueprint, a fresh start family program that will teach you four steps to setting strong limits and sticking to them with consistency and kind firmness. You can learn more at firmankindparentingblueprint.com.

Well, hello listeners. It is time for a new episode. I’m so happy that you’re here. I am your host, Wendy Snyder, positive parenting educator and family life coach. And I’m excited for you guys to listen to this one. It is with my dear friend, Carmen and her sweet daughter, Olivia, and we are talking about how we can empower our kids through charitable entrepreneurship.

Wendy:
And I think this one is really going to bless you because it’s a simple, really easy to listen to quick episode, but I think you’re going to hear how this mama who I just adore. I actually met Carmen way back in the day when I used to work in the corporate surf world. So I was in corporate America in the action sports industry for about 15 years before I became a positive parenting educator and family life coach, and Carmen and I were good friends back then. And I’ve just admired her over the years, how she’s mothered, how she’s really led her family and her heart is just giant. So she actually now works at the preschool where my mother-in-law goes to church and also a preschool that I’ve spoken at many, many times for our local mops groups who are local mothers of preschool or group.

Wendy:
I’d done a done a ton of speaking events over there. And so I just thought it would be really special to have Carmen on the show and to hear specifically from her daughter, what it’s like to have a mom who empowers you to use your personality, to use your strong will and your desire to lead and all that good stuff to actually have a mentor that teaches you how to use that for good, I felt would really inspire you guys. So I hope you enjoy this episode as always. You guys thank you for listening. Thank you for taking an extra three to five minutes to hop on over to iTunes and leave us a review. If you haven’t yet reviews, help us get seen in the iTunes world. And the more we are seeing in the iTunes world, the more we are able to serve and support and encourage families from all over the world while you’re there, make sure you hit like or follow the buttons over there have changed on iTunes.

Wendy:
So your button may no longer say subscribe. It actually may say follow now, which is cool. But while you’re there, just go ahead and push that button to make sure that you always get notified of our weekly episodes that we drop here at the Fresh Start Family Show, but mostly just know how much we appreciate every single one of you who listens to our show. We appreciate every single one of you who shares our episodes on social media and invites your friends, families to also listen. We’re just grateful for all of you. So without further ado, enjoy this episode.

Stella:
Well, Hey there, I’m Stella. Welcome to my mom and dad’s podcast. The fresh start family show. We’re so happy. You’re here. We’re inspired by the ocean, Jesus and rock and roll and believe deeply in the true power of loving kindness together. We hope to inspire you to expand your heart, learn new tools and strengthen your family. Enjoy the show.

Wendy:
Well, good morning listeners and welcome to a new episode of the Fresh Start Family Show. I am so excited to be here with my friends, Carmen and Olivia Isaacs, who are going to be talking to us today about empowerment through charity, entrepreneurship. Welcome Carmen and Olivia.

Carmen:
Thanks for having us.

Wendy:
And let me just say listeners, this is extra special because Olivia, are you nine now?

Olivia:
10.

Wendy: Olivia has gotten up super duper early on a Monday morning before she goes to school to record this with us. So you just get extra credit today already before you walk into school, miss Olivia. So thank you for being here. Sweet girl. You’re welcome. And Carmen, it’s so good to see you. Oh my gosh. So families, Carmen, and I go way back. We used to work together when I worked in the actually sports industry and Carmen, you were always just such a light. And I loved getting to know you back in those days. And we worked at surf shops together and, and just all the things. And now I’ve gotten to see you blossom into the most beautiful mother and just raise a beautiful, beautiful little girl.

Wendy:
And now you guys are doing some pretty special things in the world and you even went on. Do you still work at the preschool that I do some teaching at? Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. So Carmen, Burke’s at six year, their sixth year. That’s amazing. Yes. I’ve done some mops speaking at Swanee beach Presbyterian church and that’s just side of it. And my mother-in-law goes there too. So that’s yeah, it’s a great community. It is. That’s awesome. Okay. Well, let’s get right into it. We’re talking about empowerment through charity entrepreneurship and what this is, is really when I learned, I actually learned about this that you guys are doing.

Wendy:
I’m on the news Monday. I turned on the news. I love to watch the news when I’m making the kids breakfast. And I saw miss Olivia speaking about this, this charity work that you do every year around the holidays, and I texted your mom real quick. And I was like, oh my gosh, Carmen, this is amazing. We got to get you guys on the show. And then as I went on to talk to Carmen more, you know, I, I learned just how much you love this work, Olivia, and how much you feel filled up and to be in charge of this and to lead this as a parenting educator really stuck out to me as very, very special. So I’m going to give you the mic and I’m going to have you just tell us about this, what you’re doing, Olivia, what are you up to tell us a little bit about how this got started?

Wendy:
Why you like to do this and, and what you’re doing this year?

Olivia:
So this got started at when I was seven years old. We, me and my mom started fundraising for all sorts of non-profits. And the reason we started doing that is because I see my mom help day in and day out. People, just random people, no matter what people she doesn’t know or people she does. And that’s how we got started today. This year, we’re helping out soles for souls like we have in the past. And the date would be like October through December, because as that comes to December, people start trying to go get gifts and gifts, I guess.

Olivia:
So we’re trying to get through it, but we’d probably already like hit it off because we have a ton ton of stuff in our, in my mom’s back of the family.

Wendy:
I love it. And what end, what are you doing as far as like soles for souls? Tell us a little bit about the organization and tell us a little bit about what you do as far as, and the reason why I called this charity entrepreneurship is because Olivia, are you a, are you a girl, a young woman, a beautiful young girl who likes to be in charge sometimes. Do you like to lead? Do you like to, are you a little bit outgoing? Maybe? Are you a little bit like you like to, you like to do stuff? Like if you think of an idea you like to do it, is that you?

Olivia:
Yeah.

Wendy:
Okay. So tell us, tell us about the idea. I know it sounds like you, you got this idea because you see your mom modeling this to you. It’s so awesome. And then, so you get this idea and then tell us how you execute it. So here we are, you know, we’re in late summer and you have to execute on this plan. Tell us how that works and what you’re specifically doing for the soles for souls organization.

Olivia:
So soles for souls is a non-profit out of Tennessee. They help just people with, who use clothing, making their own businesses. So because they can’t go to school without shoes. So when we donate shoes or when it helps them have or be able to go to school. So that’s sort of..

Wendy:
I love It.

Olivia:
And we’re collecting clothes.

Wendy:
Awesome. And how do you get the word out about your collecting and where do you get these shoes?

Olivia:
So where we get the shoe from…So we walk around the neighborhood, our neighborhood, I have a flyer. I show them to, to the people and then they either can call us or they can give stuff to us right when we’re at their door. Cause that’s what some people have, or they can give checks, but this year we’re doing clothing, but we can take like a few shoes.

Wendy:
Nice. So it’s called soles for souls, but it’s clothing and shoes. And this year you’re collecting clothing.

Olivia:
Yeah.

Wendy:
Nice. And how do you decide what goes on the flyer? Do you hand out flyers or is it all verbal?

Olivia:
We are handing out flyers, but I don’t have them done yet, but we will have them done.

Wendy:
That’s okay. But I like it, but you get to decide what goes on the flyers. You get to design, you know, decide on the timeline together with your mom’s support. Of course. Okay. So Olivia, I have a question for you. So when it comes to you have these big ideas and you’re like, Hey mom, what if we like do this charity thing? What if we go collect things? I want to be just like you mom, I want to, I want to help people and I want to do it in this way. And your mom looked at you and she was like, okay, cool. Let’s do it. I’m here to support you. Was that cool for you? What, what did that, what did that mean for you? What did that feel like?

Olivia:
It meant a lot, it was really cherishing in my heart because as I said before, not many parents get to help out their children because either they’re busy or they just don’t really want to. So it’s very kind for my mom to do that.

Wendy:
Oh, it’s amazing. It’s amazing. And she can see that you’re such a good leader and you have great ideas and you’re willing to do the work and, and get outside of the box and help people. And it’s just absolutely awesome. Olivia. So tell listeners where they can find out and if they want to get in touch with you, whether it’s a San Diego family or, you know, maybe, you know, we have listeners all over the world. If they just want to support you and what you’re doing and this organization tell us how they can get a hold of you.

Olivia:
We can give a flyer to them or with the number on the bottom or they can call us.

Wendy:
I love it. And we will make sure we put that flyer once you have it done, Olivia, we’ll put it on our show notes page for this episode. So listeners, if you love to hearing about what Olivia is doing and you want to be part of her nonprofit charity, you know, this movement this year, please go to the show notes page and you can find out how to contact her. You can, if you’re not local here in San Diego, it sounds like you can give a monetary donation. But if you are here in San Diego or north county, San Diego, it sounds like, you know, shoes and clothes would be a wonderful way to help. Well, Hey there families, I’m pausing this episode to tell you about a very special offer we have this month to celebrate small business Saturday here in America.

Wendy:
The weekend after Thanksgiving is when a lot of families take time to intentionally plan out and purchase holiday gifts for their loved ones and sneak in a present or two for themselves because remember parents, self care is smart, not selfish. We deserve a little treat here and there just as much as our kids do, especially when it comes to education. So now through Saturday, November 27th, at midnight Pacific, you can grab any of our bundles or a private session with me, yours truly for 50% off, just head on over to the Fresh Start Family shop page by clicking freshstartfamilyonline.com and click the shop tab tab at the top.

Wendy:
You’ll see our bundles listed there as well as private session info. Just enter the code SMALL50 at checkout to save 50% on any of our lesson bundles or a private session with me. Some of our most popular lesson bundles include the more cooperation and listening to day lesson bundle, which includes a fantastic pack of four lessons or one of the other most popular lesson bundles includes the helping siblings get along bundle. There’s also the effective grace based discipline lesson bundle as well as the rules plus relationship equals respect bundle and the how to be a cool calm parent lesson bundle.

Wendy:
So just remember this offer is only good through November 27th at midnight Pacific. When the coupon code SMALL50 will expire. Happy Thanksgiving month. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting Fresh Start Family. We are a family run small business with a tiny but mighty team who cares deeply about the families we serve around the world. When you support us through any purchase, you are also supporting the families of our staff, including four coaches, a bonfire community manager, a programs director, and six contractors. When you invest in your family with our programs, please know how grateful we are. Thanks for celebrating small business Saturday with us and congrats on scoring such a great deal.

Wendy:
Okay. Back to the show. So Olivia, I love it. And let’s see, I want to ask you one more question. Tell me what in the end, when, when Christmas comes and you are sitting on Christmas morning and you have your presents in front of you, and you also know that you’ve spent the last few weeks, last few months, really helping others in this capacity. How does that feel for you? Wow.

Olivia:
I feel like I earned the presents, not just, oh, I got presents. Yay. They’re all mine. Because Christmas time and even in general, it isn’t about getting it’s about giving. So I think since I would be working a lot on my non-profit with my mom, I would think I would be able to earn those presents.

Wendy:
Oh, I love it. Yes. Yes. It’s so beautiful. Well, sweet girl. Thank you so much for telling us about all this wonderful work you’re doing. I’m going to chat with mom a little bit more where you get you ready? You get ready for school, but it was so fun having you on the show. Olivia, thank you so much for everything that you’re doing. I can’t wait for all of our listeners to be able to learn a little bit more about soles for souls, and then also help them through you guys this year. And I also hope listeners, if there’s any kids listening, is there anything you want to say to them, Olivia, because hopefully this will be an episode that kids can listen to also to get excited about doing something and being in charge of something that, that feels good and makes a difference in the world.

Wendy:
So any messages for the kids listening right now?

Olivia:
I think that if any kids are listening, even for the parents, because they can make a big impact, no matter what, you can go helping anybody. And it makes you feel really, really good, like inside. You’re not just like, oh, I’m going to go rake someone’s garden. And I won’t do that for a year. Again. It makes you feel good inside and it makes you feel like I want to do that again. Like helping out is really fun.

Wendy:
Oh, I love it. Well, so cool, Olivia. Well, thank you so much for being here and I hope you have a great to at school and I’m going to chat with mom for a little bit now. Hi. Oh my gosh. I just adore her so much. So listeners, we ran into Carmen and Olivia at a pizza place last weekend and it was so cute because as we were hanging out with you guys and we got to Olivia’s vibrant personality, as we pulled away, Terry said, she reminds me so much of Stella at that age.

Wendy:
And what’s so cool, carmen is, as I’ve heard about you supporting your sweet girl through this work and through this kind of teamwork effort that you guys do together, every fall, every winter, it just really did bring up so many memories of how much Stella loved to put big ideas into play. So when she was little, she would, you know, anything from selling rocks out front to having like a drive-through. She had many, many drive-throughs where she would sell hotdogs and hamburgers out front and neighbors would always come and support her. And you know, I was sometimes I’d be like, okay, okay. Maybe, and daddy was always the one that was like, sure, you want to have a drive through today.

Wendy:
I’m not going to watch football. I’ll come sit out there and I’ll grill some hamburgers, hot dogs. So you can have this little business. And she did that so many times over the years, but she would have these big ideas. And now that Stella is almost 14 years old and thriving in life as a power kid. Right. Cause you know, my stories like when she was, when she was little, it was, she had the strongest will and watching her move, you know, grow up and being able to support her in this capacity, in this kind of like when she had a big idea, we were like, cool, you’re in charge. What do you want to do? We’re here to support you. Almost you call the shots, I think was one of the reasons why she was able to like develop in this healthy way and not, you don’t know what to do with that desire to feel powerful.

Wendy:
So is that, do you feel like Olivia has had that? I think you’ve told me that right. That Olivia has had that beautiful, strong whale and that beautiful like drive and need to feel powerful since she was little. Is that right?

Carmen:
Oh, definitely. Olivia has always been super outgoing. You know, we laugh that she came into the world having a discussion with the doctors that she was not happy about the delivery, but she does. She is really always positive when she has ideas. And you know, when she wants to take something new on she’s really like, I’ve been blessed to have that. She takes it on very positively and with a smile on her face, you know, we, we do a lot to help other people, just, we have a lady in the neighborhood who is a little older and we help her with her dog.

Carmen:
And there’s never a complaint. Anytime we’ve done our fundraisers, you know, I’ve said, this is kind of the deadline we have. And if you want to do it, I, you know, I would love to keep going on with our tradition. But if you’re not, if you’re not feeling it, then I don’t to push it. And once we get in, you know, we will go on different days, but we’ll be out walking, kind of canvassing our neighborhood for two and three hours at a time. And she’s always excited. And she talks to all the neighbors when we bring their doorbells with, you know, a smile and with compassion and just excitement for what we’re doing.

Carmen:
She sat two years ago when we were doing, we actually did soles for souls a couple of years ago, we collected shoes that time she went and presented to 16 of her peers of the student council. And there were a couple of teachers also in the classroom and for being in third grade to speak in front of all those people with confidence is amazing. And you know, I’m just so proud of, of so proud of all of that. And also it just makes my heart so happy.

Wendy:
Oh yes, I can imagine. And it’s so nice to have something to funnel that energy and that drive into because there, I mean, obviously Livia is a normal little girl. You’re a normal little mom. So there has probably been seasons, right. Where you’re like, gosh, this is, there is some strength here that if she doesn’t want to put on her shoes or if she doesn’t want to eat her vegetables or she decides she wants to do things a certain way has, has there been times when you’re like, gosh, this isn’t, this is intense to parent.

Carmen:
Oh, for sure. I mean, we’re both pretty strong-willed, you know, it’s all about trying to learn to take a deep breath and walk away and, and come back with a better frame of mind.

Wendy:
Yes. And yes. And like it, and again, listeners, I want you to understand that this is an example of how you can funnel those gifts that will show up. If there is a strong will behind somebody that they don’t want to do or that they do want to do that isn’t necessarily appropriate that you need to set a boundary on. But yes, there will be those sometimes those difficult situations or those difficult seasons. However, this is the payoff. This is where those type of personalities thrive. And if you can find an outlet like Carmen has done for Olivia, it will help these little human souls thrive. It will be able to show them like this is where that strong drive and that, that unwillingness to give up on something.

Wendy:
This is where you want to funnel that little one. And it’s just so cool to watch you supporting her with that.

Carmen:
Yeah. Thank you.

Wendy:
Yes. And also I want to say, you know, it’s just inspiring to watch you Carmen, with the modeling. So listeners, as, as you hear Olivia speak, you know, she said it right at the beginning, but she wanted to do this because she looks up to her mom and like my gosh, that, that right there is just like to, to be just like you, right? To, to look up to someone who is modeling this. And, and I bet you carbon there. If we sat down and made a list of the things that you have modeled to your little girl over the last decade, as far as helping others, it is consistent. And it is from the heart. And whether it’s a neighbor or someone at school or the work you do at the preschool, you are consistently modeling for your little girl that there is joy to be found in helping others.

Wendy:
And that’s how this little girl learned that she did not learn this necessarily from you telling her, Hey, it’s Christmas time. You know, this is what we have to do. And give Christmas is about giving, not getting like I know from just knowing you and, and you tell, you teach her that too, of course, but it’s backed up by modeling. And that’s why I think she has soaked us up so much is because that’s where like true respect comes from when a child looks at their parent and says, I want to be just like you, not because you make me do this in order to earn my presence, but because you live like this every single day and I can see how that brings you joy mom, I can see why when we go to the neighbor’s house and help the elderly woman with a dog like that, that is a way to feel powerful.

Wendy:
Helping others is a way to feel powerful. And I think, however, we can find ways to help these type of personality kids, which Stella’s exactly is, how to feel powerful and do it in a way that also helps others is like a double whammy. It’s just so good. Oh, well,

Carmen:
Especially, you know, in our world today, it’s just, it, there’s so many things coming at you as a parent and just to be out and walking and talking to people and you know, she’s received so many compliments that she can engage with adults in conversation, you know, because she’s not on a cell phone or on an iPad. And it’s very much we’re face-to-face with people. And I think that will also with her personality, take her so far to be able to express in a nice way what she wants, because she is pretty direct.

Carmen:
She can be very direct. So it’s teaching her that as well, just by engaging with people.

Wendy:
So good. Did, did she ever get, has she ever gotten in trouble for class for like talking too much?

Carmen:
Yes.

Wendy:
Yes. Okay. Again, this is a way you funnel that God given beautiful personality, being very social and say, Hey, so in class, obviously I need to teach you like how we can have self-control in class. However, kiddo here is where I’m going to, you get to talk as much as you want. Like knock, knock, knock, good morning, knock, knock, knock, good morning. Get up on stage. Talk to all your classmates when you have the mic. But like, yeah. It’s like, there’s always two sides of this, right? I think parents can, can think, oh my gosh, my kid keeps getting in trouble for talking in class. Well, where can you take that desire to be that social leadership type of personality and funnel it into something that, that brings good into the world.

Wendy:
And then again, you’ve done that. Question. Families. Would you love to be able to set strong limits with your kiddos and stick to those strong limits and boundaries with firmness and kindness and effectiveness? Heck yes. I know we all want that in our parenting lives. And I also know that it can be tricky at times to find that middle ground between too firm and too kind, that’s why I’ve created an affordable, very easy to finish program called the firm and kind parenting blueprint that will teach you a magical four step process that you can use to set strong boundaries and then actually follow through with consistency and do it in a way where you are not relying on threats and intimidation or bribery and rewards.

Wendy:
So you can find out more information over at firmandkindparentingblueprint.com. I cannot wait to support you inside of this program. So, so good. And yes, there are so many things right now, right? That you could focus on is the news or people fighting or whatever. I, it’s just such a joy to like bring this type of story to our listeners because anybody can do this. That’s the thing. Anybody can do this for a few years back when our kids were little, you know, we, we used to like collect canned goods around the neighborhood.

Wendy:
And at the time we had a Tacoma, so we would put the tailgate down and the kids just thought it was like the most fun thing to do with, to ride in the back, you know, like really go slow around the neighborhood. And they would hop out and be in charge of like collecting the bags. But there’s so many different ways you can do this. And if your kids are into it listeners, then you know, maybe you have some suggestions Carmen about like how to start or how to like support your children. But really this is like someone, any something anybody can do, especially now that there’s so many online organizations like you don’t even have to collect physical products. If you don’t want, it could be a monetary donation to an organization, but you still go door to door.

Wendy:
And, and if, you know, we know, obviously we’re in a tough season of COVID, but you could obviously stand way back, knock back and then stay at stand way back. But maybe just, is there any words of encouragement? If you have a family who’s like, oh, I want to do that. But that seems like a lot of work. Like how would we get started or whatever in their, in their own neighborhood with their children. Yeah.

Carmen:
You know, the biggest thing when Olivia and I started was, I said, let’s first off, pick something. That’s a 401 C3 so that if somebody does give a monetary donation, they can get a receipt. So it’s legitimate. But the other was, I wanted her to pick something that was going to be successful for her. So gently used clothing. Everybody has something in their closet that they could go and pick that they could get rid of. Even if it were a couple of items, just to make her feel that we, you know, were receiving items. We did Rancho Coastal Humane Society one year, you know, most everybody knows Rancho Coastal.

Carmen:
They’re huge in our community. And so many people love animals. So that was something that really was close to a lot of our neighbors hearts, which we would find out stories, how many dogs they’ve rescued from Rancho, coastal. So it was something that let’s make it where our neighbors, because we do have a lot of elderly in our neighborhood where it’s something that they don’t feel they have to go shopping for, or they could just pull something out of their closet. We did blankets for the, for the shelter. So just something that’s obtainable and accessible for, you know, a wide range of ages.

Carmen:
And that way it’s successful for when Olivia is trying to collect items.

Wendy:
Oh, that’s such a good idea. Yeah. Those are really, really good tips.

Carmen:
Yeah. And it works. Yeah. Everybody, you know, nine out of 10 doors we knocked on, people would call or leave bags out for us to pick up. So it was, it’s always been and now they’re, so now, now they know our face. So it’s becoming, you know, after four years of doing this, everybody’s getting to know us. And that’s the other neat thing is how many of our neighbors, because our neighborhood is really big, but how many people we’ve gotten to know on a more personal level. And when we see him, you know, you say hello. So it really brings your neighborhood together as well.

Wendy:
That’s so cool. And I’m even like thinking of how many ideas, if you’re listening and you’re like, well, we’re not really the door knocking type of people. I’m a door knocker. Like Stella’s a door knocker when she was, So again, one of the benefits of the strong-willed personality, the go getter, the, I want to lead, I want to feel powerful. I want to be on stages. I have a voice. I have a message. I have an idea of one of the benefits of that personality. And I don’t know if you’ve seen this in Olivia too, but the fundraising efforts, when it comes to her elementary school, Stella was on fire. She won like, I think two or three years in a row of like the fundraisers for the jog-a-thon.

Wendy:
She would go and knock, knock, knock, good morning. My name is Stella Snyder. I’m collecting money from science, arts and physical education. And it was just like, that was a benefit, right? Like it always, sometimes it would feel like a hindrance that personality, when you’re just like, please just put on your shoes. But when it in that, but maybe there’s some, some people listening or not door knockers, you could, you could go set up outside of a normal local cafe and just have a little sign that says, Hey, you know, here’s, here’s our information. Or, you know, we’re taking monetary donations. Like there’s so many different creative ways to do this.

Wendy:
Especially if a parent is willing to sit down and engage their kids’ critical thinking skills and say, what would you want to do? What is your ideas? Because I think that is what really excited me so much. I mean, I love how much you guys are helping others. I just love the empowerment piece of like, how you’re like, okay, how are we going to do this? Olivia, like you’re, you’re, I’m here of course, to like, keep it within, like for sure, I’m here as the parents and I’m going to make a lot of decisions, but you’re looking to her, you’re engaging or you’re asking her, how do you want to do this? Where do you want to set up what, how you want to scope the neighborhood or whatever it is. And if a family sat down with their kids to do that, I think it could just be incredible again, to pour into that power bucket that need to feel powerful.

Carmen:
Yeah, absolutely. And I think they enjoy, you know, cause her and I like when she does her flyer, we sit and we discuss ideas and I have her do the artwork so that it’s coming from her, but there’s a us engaging and, and working together to, to complete that task. And I think kids, I mean, parents are so busy understandably, but I think kids, it really warms their heart that their parents are sitting and engaging with them.

Wendy:
Yes. And she, and she said that she said that in, you know, that’s so sweet. Yes. And it’s one of those activities too, that you can like really relinquish some control. Right? Like for a flyer, it’s like, it’s not the end. Like even if they were, if they were to really push, like, this happened a few times with Stella, she would have like band tryout, flyers or something when she was like drumming a ton and she would really want to put something on there. And you know, we, I I’d have a tendency to be like, I’m not sure. Like, I don’t know if they’re going to, like, people are gonna understand that, like if a kid is seeing this flyer, but she’d be like, no, I’m going to put that. And it, and in the end I’d be like, okay, cool.

Wendy:
Because it didn’t matter. Like it didn’t, there was, there was some control you could let go of of course, like if you’re like, Hey, we don’t want our address on there. You can. That’s a hard, no, but there’s other things that you’re like, you can just let them ha want to do it. And you’d be like, I would do it differently. And then be like, but it’s your thing. You go with it, you know?

Carmen:
Yeah. Pick your battles. As my mom always said

Wendy:
Yes, yes. And find opportunities to really lose them in like in a way that does not matter. And you’re like, cool. This is yours. This is totally yours.

Carmen:
Absolutely.

Wendy:
Awesome. Well, Carmen, I just love you. I love Olivia. She’s such a light and you really, really inspire me as a mom. I’m so grateful that you are doing this in our community. And I cannot wait to find some stuff to donate to you guys this year to make this hopefully the most successful fundraiser you guys have ever done. I mean, everybody needs some light right now. Gosh, there is quite some darkness in the world right now. So to know that you and Olivia are out there bringing light to just to the world and to communities is just so inspiring. And I know that there are going to be so many kids and parents who are now going to do the same thing after listening to this.

Wendy:
So thank you for spending your Monday morning with me.

Carmen:
Yeah. It’s very, very special for us. We were so excited and you know, you’re a huge, positive presence every day. I mean, I just enjoy all of your podcast and thank you for having us. Thank you for reaching out.

Wendy:
You’re welcome. And I was just happy I was able to book you. I thought I’m going to reach out and they’re going to be booked solid on all the news. They’re going to have no availability. You see you, you slip me into your schedule. So thank you. I think you guys just have the best day and listeners go find out about what Carmen and Olivia are doing and yeah. Thanks for inspiring us.

Carmen:
Thank you Wendy you have a great day

Wendy:
For links and more information about everything we talked about during today’s episode, head to freshstartfamilyonline.com/104

Stella:
For more information, go to freshstartfamilyonline.com. Thanks for listening. Families have a great day.

Wendy:
Well, Hey there families. If you loved this episode today and want to jump in to one of our fresh start family programs, I cannot recommend our firm and kind parenting blueprint as a starting point, highly enough. So head to firmandkindparentingblueprint.com, and you can learn all about this simple affordable program that will get you started with learning our four steps to setting strong limits and sticking to them with consistency today.