Friday will be the 13th birthday of my youngest daughter. Wow – three teenagers in the house! On most days, she does make me smile. She is ultra organized, focused and extremely reliable. 
If you’re a mom, you can relate to the wonderful feelings of watching your kids grow from snuggly babies through the middle school years and into teenagedom. As with most kids her age, she is navigating school, sports and social situations. The rise of social media has simply compounded the tough years of figuring out who you are and where you fit.
I’ve seen her growth in the way she uses our Fodeez® Adhesive Frames. She used to use some of my prototypes to “practice” her homework before committing to putting the answers on paper. She would carefully place a worksheet underneath the frame area, leaving the frame attached to the liner. She would then use dry erase markers to complete the homework and carefully check her work. Once she satisfied all of her answers were correct, she would transfer the work with a pencil to fill in the worksheet to be turned in at school. “This way,” she explained to me, “there aren’t any eraser marks.”
For every trade show or “Big” meeting I had, she would draw her cartoon monkey for me to take with me. At one point, I had used the same frame for a couple of years – rhinestone decorated and all! Not sure what happed to that original monkey at this point, but Emma is beyond the age of thinking that was my good luck charm. I still think of the monkey as good luck, so I still have her draw the monkey for me in some way for every trade show or HSN appearance.
Another milestone I no longer see is her drawings displayed on her closet doors. She was a very good gymnast, but had to end the sport when she suffered numerous severe injuries. While on crutches for the last serious injury, Emma decorated her closets with pencil drawings of animals – a good way to pass some time, and something she seemed to enjoy.
With her birthday party coming up in the next few days, I’m hoping she’ll still consider using our frames as ‘Thank You” notes, as we’ve done in the past. Each party attendee receives a customized frame with a group picture with a handwritten note on the back. We’ll see if the frames still meet the cool factor or if this is one more thing left behind back in her “kid” years.
