studio outside the home
"if you want to be an artist, a maker, a creator, or a fill in the blank, you have to be one with everything you have. it is not a job. it is who and what you are. it is your obsession. if you want people to be so obsessed with what you do that they are willing to pay anything for it, you sure as heck had better be over the edge, strung out on exhilaration, and obsessed with what you do." - KenT Youngstrom
Read More"I am a big fan of kids learning to play on their own. I often tell them I am not a circus clown and I can not entertain you all the time. We have plenty of moments and times that are just about us being together and doing family things, but I have to grab time and space where I can. I am always present, but I am a do-er and I find it hard to stop in the middle of things create activities. Luckily my children were raised this way and they get it, they get me, and we do our best to communicate that. It works most of the time." -Heather Chontos
Read More"My situation is unique since her mom and I aren't together as a nuclear family. So I lead two lives really, working artist in existential crisis and then rad dad mode. They are parallel but it doesn't mix in my situation when I have my daughter I'm in dad mode. My time with her needs to be extra special to me, This means my schedule needs to be flexible. I have no advice, I have no idea what I'm doing. My advice would be if your daughter asks to make the stuffed animal talk just make the thing talk because that's all she wants right now." - Mark Pernice
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"I really hate the idea of having a schedule, of doing the same thing at the same time every day, its death to me. But having a schedule has helped us, also keeping the house German level organized and clean and always doing dishes or laundry right away has really helped us keep our sanity at home. I have given up sleeping in, but she wakes up at 7am, that’s not too bad really. Also my husband and I divide tasks, we always know what we are supposed to do. When its his time to take care of her I let him do whatever he does. If I disagree when what he is feeding her, or how she spends her time I don’t say anything because I need time off, and also if I tell him what to do all the time he won’t learn for himself and I will just be constantly doing it all. That is for sure not going to happen, so I don’t micro manage, or I try not to." -Michelle Armas
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