Moms and Kids

With Mother's Day coming soon, this week's blog theme is mother's and children. As a mother of four kids I feel truly blessed. I would love to take credit for what great adults they have grown up to be, but I think too often we take too much credit or too much blame depending on the situation. My kids have all worked hard to become who they are and while I did my best to provide encouragement and guidance, their successes are their own.

I picked this photo with David, my youngest, because Art Neko could never had come into existence without his tireless and patient efforts to set up and train me on how to maintain my website. In this photo he is helping me with an exhibit of cross stitch charts I made while in Japan. Yoko, standing at the right is also a very proud and doting mother. The small portrait next to me is of her son in full kimono in his 5th year of age which has a special celebration in Japan. Yoko had me enlarge and digitally chart that portrait and at the time we left Japan she had stitched about a quarter of her project. Talk about a mother's devotion!

This photo is about 14 years old and David here is now married and in his third year of graduate studies in math at MIT. I never could have started Art Neko without his gift to me of designing my website. Now if I could just get him to help with this blog.....Children, the gift that keeps giving (even after they leave home....)!

The week in which the 5th Day of the 5th Month falls (May 5th) includes several special days in Japan. Included in this weeks's post are projects relating to Children's Day (formerly Boy's Day) and Greenery Day, two of these special celebrations. As always, mention Art Neko Blog when you order any of the items featured this week for a 25% discount on those items.