The Importance of a Role Model

20 Weeks, 2 days

Let me start off by saying last night Griffin felt Piper move for the first time. It was pretty wonderful for both of us, maybe for Piper too. I have been feeling her moving for quite some time and I always mention it to Griffin when she is particularly active. Last night while were were watching Nip/Tuck (we don't have cable or satellite - the only TV watching we do is on DVD and only at night) Piper was rolling around after I finished eating. I said "Piper says 'Hi' ". Griffin then rested his hand on by belly to feel her for the first time. Within 5 minutes we both felt her bump. He really looked shocked, happy, ecstatic. I think he is starting to feel more secure that the pregnancy will actually going to term.

On to the Importance of a Role Model. I knew from many pregnancies ago that the nursery would need a 'theme'. My wonderful mother-in-law had brought it up from time to time and I know she wants to have a baby shower for us. I love animals, art, nature, simplicity and classic literature. Although a lot of my art tends to be funny, weird and sometimes disturbing, I also love beautiful, classic watercolors and struggle to work in the medium as my mind pictures it.

Since I was a young child I loved to draw and paint animals: my pets, animals I saw outside and those in books. Griffin and I watched the movie Miss Potter last year and I fell in love. I brought it in to show my students. They had mixed reactions. I taught them to work with ink and watercolor just as Beatrix Potter had. Last year wasn't a huge success, but I did the same lesson again this year with wonderful results. I didn't get to show them the movie - but I will. I just taught them the technique. I did talk about Beatrix Potter and her life. I realized that I saw her as a wonderful role model as an artist, writer, and woman.

There aren't a lot of role models for young women these days. Not the type that I would want my daughter to emulate, but Beatrix Potter is a perfect exception. Okay, so she died in 1943, but her life, her work and her ambition are something to be admired.

She was an amazing artist who started drawing at a young age. Her love of animals flowed into her art, just as mine had when I was a child. She was a clever writer with an amazing imagination and her books are still loved around the world. I believe they are the best selling children's books ever. She was an intelligent, passionate, self-made woman that was strong and courageous. She defied society's rules to live life as she chose. Her life was filled with joy and pain and triumph. She was a naturalist and environmentalist. She had her 4000 acre farm donated to the National Trust in England to help retain unspoiled, undeveloped land the UK. Really, there isn't much I don't admire about her.

So when it came to choosing a theme for our nursery, it came to me at once - Beatrix Potter. I will enjoy reading the stories to Piper, and then teaching her to love animals and to draw and paint them. And I will, in time, teach her about what it means to be a strong young woman with a good role model. like Miss Potter.