Blog Posts by Gina von

I think we always hope that our children will be the better version of who we are. While we dream that they are a somewhat recognizable copy, and that the core of their footprint in life is attributable to their upbringing, the desire to have them be all that they can be, and then some, is the universal parental hope.

The two questions I am often found asking myself are:

- Do my childhood dreams effect my parenting regardless of my children's gender?

- Do I feel that my childhood dreams should also be their dreams?'

For example, as a girl scout in my youth, a soccer player in my pre-teen years, and a cheerleader in my teens- 'do I hope that my daughter will follow in my path?' Not necessarily, those were different times, with fewer social activities; I opted in because they were available. What I do think I can pass along are those activities that are core to each of the activities; girl scouts inspired the ability to set and achieve goals; soccer taught team work

Combustible generosity

It's a single act of kindness that can change the course of events. It's our ability to be empathetic that separates us from other creatures. But when you are challenged with the duty of deliberately doing acts of kindness for random strangers, you are put in the position of a good will stalker. This holiday season, Yahoo! launched its "How Good Grows" campaign to inspire millions of people in the global Yahoo! community to change the world together through random acts of kindness. The goal: to create a ripple of generosity that combusts this holiday season along the lines of the butterfly effect. For such a simple and genuine quest I felt a daunting sense of awe. How does one select one person over another to help or is it more about the element of bestowing a kind surprise? I was conflicted about how to tackle this 'giving' project and I was stunned to think that a global company would have the vision to do something that didn't point directly to its