Many of you have heard about a new young buck on the golf scene named Jordan Spieth. Last month, Spieth claimed a prestigious, preppy green jacket of his own, at the age of 21, when he conquered Augusta. He even tied the all-time record for The Masters with his stunning score of 18 strokes under par.

Near as I can tell, Spieth’s reputation and his character seem to be stellar. Let’s hope this remains the case, so young people can continue to look up to this rockstar and admire him for his talents and his goodness.

Jack Nicklaus weighed in on Spieth:

 “I like everything about the young man. He’s polite. He’s humble. He handles himself so well, on and off the golf course. And he’s obviously a wonderful player and now a Masters champion. I think Jordan Spieth is a great person – just as I think Rory McIlroy is – to carry the mantle for the game of golf.”

Not a bad comment to receive from the most successful golfer who ever walked the earth, eh?

Another super-cool tidbit that I learned about Mr. Spieth is that, back in 2009, he received a scholarship through his high school’s work grant program. This newly-minted golf superhero took the time to write an authentic note of thanks to the scholarship donors to express his appreciation.

Not only did Spieth have the class to send the thank you note, but he also had vision; in his letter, he shared his dream to someday win the Masters. From a parent’s perspective, I think the lesson that we can impart to our children is twofold:

1.  Show gratitude for the opportunities that come your way.
2. Figure out what your dreams are and what you want out of life so you can go after it!

Gratitude and dreams – now those are two great concepts – so simple yet impactful…and positive!

So, Jordan Spieth, thank you for the inspiration and for being the gold standard of polish and class, on and off the links. While I may not guide my kids to perfectly duplicate your heavenly swing of irons (hey, it’s their call on what dreams they pursue), I can certainly share your playbook around taking the time to do the right thing, all while keeping focus on your goals!

Choose kind,
Leigh Ann

P.S. Want to help your kids make a habit out of expressing gratitude to those who gave them something to appreciate? Try Wear the Cape’s Gratitude-Strong Thank You Cards. Ten come in a pack, and they’re perfectly-suited to teach kids what gratitude is AND what it looks like in action. They even have wide-ruled lines to make writing a brief note easy. Order by clicking here.

Young entrepreneur, hero, and Cape Kid of the Month, Mairead Studdiford, presents the true meaning of being “Better Than That”

Everyday heroes are hard to come by in this day and age.  Childhood heroes are even more rare. However, “Cape Kids” are amongst us in the classroom, at sporting events, and even in our own neighborhoods. They are going the extra mile to make a difference and Wear the Cape/kidkind foundation believes that these wonderfully heroic kids deserve to be recognized. They become known as the Cape Kid of the Month. This month, we proudly honor Ms. Mairead Studdiford as our Cape Kid!

Mairead Studdiford is a bright and inspiring 13-year-old girl from Far Hills, New Jersey. Just three years ago, she founded Bay Head Boutique where the young entrepreneur began selling unique, designer jewelry to the people of the Bay Head, New Jersey community. However, her “go-getter “attitude and business-minded nature are just the foreshadowing qualities behind the true reason Mairead was selected as this month’s Cape Kid.

The founder of Wear the Cape, Leigh Ann Errico, met this young philanthropist while walking by her Bay Head Boutique stand during the summer of 2011, where they struck up a conversation and did business together. Leigh Ann was blown away by Mairead’s vision and ability to start a company and do some good for her community at such a young age.

This amazing, outgoing young lady has worked every summer for the past three years at her “pop-up” store to sell her unique, designer jewelry. She then selflessly donates her profit to various philanthropic foundations. “I consider myself an entrepreneur but I also have a strong sense of giving back to my community” says Mairead when asked to tell us about herself. In the first year of her store, she decided to give the proceeds of Bay Head Boutique to the Audubon Society. The Audubon Society subsequently built heron nests in Mairead’s name along the barrier islands of the Jersey Shore. Following the second successful year of the Boutique, Mairead donated her profits to Restore The Shore to help re-build the Jersey Shore due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. This summer, she plans on donating her proceeds to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to help support its research to cure childhood cancers. Mairead plans on expanding her market to the internet and is currently working on a website for the Bay Head Boutique.

Though the Bay Head Boutique has been Mairead’s most current heroic act, she has been “flying in her Cape” since the third grade. This was when she became the founder of COATS FOR KIDZ at The Peck School in Morristown, where she attends school. COATS FOR KIDZ is a donation outlet for her classmates to drop off their winter coats after they have done their spring cleaning. Mairead then delivers the collected coats to the Morristown Shelter for people in need. COATS FOR KIDZ has now been running for 5 years and has been an overwhelming success. More than 300 coats have been collected and the event has become a tradition at The Peck School every spring for Mairead to host and lead.

We at Wear the Cape are super proud of our newest member of our Cape Kid society. Mairead has graciously agreed to join our team as a member of the Junior Committee for the kidkind foundation and serve as an advisor to the founder and help guide our ongoing agenda of goodness. You can be sure that Mairead will continue to do great things, to choose kind. We could not be more inspired by this fine young lady. Congratulations Mairead.

I have a rather obsessive personality. All my Christmas shopping is done and wrapped in July. I have insanely-detailed lists for everything from my family’s daily schedule (did we remember to clip the kids’ nails?) to house repairs. I’ve even planned my entire funeral which may sound crazy, but I simply don’t want my husband or my kids to shoulder that burden when the time comes.

When I believe in something, it…is…ON.

About a year ago, the story of a 68-year-old bus monitor named Karen Klein being harassed by middle school boys splashed across nearly every newspaper in the country. Kids not only bully kids; they’re now bullying adults? “The world is just mean,” I thought. “Something has to be done.”

So, in a hormone-induced frenzy from my fourth round of childbirth in six years, I dreamed of a kinder, better world for my kids. In my house, we now call ‘that world’: Wear the Cape.

Wear the Cape is the idea that we are all everyday heroes, or at least capable of being heroes by doing the right thing, the kind thing, the helping and inclusive thing. It is the hope that we can teach our children the power of kindness and good character, making our communities better places to live.

I liked the idea of using apparel and gear to spread the word and transform attitudes: celebrating diversity, looking out for the underdog, practicing kindness, and being grateful. So, I tapped a very talented friend to design a t-shirt and drawstring backpack. If you check out the ‘Wear It’ button on the right-side of the screen you can see the Cape T-shirt (the cape always has got your back!).

Stay with me, as I swear this is more than just a shameless plug for you to buy a t-shirt or spend money. Each product comes with a Hero Tag. Hero Tags create teachable opportunities for parents to discuss character building while sharing the coolness of kind. They present different scenarios that will likely be encountered by our country’s youth and challenge that they be thought through – What’s the right thing to do here? What choice would best exemplify Wearing the Cape?

And even more, these t-shirts are key to Wear the Cape’s big plans for giving back. I’m committing to donate 10 percent of net proceeds for the sale of apparel and gear and 100 percent of the donations to the kidkind foundation that I’ve set up, because I want to be sure to do some cool things to help people who are living the Cape values and help kids around the country gain confidence in being “good people”. I’m not sure exactly what that looks like yet, but I welcome ideas.

When my kids come home from school or a play date, or they’re just hanging around each other, I now say to them, did you Wear the Cape today? Meaning, were you nice, did you use manners or did you help someone else today? Let’s hope they don’t get sick of me asking … as I believe Wear the Cape is me channeling my inner OCD in the best way possible.

Thanks for reading … I hope you’ll join the WtC movement, give me your thoughts on where Foundation proceeds should go (looking for lots of creative ideas!) and come back for more musings.