It’s the holidays and many parents are talking to their children about manners. You eat what is put in front of you. You say please and wait to be excused. You say thank you even if you are a seven-year-old boy whose great grandmother has knit a striped primary-colored sweater for you to open on Christmas Day.
Mahomet resident Stephanie Davenport shares her story, “Manners Mishap” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Christmas to help parents understand, despite their best efforts to manage everything, sometimes kids will go off script.
“Moms are under so much pressure right now to put on the “Jane Clever” front and have everything be so perfect,” Davenport said. My personal moral of the story is it’s all okay. My kids played in the dirt, ate GMO’s and had McDonald’s because a lot of my time raising them was on my own. You do the best you can. And it turns out okay. You want to control everything, but you can’t.”
Davenport, a four-time contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul, said she didn’t know much about the series before her writing mentor Diane Matthews encouraged her to find places to submit her work.
“I’ve fallen in love with them,” she said. “Their mission is to change lives one story at a time. They are always positive, encouraging and inspiring.”
After a car accident on Interstate 74 that left Davenport with a brain injury seven years ago, she decided “stop wearing a mask” and to follow her writing passion by sharing stories.
“It was a turning point in my life,” she said. “In the years past I was striving, trying to find my purpose. I think everyone is wondering what they should be when they grow up. I don’t know if we ever figure that out, really.I’ve done a lot of different things over the years, and I’ve found that when I focus on that inspirational, positive kind of feel, that seems to be where I fit best.”
While she still works a full-time at AgriNews, Davenport is also writing a memoir about stepping out from behind the mask to become her authentic self. She also spends time helping others find their voice, too.
“I like to pull that out of other people and highlight other people’s gifts and their strengths and positivity, too. I like to see people’s beauty and art and creativity.”
With writing and marketing workshops alongside mentoring local authors, Davenport gives those striving to get published advice and accountability to realize their dreams.
“Everyone has a story and words themselves are so powerful,” she said. “We all read books that change our lives. You get to the end and have a book hangover because it was so good. I looked at all the things I’ve done over the years and I knew that if I could focus, I could help others make a difference in someone else’s life, too.”
Davenport suggests that creative people need to have a plan to get realize their dreams amongst raising kids and having jobs. But a creative’s plan may not be as rigid as some may think.
“For a creative person, you have to have a little plan, but you also have to have some fun,” she said. “That’s where I think mixing up different creative stuff works really well for me. I really like to paint or garden. I think sometimes, ‘I’ve got to do my book.’ But as soon as I get like that, it doesn’t happen. When I let go of that and do something else, then ‘Boom!’ here comes an idea.
That process of letting go of control so that the good stuff can happen not only changed the way she looks at parenting, but also the way the Davenport family approached Christmas this year. With her two children out on their own now, and with book signings throughout November and December, it was hard to arrange a time to put the Christmas tree up.
And while the Davenports usually wait until the Christmas date is closer, they realized a few weeks before Thanksgiving was the only time they would be able to get together to decorate. So, they did.
“It was so great to do that together,” she said.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Christmas was released on October 20 and is now available where books are sold….or Amazon.
