We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristin Buchtel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristin below.

Hi Kristin, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Writing and Illustrating the Noteworthy Parenting book has been my most meaningful project.

Like many parents today, my husband and I felt the building anxiety as our oldest daughter approached middle school. We worried about her and the three siblings coming up behind her, the friends they would find, the pressure to conform they would experience, and the technological advancements we had little control over.

My husband and I discussed that peer pressure seemed to be the number one topic for our parents, however, today, especially in this rapidly changing technological and social era, the problems are more significant and evolving much faster. Parents are overwhelmed and exhausted.

Our solution, which we came up with while on a family road trip, was to plan for what we could. Create solutions for what we knew was coming. Set goals for things we wanted to accomplish as a family before the kids grew up and moved out. We started talking about what worried us the most and wrote down step-by-step ways of talking with and teaching our kids. We then used these notes to get on the same page and parent our kids the best way we knew. We had a plan! One that we created for our family that supported our values. We had to change it over time and update it as technology changed or new social issues came up, but it was a great road map for our family!

In the past, people could look at how they were raised and use those techniques and wisdom as a foundation for their parenting. The changes then happened much slower in the previous generations. Parents had time to think and sort out solutions.

Today, the changes move exponentially faster. Parents find themselves trying to keep up at work, at home, and with the kids. Mental health, bullying, sexuality, screen addiction, shootings, and the availability of pornography and drugs online are only a few examples parents today deal with on top of what parents of the past have had on their plates.

I decided to write and illustrate Noteworthy Parenting as a fun yet helpful book for parents to see how creating some plans for their parenting is just the tool to help during these difficult times for parents. The book is purposefully created to be a quick read, so they can start creating their own unique parenting roadmap that will help them, parent!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a mom to four adult kids and a grandma to two little ones! Living in Colorado, I love hiking, visiting the Denver Zoo, and a glass of wine outside on the patio.

When my kids were in elementary school, I returned to school to earn a Masters in Elementary Education. I then taught first grade and was a substitute teacher for ten years. Raising and working with children and parents in the school setting gave me a real sense of the heightened anxiety parents feel today. I felt it too!

During the years I taught, I would share the book full of parenting notes that my husband and I had written as people would mention their struggles and searches for parenting solutions, not that I had the answers for them, but it gave them a tool to use to think about how they could create and research tips for their unique parenting roadmap. Friends, co-workers, and others I shared the idea with loved it! They encouraged me to write a book for other parents, and I did!

I did not want Noteworthy Parenting to be like any other parenting book. It doesn’t tell people how to parent but instead empowers them to think ahead about rules, routines, consequences, and goals and get on the path by putting parents and the whole family on the same page. It eliminates a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach. It also suggests that parents seek out and use other parenting books, blogs, and other parents to help them find the best solutions for their style.

By adding the stick figure illustrations, I hoped to add a little humor and give the book a fun yet fruitful vibe. I share my parenting insights and mistakes along the way. I believe parenting is not about being perfect but about the power of a plan!

I hope that people will read the book, create their own plans, and see how powerful this tool is. When I speak to groups of parents, I encourage them to grab a pen and write in the book! Now is the time to begin! Who wants to look back at their kids’ high school graduation and realize they wish they would have done it all differently or missed the opportunity to do great and fun things as a family?

I am a passionate advocate for the parents of today! The book has won three EVVY awards through the Colorado Independent Publishing Association and a 2021 National Parent Product Award. I have been honored to write articles for Colorado Parent Magazine and discuss Noteworthy Parenting on many podcasts. I also enjoy creating content for parents on my blog!

My favorite part of creating this book and community is interacting with parents! Hearing their ideas and seeing them take off with a parenting plan! Join the conversation and share your parenting journey with us on Instagram and Facebook!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Supporting authors and creatives is as easy as participating in the community they have created for their audience.

Share their work, articles, art, and products in your broader community! Purchase their work and give it as a gift!

Writing reviews is critical but often overlooked as a free way to support your favorite author or artist. The reviews from customers often encourage others to follow or purchase items from a creator.

Include local authors in the community vendor fairs, or invite them to businesses, clubs, libraries, recreation centers, or school events to speak.

Reach out to them for donations to support local charity events and auctions.

Collaborate with them! Their work may be a fun addition to your dental waiting room table or PTA library.

Invite their creativity into a themed event for your business.

There are endless ways to support authors and creatives!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Yes!

I had no clue how to begin writing and illustrating my book. I knew what I wanted it to say and the vibe it should have, but I had no clue how to get to the end product.

Spending over a year on writing, re-writing, and practicing my drawing skills, I had a good skeleton manuscript but nowhere to go to help the book to publication. I also knew that reaching out to publishers was a long, tedious task that often ended in rejection. I was anxious to get my book out, so it could be helpful to parents as soon as possible.

Reaching out to a friend who works in a completely different area of publishing, she directed me to seek out independent publishing associations and writer’s groups.

WOW! That was the ticket!

I joined the Colorado Independent Publisher Association ( CIPA) and found a fantastic editor who led me to a company called My Word Publishing. Polly Letofsky, the owner of My Word Publishing, helped me with every tedious step. Her company continues to support authors with classes and retreats to help them publish their books!

Without these resources, which I never knew existed as I began my journey, I am still sitting on an unfinished manuscript today!

Contact Info:

• Website: NoteworthyParenting.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noteworthyparenting/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/NoteworthyParenting/