Rex & Co. (fka Laura Bo Creative)

Tag: societal pressures

  • Undefined – Fear of Labels – part 1

    Undefined – Fear of Labels – part 1

    Context. Interpretation. Understanding. Judgement. Acceptance. Definition. Perspective. Experience. Knowledge. Algorithm. Rabbit Hole. Blinders.

    “What do you do?” is a common conversational question, it can have a variety of meanings, depending on the context of the question, the tone of the questioner, and the perception of all parties involved.

    I do a lot of things. Don’t label me. Don’t put me in a box. Don’t assume you know me based on anything.

    Are you an artist? sometimes. Are you a parent? Yes. Do you work? yes. What kind of work do you do? can you be more specific?

    I can’t take a compliment, because I wasn’t raised receiving them.

    It’s different now. I finally reached a point of realization, a place of knowing that I can’t control what anyone thinks of me, and I was never here to be approved. I know myself, I know who I am, I know what I like, I know what I am good at, I know my strengths and weaknesses. I am not here to be tolerated.

    To be continued….

  • Dear Parents – part deux

    Dear Parents – part deux

    The following was an email sent to the parent community at my kids school.

    Hi Parents & Friends!

    Laura Rex, back again with some updates, ideas and general thoughts.

    It’s a new year and for me personally it has been an absolute dumpster fire so far. If we haven’t gotten to know each other yet, that’s cool. There is always time. For those of you I have gotten to know, I appreciate you. We might not be cut from the same cloth, but everyone loves a good quilt. 
    Now let’s get some of the admin and reminders out of the way👍

    It’s Tuesday, and the 2nd Tuesday of every month is FAMILY NIGHT at The Seneca. After lots of chats with different folks, I am stoked to share that Family Night is becoming a weekly, we are adding a VCR for that nostalgic 📼 VHS goodness, and revamping some of the deals. Hope to see you there 🎉 


    The 2nd Annual *school* Auction will take place April 7-13 2025, and we need help with sourcing and collecting donations — There is a quick survey HERE for preferences and auction ideas, do me a favor please and check it out. If you have an idea, we want it! Want to promote your business, let’s do it! Know someone who might be interested, let us know!

    In Other News:  THANK YOU to everyone who donated to the parent fund. Back in November I used one of my awkward tokens to ask the community for a monthly contribution ($5/month was the suggestion), and I was blown away at the response. We raised $1100 collectively! ROUND OF APPLAUSE. 

    The $ will be covering the following: All teacher appreciation initiatives, Special events & Supplies (Holiday party, Spring Picnic, Moving Up Ceremony, etc), Ideas have been floated about Leaving a cushion for the crew next year to get started, or donating the leftovers to fundraising, Insert your COOL idea here (but really in the form I will share soon). 

    Let’s Be Real. Hi I’m Laura. 


    I believe that transparency is the best policy – so for me you get what you get at all times, in all places. I have ADHD, I’m on the spectrum somewhere, I am awkward, often loud, brutally honest, filled with love, ideas, and questions. I ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS. I use “curse” words regularly, and I do my best to not offend people, but I’m generally an unfiltered person. If you have met me, you’ve probably seen me cry (no shame here). 

    In 2024, the Surgeon General issued an advisory related to parenting, so if you are feeling alone in how stressful this shit is, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! 

    We were all people before we were parents. Parenting is fucking hard, and it has recently come to my attention that many of us have been looking for a village, a friend, or literally any type of connection — So let’s connect! 

    Please don’t mistake this for me expecting everyone to be my “friend”, but some of y’all peaked in high school and it shows. If I am not your cup of tea, no harm, no foul. You just keep doing you. However if you’d like to have tea or coffee, vent, rant, walk, etc. I’m looking at hosting it on Friday mornings after drop-off after break. 

    THE FUTURE IN 2025:

    In an effort to not exhaust myself yet again, or “over promise and under deliver” by attempting to do ALL of the things, I have put together a brief list of ideas, events, initiatives, etc. If something resonates, let’s find a way. Throw your expectations and assumptions out the window. I’m here for it. 

    Clothing Swap – As Springtime quickly approaches and everyone starts thinking about “spring cleaning”, a number of folks have communicated an interest in participating in a clothing swap. 

    School Retreat/Vaca takeover – Aiming for Spring break dates. More info coming soon. 

    Community Cookbook – I attempted this last year, made it WAY too complicated, and it got lost in the shuffle when the timing lined up with the auction, spring picnic, and the chaos of life. The goal was to create a communal resource of recipes and meals that our kids and families love, that are easy. We had a decent amount of responses, and I would love to share them with current, past and future families. 

    Parents Night Out Rotation – With coordination and communication, I’d love to explore giving parents a break for personal time, date night, or whatever TF you want to do with your time, while simultaneously fostering connections of the kids.

    Next week, you can expect another update/reminder about all of the things. Feel free to text me at any time, or shoot me an email  with your thoughts, questions, feelings, no matter how weird or silly they may seem. 

    Thanks for coming to my REX TALK – hope to see you out and about. 

  • What Makes A Good Parent?

    In the midst of my increasingly ugly divorce with my soon to be ex-husband we continue to “disagree” on some seemingly universal basics. Now while some of you may be thinking — just don’t talk to him. Move out. Be the bigger person. Please kindly and disrespectfully fuck off. Three years of silence and being the bigger person got me here to this exact point.

    So after a quick google search of “what makes a good father?” for the comic relief, followed by the same search of “what makes a good mother?” it has occured to me that society in this country is FUCKED. (As if we didn’t already know this.)

    Below are the two images of the top things listed for each search as prepared by google.

    As noted these were compiled from various sources across the web. WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK THOUGH?

    *Please note I am fully aware of what MY definition of a good parent is on both sides. We will get to that.

    Can we just talk about the apologize when necessary first?

    To be continued….

  • Stop being so polite..

    Stop being so polite..

    Stop being so polite, and try being honest.

    It has recently come to my attention, awareness, or top of mind that I often find myself surrounded by a bunch of people so worried about offending someone, that nobody wants to say anything at all.

    Enough with the judgement, can we try to lead with curiosity?

    Come from a place of understanding, or wanting to understand. Enough with the judgements, the assumptions, the snarky passive-aggressive bullshit.

    Say what you mean and mean it.

  • Dear Parents,

    Dear Parents,

    Last night at Family Night I watched a little girl be inherently mean to my kid, over and over. My kid is 3. In an effort to let her “handle” the situation on her own, I would check in periodically, I stayed close by.

    She looked so sad and confused. And then I just couldn’t.  I told her when she was ready to leave we could go home and have ice cream (yes I absolutely bribed my kid to leave). We left 10 minutes later. 

     We all have varying degrees of what’s acceptable, but honestly this shit is getting old. I refuse to accept the excuses that “boys will be boys, and that’s just how girls are at that age.”

    WHAT? Nope. Sorry. No thank you.

    Can we stop making excuses for our kids behavior when its shitty? It seems like as parents we often excuse certain things because it is a direct reflection of ourselves, or we become aware of how our words and actions have shaped our own kids consciously or not.

    I believe we can do better. I know for a fact that a 4 year old saying “You make no sense, I am going to ignore you and everything you say” while simultaneously blocking and pushing a younger kid didn’t come from nowhere. Not allowing my kid to try and make friends with any other kid is shitty.

    let’s take a minute and think of how we can be supportive of each other and our children. I implore you to approach life from a place of curiosity and understanding vs. judgement and assumption.

    The displays of judgement and snobbiness that are infecting this neighborhood are ugly. Your kids see you. We all see you.

    To be continued…

  • When I was a kid…

    When I was a kid:

    playdates weren’t so formal, and didn’t always require planning.

    i made rainbow pancakes and threw them out the 10th floor window.

    we would slide in the mud after big rains in the neighbor’s driveway.

    i wanted to be everything and do everything.

    i believed anything was possible.

    grown-ups had issues, and i had no desire to get there fast.

    everybody smiled and said hi when passing in the street.

    we would search for stones in the river and cover ourselves in river clay.

    that’s what I thought my childhood was. until i had a kid —

    To be continued….

  • I don’t tiptoe, I STOMP.

    Everybody is weird these days, maybe awkward is a better way to describe it. But the more I am aware of it, the more I notice people tiptoeing around or dancing around conversations, questions, initiatives, actions, etc. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t help but wonder WHY — How did we get here? Is it because of COVID and all of the isolation? Is it corporate america taking over? Is it the internet? Is it the apps? Is it helicopter parents? At this point I can only imagine it is some combination of things, and see it from my own perspective, so here’s what i know.

    Why are conversations so hard? Small talk fucking sucks.

    To be continued…

  • Rewrite – What’s With All The Internet Rules?

    When I first started getting tattoos at the ripe age of 15, my mother was pissed. She always used to say “ Well who’s going to hire you, like that?” My response was always the same “ If they won’t hire me because of my tattoos then it’s clearly not someplace I want to work…” I responded the same way every time, and it applies to more than just my body art. Nowadays, there are all these rules and best practices about how to conduct yourself on the internet. 

    Back when I was in high school/college and Facebook was relatively new, there were loads of rules on what to NOT post on your profile so you could project a “young professional” so that job recruiters and potential employers won’t essentially judge you on what you did on your off time. So no party photos, no photos with alcohol, show off your community work, blah blah blah. Out of the 243 profile photos I uploaded to Facebook starting in 2006, 53 of them have alcohol, cigarettes, or display some type of partying. These were some of my favorite profile photos ever (on Facebook).

    So clearly I didn’t follow those rules, and I still don’t. I am the same person IRL as I am on the URL (the internet). My LinkedIn profile is a selfie, and I’m throwing up the peace sign. Should I have some professional headshot? Maybe. But is that me? Nope, not one bit. Am I being judged or passed on by recruiters or potential job opportunities? Maybe. But am I still successful? Yes, I am. 

    So why do people continue to sacrifice their true selves to “fit in”. People started creating multiple accounts so they could post about whatever they want and not be judged or penalized for their posts. IMO things have changed since the time when our parents got jobs. 

    Now what about content posted? What about twitter? How many people lose their jobs over twitter? Too many to count at this point. It’s 2018. The internet knows everything. You can’t hide. Once it’s there, it’s there forever. Especially if you’re popular, or in the public eye. People are watching and essentially waiting for someone to say something fucked up or offensive. [Which brings up an additional point, slightly off topic, but still relevant. Why the FUCK is everyone offended by everything these days?] 

    So why do people continue to sacrifice their true selves to “fit in”. People started creating multiple accounts so they could post about whatever they want and not be judged or penalized for their posts.