In this day and age, we parents need to be positive mentors to our children to promote a healthy lifestyle.

What does being a mentor mean? It means someone who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with the less experienced. Who better to mentor children than their parents? After all, we are the ones who would lay down our lives for them at a moment's notice.

We will do almost anything to ensure their safety and comfort in life. We spend a large share of our lives grooming them to be responsible adults. We live by sound moral ethics and promote healthy living so that they will do the same when they are adults. We encourage giving back to the community and helping our fellow neighbors whenever possible.

In my childhood, parental mentoring had its challenges. There were seven children in my family, four boys and three girls. My twin sister and I were the youngest. My dad left my mom and our family when my sister and I were 11 months old. He took the keys to the car, and I've never seen him to this day. My brother, Todd, was two days less than a year older than us, so Mom had three babies in diapers, no job, and no support system. Those were rough times for us, but Mom kept us all together. I never remember Mom sitting down when we were little. She mentored a very strong work ethic!

I did not have my birth dad as a mentor, but I had many other positive role models during those formative years. One was Mrs. Hupp. She was an older woman who had lost her husband and visited the coast to stay at her cabin in the summer months. I would spend weeks with her during the summer. Her cabin had no running water, and we baked many pies on her wood-fueled oven. I remember the deer in the backyard and the raccoons we fed and watched with a spotlight that shone brightly over the tree trunk that we placed the scraps on. Those were some wonderful times! I still miss Mrs. Hupp and how she mentored me to appreciate the simple things in life.

Then when I was in high school, my counselor, Steve Jurist, helped me find a way to realize my dream of going to college. I was the first to get a college degree in my family, and was able to change my life and lift myself from the poverty that my biological father had left us in so many years before.

Never miss an opportunity to help and mentor others. Show your children that you care by spending time with them. Whether you teach them to knit, bake a pie, or ride a horse, you will impact their lives. You may not realize it today, but the result will be the same. Their lives will be improved because you took the time to share a little of yourself with them while mentoring a healthy lifestyle.

I love to see mother and daughters in our store learning to knit together. It is fun to see them mentoring patience, perseverance and just sharing stories about life, while they craft a hand-knit item together.

At Alpaca Direct, we are proud to be a part of the mentoring process when it comes to learning the fiber arts of knitting, crochet and hand-spinning yarn. We carry a full line of fiber art accessories, including hundreds of needles and thousands of yarns. Our unique selection of products also includes Peruvian hand-loomed lace scarves, warm alpaca socks and cuddly alpaca teddy bears.

Our building is handicap accessible, with ample parking and is easy to find. We are located on Hayden Avenue, just two blocks west of Highway 95 in Hayden.

Our store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Visit us at 1016 W. Hayden Ave. or online at www.AlpacaDirect.com - your local destination for luxury yarn, socks, apparel and gifts.

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Kelley Hobart is the owner of Alpaca Direct.