“How do you think you might respond if this happened at school?” I asked my youngest. We were reading the part of the book Jacob’s New Dress where Jacob’s classmates tease him about what he wears to school. To be honest, I was kind of excited to hear my child’s response. I imagined him to… Read More →
I smiled as I scanned my youngest child’s outfit as he packed his backpack for kindergarten: purple leggings with iridescent stars and space pugs (yes, little dogs in space suits), a sparkly twirly dress, and a Star Wars t-shirt. “Make sure you wear your tennis shoes so you can run fast at recess,” I reminded… Read More →
This week’s deadly attacks in Georgia are deeply upsetting and frightening for parents and kids alike – especially parents and children who identify as Asians, Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders. Yet we know that these attacks are far from isolated events. Violence and harassment against Asian-Americans did not start with the COVID-19 pandemic, but data… Read More →
Since yesterday’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol many parents have reached out to us for advice on how to talk with and support their kids in the aftermath. As children and young people alike process the live feeds, memes, and coverage of the attack on the halls of Congress everyone will need extra space… Read More →
During the last presidential election I had a child in kindergarten. It didn’t take long into the school year to understand that kids as young as five-years-old are already deeply invested in national politics. At drop off, kids would run up to me eagerly with all kinds of observations and questions typical of kindergarteners, ranging… Read More →
A single parent of a toddler sent me this message last week. “Figuring out how to participate in these movements for change during this pandemic with a young child is overwhelming. Most days we are just wrestling with screen time, Cheerios, and sharing toys. It’s so painfully mundane compared to what’s happening in the streets.”… Read More →
The lessons we learn about feelings are powerful. From a very young age we are taught in both spoken and unspoken ways which feelings (and associated behaviors) are welcome and which aren’t. A parent shared with me after a workshop a couple of years ago, “I was always told in one hundred different ways that… Read More →
As many of you who follow our work already know, our family lives and works in South Minneapolis. This week our city has been on fire in the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. In reality our city has been burning for a long time. This is happening… Read More →
I had a summer screen time post all written and ready to post on the website. Then our family dog got very sick and eventually passed away earlier this week. In an instant work, emails, newsletters, and to-do lists flew off the priority list and grief took its place. Jasper, our thirteen year old husky… Read More →
We can’t just hand kids a book or download a podcast titled, “Get Empathy.” Nope. But well crafted stories do allow kids to get lost in characters whose lives both mirror and diverge from their own.
