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Top 5 Blog Posts of 2022

1. Why Forecasting Emotions Can Help Kids Handle Them When we hit a rocky spot, it is certainly tempting as parents to hope that tomorrow will be a better day. Thankfully, we are often right! Sometimes all it takes is a good night’s sleep to increase our kids’ capacity to handle what comes their way.…  Read More

Young people holding hands navigating stress

A Mindset For Teens That Embraces (Some) Stress

​​Math was by far my favorite subject in elementary school. Other subjects required more effort. But math felt comfortable and full of ease. It felt great when others offered praised for my “natural” math abilities. This was all well and good until my eighth grade geometry class. I was completely lost from the moment I…  Read More

Teen boy laying on bed looking at internet on phone

Why Kids Need Us To Talk To Them About Extremism Online

“My son is on Discord,” a parent recently wrote in an email immediately following the racist killing spree in Buffalo, NY. “Should I be concerned?” I took a deep breath because I knew these conversations were complicated. In the wake of the racist killings in Buffalo, NY last week, each of us has been left…  Read More

Exhausted parent collapsed on floor during pandmeic

Why Befriending Your Emotions is Essential

And Works Better Than Battling Them

I was facilitating a webinar last week and invited parents to write a word or two into the chat that described how they were feeling. The waterfall of words that emerged painted a pretty discouraging picture.  “Drained.” “Abandoned.” “Overwhelmed.” “Exhausted.” One participant offered more detail. “I am so sick of being worried! I feel like…  Read More

Teens looking at camera with their heads together in a circle

Building Belonging Starts at Home

Unlike this time last year, many of us are moving into this winter with our core routines modified but intact. Most kids are back in school, work expectations are back on full tilt, and we are more likely to be participating in activities and community events.  In other words, we are back, in the words…  Read More

Creative Supports for Challenging Times

Introducing Spark & Stitch Creative Projects

I had just said goodbye to my kids as they headed into school when I heard a familiar voice behind me doing the same. I turned around to see a parent I hadn’t seen since our kids had been in class together before the pandemic. Without thinking, I greeted her with the usual “How are…  Read More

Three pre-teens sitting outside looking at camera. One teen is wearing a green shirt and the other a white hoodie.

Listen to Youth Voices in Uncertain Times

Why Participation is Essential and Protective

“My middle schooler has a few tiny things on his mind lately… you know, like the Delta variant and the climate crisis,” a parent recently shared. She went on, “Honestly, things are pretty existential in our house right now…and I just feel so powerless to help. How can I even reassure him when his worries…  Read More

Kids running out on school playground

Disrupting Bias Is About Practicing Skills, Not Just Growing Awareness

“How do you think you might respond if this happened at school?” I asked my youngest. We were reading the part of a picture book where a student’s classmates tease him about what he wears to school because it is too “girly.” To be honest, I was kind of excited to hear my child’s response. I…  Read More

Make Your Own Path: Supporting Kids Beyond the Binary

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

Teenager with a mask holding a sign that says "we repeat what we don't repair"

Talking With Children and Taking Action To Stop Anti-Asian Racism

A Resource Roundup

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