The school year starts and, it’s easy to get caught up in logistics—schedules, transportation, supplies, before and after school care, and on and on. I approach these tasks with mixed feelings: on one hand, I’m already nostalgic for the more relaxed pace of summer; on the other, I’m slightly desperate for routine. Hence my focus… Read More →
There are moments when I look at my phone and think, “What a time to be alive!” The device in my hand is one thousand times faster than the last generation’s supercomputers. Our lives benefit from this small device’s connection, information, and efficiency. There are other moments when I long to slow down all that… Read More →
“I wasn’t surprised that my kid looked at inappropriate content online. I know it comes with the territory,” a parent recently confided. “What upset me more is that he lied about it.” “This is always so tricky,” I sympathized. “We only see a little snapshot of what is going on. And it can be hard… Read More →
I can still remember the poster hanging in my fourth-grade classroom. Against the backdrop of a star-studded night sky, a comet blazed across the image accompanied by text that read, “You can be a star!” As a child of the eighties, I grew up during the self-esteem movement. Posters, programs, and books consistently communicated, “‘If… Read More →
“But who is going to help her?” Jacob asked. Jacob was a seven-year-old we had just met on the playground. He, along with several other kids including one of my own, had been playing the tag game “Sandman” on the play structure. Suddenly one of the kids tried to take a shortcut off the side… Read More →
If you have ever spent any time with a preschooler, you know that their curious minds are always active. “Why is that bird sitting on that branch? What do birds think about? Can birds understand us? Where are the other birds? Why? Where? How come?” While charming, these endless questions can also get exasperating. At… Read More →
While unpacking some holiday decorations I found a wish list that my kids had put together years ago. It was heartwarming and included items like “a live owl,” legos, books, and “surprise me.” While the live owl request required some conversation about animal safety, overall the lists were short, sweet, and offline. What grounded children! … Read More →
I can still remember mornings with toddlers like they were yesterday. The logistics of a morning routine seemed simple enough — breakfast in, warm clothes on, and out the door. Yet any parent can tell you that achieving these outcomes with a two-year-old is far from simple. “No!!! Noooooo!!!!” I remember my 2-year-old screaming as… Read More →
“How are you feeling about going back to school?” I asked my youngest over breakfast. “I’m excited!” he responded quickly. I was grateful for the enthusiasm but realized that there might be more to the story. Sure enough, the same child was on the verge of emotional collapse five minutes later. He was beside himself… Read More →
In the past two years every major organization dedicated to adolescent health and development has sounded the alarm on mental health. The latest CDC data describes the crisis in detail. In 2021, more than four in ten students felt persistently sad or hopeless and nearly one-third experienced poor mental health. In the wake of this… Read More →
