My dad wrote a lot about me and my two older brothers in his books. Of course we gave him permission. We understood that by sharing his own parenting ups and downs my dad might really help others navigate the same. What I didn’t anticipate was how much many of these stories would eventually help… Read More →
“How can I be so grateful and so overwhelmed at the same time!” a parent recently shared. “I dreamt of these activities for months and now I just feel more up and down than I imagined I would.” Many of us have likely spent time imagining what life “after COVID” would feel like. Indeed, the… Read More →
Last week I heard myself say in an over-tired and annoyed retort to my kids, “I have asked you every morning this week where your masks are!” What followed was a well rehearsed morning scramble punctuated by exasperated exchanges on all sides. This was far from the morning ritual we aspire to as we all… Read More →
“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 →
“You would think that after a year of this we would have figured out how to live together without fighting. But right now everyone is just prickly and exhausted,” a parent recently confided. She isn’t alone in her fatigue. Adam Grant recently wrote a piece in the New York Times giving us a word 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 →
Earlier this week my son called to me after lights out. I sat beside his bed and asked, “What’s up bud? Do you need something?” “I’m thinking about all the grandparents dying,” he responded “I just know I’m not going to be able to sleep.” I tried to resist the urge to unleash a torrent… Read More →
During a virtual presentation a parent recently asked, “We’ve gotten into some really bad screen time habits during the pandemic. How do we make sure they don’t stick when this thing is over?” I smiled to myself because at that very moment my own kids were holed up in our unfinished basement with iPads while… Read More →
A parent shared with me that her youngest recently told her in no uncertain terms, “I can’t go outside! I’ve got too much on my mind!” “I think he is planning on spending the rest of the pandemic in his room with his tablet thinking through the collapse of the world,” she lamented. “No surprise… Read More →
Parents and kids are spending a lot of time together right now. We typically share the role of creating structure and setting boundaries with extended family, educators, coaches, mentors, and other adults. During COVID, it’s more often an in-home job. This means that it is a lot easier to get stuck in negative ruts with… Read More →
