Right about now, many parents worry what summer may have stolen from their kids’ heads. Three moms recently asked me: “Our days have been so laid back, will the gains my child made in math last year be erased over the summer?” “Yikes, I just realized we haven’t had a … Read More
Protect Your Energy; It’s Your Inner Chi Availability
I think of my personal energy as my inner chi availability—not only because the words rhyme, but also because inner chi means “vital life force.” Sometimes spelled Qi, the word originates from ancient Chinese and other eastern cultures and literally translates into “breath” or “energy flow.” Although mainstream medicine considers … Read More
Screen-Free Week: And What About Next Week?
I raised my sons without TV until they were ages nine and seven. As toddlers, I had seen how their behaviors changed so profoundly with even thirty minutes of screen time. And as fate would have it, during that time I had plowed into the research on the effects of … Read More
Almost Snow. Not Quite Rain. Definitely Not Hail.
Media literacy means giving kids words to engage high level thinking. As a transplant from the east coast several decades ago, I still miss winter snow in the Pacific Northwest. Real, verifiable snow comes our way rarely when certain conditions, depending on your altitude, make it so. Usually it’s 33 degrees … Read More
When You Fall “Out of Like” with Your Child: Two Unique Ways to Re-Connect to Your Parental Love
Parental love is that unconditional love like no other. Fierce and tender, steadfast and amazingly self-sacrificing, this boundless beneficence gets us up early, to ready the family for the day, despite our flu symptoms, and keeps us up all night with feverish children—just a few of all manner of hellish … Read More
Lies, Falsehoods, and Alternative Facts: 3 Steps to Help Our Kids Know the Difference
The current political climate has many of us dizzy sorting out, “What’s a lie?” “What’s not?” And helping our kids distinguish between lies, falsehoods, and alternative facts is now yet another unprecedented parenting challenge in modern society. We no longer have the grandfatherly wisdom of a Walter Cronkite to rely on and … Read More
Wishing 2017 A Year “Rich in Loss”
I wish you a year “rich in loss.” I believe that’s a good thing, but requires explanation: I lost two good gal friends in 2016. One left the planet; the other moved to another city. Never being able to see someone you love again may be one of life’s major … Read More
Waiting, in the Dark…Suffering…
Here in the Pacific Northwest, dark descends soon after 4:00 p.m. during these final days of autumn. I marvel at how different I feel from summertime when I could begin a long hike at 4:00 p.m. and still be back before dark. Now it’s cocooning and going within as much as possible. … Read More
Our Most Effective Message Exchange Is Who We Are
Reading Neal Gabler’s piece, “Farewell, Democracy,” in reaction to the presidential election, I was struck by his quoting the end of W.H. Auden’s poem, September 1, 1939: “Defenseless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their … Read More
AAP’s New Screen Guidelines: Not Brain-Compatible for Toddlers
The updated screen guidelines for young children, birth-age 5, recently released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are not fully in alignment with what brain science tells us is in the best interests of young children. Amending their previous caveat of no screen technology before the age of 2, … Read More