Category Archives: Parenting

Social Justice Parenting

  When our son Stephen was about to begin kindergarten, he worried about not knowing anyone in his new class. No one from his preschool was attending his school, and he assumed it would be hard to make friends. We … Continue reading

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8 Easy Ways to Prepare Kids for the Upcoming School Year

  The prospect of a nearly back-to-normal school year is the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel for most parents. What a relief to (hopefully) put remote school behind us. Why aren’t our kids as excited as … Continue reading

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Help Kids Move Past Pandemic Life by Offering More Choices

  My friend Sadie’s daughter Jade just finished 6th grade—her first year of middle school. Not great timing to start middle school during a pandemic, but such was life. Sadie said quarantine life was harder on her extroverted daughter than … Continue reading

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Motivating Tweens and Teens

My daughter Annie’s orchestra class was a middle school highlight. Anyone with a middle schooler (or who’s been one), probably knows that highlights are hard to come by in that phase of life. Annie had only learned to play the … Continue reading

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Benefits of Saying “No” to Adolescents

“He’s wearing me down. Maybe he’ll go to law school someday and use those debating skills to make a living!” My mental musings after hearing our 12 year-old’s impassioned appeal for an iPad of his own. We’d just returned from … Continue reading

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When Your Child Won’t Practice

  When my friend Jessica’s son Alex was in elementary school, he loved soccer. Alex would spend hours in their backyard “shooting on goal,” only coming in when it was dark and he was spent. I envisioned his tired soul … Continue reading

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Happy to Announce My New Book!

  As many of you are aware, I’ve been working on a book project for the last few years based on this blog and much additional research. For those of you who’ve offered feedback and suggestions to my blog posts … Continue reading

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Escape Outdoors

I remember the day the I hit the wall. It was in the middle of a long summer of what we referred to as “Mom camp,” and at the peak of our two-playgrounds-a-day phase—one in the morning, another in the … Continue reading

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Do You Have a Sensitive Child? You May Be Luckier Than You Realize

My friend Katherine and her husband adopted two foster siblings at ages 1 and 2.  It was a big change—going from a 2- to a 4-person family overnight.  They had so much to learn about parenting and about these particular … Continue reading

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People Are the Priority

It was clear early on that my friend Christina’s daughter Ava was a bright girl.  She was one of those toddlers who spoke in eloquent sentences when my same-age son was struggling to put two words together.  Her parents were … Continue reading

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