Annie started kindergarten last week. We have been eagerly awaiting this magical milestone, and placing a lot of focus on the “big day!” And while I’m all for establishing positive expectations, I walk a fine line between building confidence and creating too much pressure when it comes to preparing Annie for something new. I know many kids do well when there is excitement and build-up leading up to an important event. My oldest child is not one of them. And in the spirit of all the important learning that lies ahead this school year, I have already learned something valuable –my child’s stress threshold is uniquely her own. Continue reading
Lawn Chairs, Dirt Bikes, Good and Bad Ideas: Friends as Influences
20 Mar
Headed out of our neighborhood last weekend with both kids, my husband rounded a corner and came to an abrupt stop. Four boys around the age of 11 sat in lawn chairs placed strategically across the road. They remained there with their heads down, giggling, but you could tell a couple of them were nervous. Eventually one boy stood and moved his chair to let us through, but only after I rolled down the window and insisted that he do so. Continue reading
Can You Teach Your Kid To Care?
29 Dec
The other night the three year-old accidentally closed the five year-old’s hand in a stepstool, and I had an out-of-body experience. I couldn’t get her hand free for what felt like an eternity (but was likely 5 seconds), and shrieking just escaped from me. Terrible parenting, I know, but I couldn’t control it. I come from a long line of over-reactors, so it cannot be helped. It’s in my DNA.
So what about the fact that the three year-old was crying even harder than her injured big sister? I’ll acknowledge that my hysterics possibly influenced her reaction, but she was truly and genuinely upset and concerned. Continue reading
The Playdate
1 DecWhy is it that “playdate” is not considered a compound word? My spelling skills happen to be atrocious (thank you spell-check for the assist with atrocious), so I typically don’t have a leg to stand on in these matters. But for some reason I feel strongly that playdate should be one word. This grammar/spelling conundrum is somewhat irrelevant, but I would like to share a tale about a playdate, and therefore am prefacing it by stating that I will henceforth intentionally ignore the annoying red squiggly lines. Continue reading
Classroom Environment (Solutions 5 and 6)
24 OctWe’ve hit the halfway mark on the top-ten list! When I started thinking about writing-up this next solution, it made some sense to me to combine it with another. Both have to do with the classroom and the classroom environment. I know many of you aren’t teachers, but as parents involved in your child’s school, I think much of the following may be of interest. So today’s post is a two for one…..Solution 5: Adjust Physical Environment & Solution 6: Creating a Sense of Community. Continue reading
Discover Common Ground (Solution 4)
21 OctOkay, here we go. Day 4…..Solution 4: Discover Common Ground
It’s kind of getting late in the day, and I’m rushing to get this post up, but I have a good explanation for my procrastination. I spent the morning at the Arizona Head Start Association’s Mental Health Symposium, presenting a workshop on Bringing Boys and Girls Together in the Early Childhood Setting. See…my excuse is relevant. Continue reading







