My husband used to be hard-wired to be a fixer. There were times I just wanted a listening ear, a hug, an “Ag, shame” – the phrase South Africans say that means, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Listen here: So imagine my horror the day my son said...
I am not a professional expert on this but do have experience talking to and trying to soothe my own kids after violent events. Fortunately my son was too young to remember the Columbine shootings when we were living in Littleton, Colorado, but we lived in New York on...
This is the second in a series of six posts exploring the strengths that make kids intelligent, courageous, good with other people, involved in their communities and connected with something larger than themselves. The purpose of the series is to give...
I was so fired up after reading Dan Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, in 2010, that the day after I finished it I made an appointment to tell the headmaster of my son’s school about it. I loved the way it described not just the potential but the NEED for creative people...
This is the first in a series of posts exploring the strengths that make kids intelligent, courageous, good with other people, involved in their communities and connected with something larger than themselves. The purpose of the series is to give you new ideas for...
If your child is feeling insecure and unhappy, one of the most helpful things you can do is introduce them to their inner strengths and teach them how to use them. In schools around the world where this has been taught to students, researchers found significant...
I also have a dream: of a world in which all children are judged by the content of their character, and not by the color of their skin, or their language, their religion, their family’s wealth or lack of it, or what city, country or continent they live in. Everyone...
From the beginning of seventh grade until halfway into my first year of high school, I dreaded going to school. Some days, I’d get the same physical symptoms as if I were being chased by a lion: racing heart, surging adrenaline, dry mouth, upset stomach. I...
Do you remember that awful feeling of bringing home a report card that had a disappointing grade on it? The dread of having your parents focus right in on that grade and asking, “So what happened in ___________?” And then the shame that followed when you...
I taught my daughter to be insecure and perfectionistic and to care a lot about what other people think of her. I didn’t intend to teach her these things, of course, any more than my mother intended to teach them to me. Sadly, we are in good company:...
