By now you’re probably poised for "Back to School." Backpack? Check √. School supplies? Check √. Lunch box? Check √. Positive attitude? Check √ Check √ Check √. But how long will it take for that positive attitude to wear off? For your focus to shift to the negatives, the problems, the feeling that it's all just a grind? Don't worry, the issues will crop up, and you will have to deal with them, but there are some things you can make part of your routine that help you and your kids focus on the positives throughout the school year. One way to keep up a positive "Back to School" attitude is through practicing gratitude, appreciation, and finding "3 good things."
Read moreSavoring Joy: My "Midsummer Night’s Dream" for Parents
I know what you’re thinking. “Why is she talking about midsummer when school is starting soon? It’s already August!” I know. The stores are having back-to-school sales on clothes and school supplies. And some of us really do start school in August (I just read a friend’s Facebook post that said her son starts school again this week!). That’s the reality. But, I want to give you some perspective, along with a little “positivity boost,” inspired by a dream I had just a couple of weeks ago when the calendar still read “July.”
Read moreThe Awesomeness of Awe
How often are we inspired to experience awe? Not just when we say "awww" when we see a cute kitten, hold a cuddly puppy or hear the adorable coos of a happy baby. The times we feel that intense emotion that's real awe -- when we get goosebumps or feel that special brand of joy when we notice a double rainbow in the sky, witness the miracle of birth, appreciate a magnificent work of art, or listen to the birds sing a melodious tune in harmony with one another. That enveloping feeling that we get when we realize how small we are in this vast universe.
Read moreParenting from a “Who is My Child?” Perspective
Over the years I have read more than my share of parenting books by well-intentioned experts who profess to have the “secret sauce” to parenting. Though I have found many of these books enlightening and sometimes useful, most of these authors take a prescriptive or “how to” approach to raising children — for example, let your child cry it out to learn how to fall asleep on his/her own; put your child in time out to learn how to control his/her inappropriate behavior; don’t help with homework so they can learn how to become independent learners. While some of these “prescriptions” may have some validity in some situations with some children, I take the “how to’s” more as suggestions to try in the appropriate context if I feel they are right for my particular child at a particular time in a particular context.
Read moreBucket Filling to Teach Kids Kindness
Since the beginning of civilized society we have valued kindness as a virtue. The importance of teaching our children the Golden Rule as a basic moral principle -- treat others as you want to be treated -- is deeply embedded in our culture and spiritual practices. We encourage children to be compassionate because it's the right thing to do. But are we helping them make the connection between being kind to others and their own happiness and well being?
Read moreHelping Kids Focus with Mind Jars
As parents, we often are urging our kids to focus. “Pay attention…Concentrate… Finish your homework…Don’t be distracted.” So many of us often hear from their teachers that our children have trouble staying on task at school. How can we as parents help?
Read moreFire Child Water Child: Book Review
As I was reading Stephen Cowan, MD’s Fire Child Water Child, a book that Deepak Chopra called “groundbreaking work,” I kept thinking to myself, “I wish Dr. Cowan had been my child’s pediatrician, and wouldn't it have been great if this book was available when I was raising my son.” The perspective that Dr. Cowan presents does indeed break through our commonly held assumption that when it comes to helping children learn and focus “one size fits all.”
Read moreKindergarten in Perspective
I had the opportunity to meet with a group of preschool parents recently to see what topics they might be interested in for parenting workshops. I asked them what they wanted to know more about, what was on their minds as parents and what was keeping them up at night. Since our meeting I’m the one getting up at night, concerned about them. I don’t worry as much about their kids, because as we all know children are resilient. But the fear and anxiety in these mothers’ eyes and postures haunts me in my dreams.
Read moreViewing "Screen Time" in Perspective
The effects of television on children was the focus of my academic studies as a graduate student at University of Michigan, the research I conducted at Harvard Project Zero, and my work in social research and broadcast standards at ABC Television Network. As a parent, I watched my share of TV with my son, making sure to discuss what we were seeing on the news, helping to interpret the messages from entertainment programs and harnessing them as teachable moments.
Read moreYou Know More than You Think You Do
Still looking for the instruction manual that you expected to come with your child? You already have it, but don’t know it. “You know more than you think you do,” was the theme of one of the best selling books of all time The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, written by Dr. Benjamin Spock. Millions of parents of “baby boomers” (my generation) relied on Dr. Spock’s book for advice in the late 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. But with all of the “how to’s” from the good doctor himself, his main message to parents was to trust their instincts and have confidence in their own abilities.
Read moreAllow me to introduce myself. I am you.
Let me introduce myself. I am you. A well-intentioned parent who’s often overwhelmed with the awesome task of raising a child to become a happy, healthy and successful adult. With a little luck, a lot of hard work, many sleepless nights, and a carefully selected community of support, I can proudly say I accomplished that mission with my now 23 year old only child. (Read my parenting story here).
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