Join me on a journey of the imagination….. We’re living sometime in the distant future, and intergalactic travel has become possible. A new world, light years away, has been discovered to have intelligent life. What’s more, the beings there have invited you to come for a sort of exchange program. You’ll be assigned a host […]
Life With a Louse: How Unschooling Helped Reframe an Itchy Situation
What can you learn from a louse? A lot, it turns out. Particularly when the louse is joined by a goodly number of compatriots and comes calling on three small, unschooled heads. You guessed it: I’m talking about the dreaded head lice.When they first made their presence known (on Valentine’s Day, no less…how romantic!), my […]
That’s Not Fair!
That’s not fair! As parents, we’ve all heard this cry from our children. It gets old really fast. What are we to do? Sometimes we can find a quick and easy resolution to keep the peace. Other times we try to avoid being caught when we know some special privilege or event will upset another […]
Unprepared! How the Push-Down Effect is Stressing our Children
It’s bedtime, and Katy is pouring out her troubles to me as we lay snuggled together. She mentions the usual: the baby still gets too much attention, her brother always gets to stay up later, when can she have a playdate with Jennifer? But then she brings up something new. Something that bothers me as […]
A Pair of Sparkly Sneakers: letting our kids be who they really are
This is a post I wrote over two years ago, which is featured in my new book by the same title. Hope you enjoy it! I’m shoe shopping with Thomas; always a touch-and-go affair. Today is no different. He glumly surveys the offerings in the boys section. “They’re all black, white or blue, Mom,” he […]