All three of us ran to the window. We had never heard a sound like that before. But that’s because we had never seen hail like that before. It wasn’t that the hailstones were large, it was that they were coming down in sheets. Within several minutes the entire backyard looked like it had been snowing for days. It was sort of fun to watch. Until the phone rang. It was Nathan. I had forgotten about him. He had left…
As I sit here writing this, my youngest son is out pounding the pavement. Money motivates him. Not in an unhealthy, consuming kind of way. But in an I-can’t-turn-down-this-opportunity kind of way. And I’m okay with that as long as his ethics and priorities are in the right place. And they are. This is not the first time this opportunity has presented itself. There was a flyer on top of his newspaper stack last week (he has a once-a-week paper…
Ryan came home from school today excited. His speech on the current state of health care had gone well. He had spent hours researching and organizing his thoughts on paper. Then there were the hours he spent practicing. But that’s not what this is about. It’s about socks. As Ryan was explaining the details of his presentation, he was kicking his feet behind him. I glanced at his foot as it came up and noticed that there were five, yes…
Trust…the ultimate confidence builder in kids. It requires that we let go and shift control into their hands, but the result is the development of self-esteem, competency, and independence. Giving your 3-year old a sponge so that she can help wipe up the kitchen table, and then allowing her to do the task according to her abilities, lets her know that you think she is capable. Similarly, having your teen print the What to Bring to Summer Camp list and…
All parents want their children to succeed in school. And since Kindergarten is a child’s first exposure to “formal” schooling, preparing them for success is an important first step on the academic ladder. But “preparing” our kids for academic success does not mean completing reams of worksheets and stacks of flashcards. It’s actually a lot easier than that. It simply requires looking for opportunities to seamlessly tie “lessons” into daily life. And the good news is, because these lessons are…