This past week, both of my sons had plans with their friends. I took this beautiful opportunity to take my 13-year-old daughter to see the movie Eighth Grade. This is a film all about the awkwardness of middle school and the common challenges that kids in middle school face. The movie is rated R, which…
Anxiety can be a crippling burden sometimes, and it shows up in many forms – from headaches, sweating, trembling, excessive worrying, rapid breathing and increased heart rate, to feeling weak or tired, having difficulty concentrating or just feeling nervous, restless or tense. Most of us worry from time to time, but when we carry the…
“Remember, you have a baseball game Friday night at 7pm.” “Mom! Can’t I skip it? I already made plans with my friends!” This is how the conversation began with my teenage son the other night. I had a feeling he would not be happy about having a game on a Friday night, especially since he…
Hello dear readers, After a brief writing hiatus, I have returned to my roots, sharing my ideas with you and learning and growing together. I wanted to relaunch my blog with a story AND a special offer (keep reading)! A few weeks ago, my now 12-year-old daughter begged me for “fake” nails. I tried them…
This weekend was the annual father-daughter camping trip. I look forward to it, as it is an opportunity to spend very good quality time with my 12 and 7 year old sons, and this year was no different. On Friday, my 12 year old asked if he could have a sleepover with a few friends.…
Last week, I got a call from our middle school’s vice principal. I wondered why she would be calling me – certainly not because of something my 7th grader had done. My neighbor and I recently met with the vice principal and principal of our school to talk about the school discipline policy and how…
My 7th grader developed a bad habit this school year: not bringing his book bag home from school. It started out innocently enough, leaving it in his locker on Fridays because he had no homework over the weekend. Then with my “systems-thinking” son, it morphed quickly into not bringing it home on any days he…
Last week, I learned of a boy who tried to take his life. He was found in time to be rushed to the hospital and at this point, it is unclear if he will survive. This has caused a ripple of emotions – fear, sadness, grief, disbelief. How could this happen? Why did it happen?…
One night recently as I was doing the bedtime routine with my daughter, I heard Jay raise his voice to our 12 year-old. When I came down to investigate, I discovered that they were having an issue with homework. Noah was given an assignment five days prior and it was due this morning. He did not have…
I have a 12 year old. He is not quite a “teenager” but for all intents and purposes, he acts like one (which is not all bad by the way – I happen to very much enjoy teenagers). I am deeply aware that I am firmly entrenched in early adolescence with my boy. Yesterday morning,…
