The most consistent piece of advice that experts give kids when they’ve experienced bullying behavior is tell a trusted adult. Actually, it’s our biggest piece of hope in this complicated issue that kids will survive and thrive if they get…
My son and I stared in horror at the television as events played out at Columbine High School in Colorado. It was April 1999, and as Peter and I watched a bloodied teenage boy dangling from a broken window, clinging…
Can you imagine if only 3 sets of two words could change a person’s day or perhaps even their life? Sound implausible? It’s not only possible, it’s likely. These six words when said with sincerity can build solid social connections…
Spoiler Alert: It’s Begins with T and ends with E. No, it’s not a Thingamajigee. It’s Time. It’s Time and a low stress Mom. I’m backing into this post but I promise, there’s a point to it. Hopefully, it will…
Thanksgiving serves as a bookend for me to an amazing month of being grateful, fearful, hopeful and humbled by the richness of life. Meeting Amazing Experts I went to the International Bullying Prevention Association conference in San Diego. I heard…
In the absence of love and belonging, there is always suffering. – Brene Brown If you’ve ever been excluded, you know what a powerful and negative impact it has on the soul. If you were excluded as a child, you…
Dear Elementary PTA President (a.k.a. Superhero in Mom Jeans – or Dad Sneakers), Schools wouldn’t be a community without you and we need strong communities to help raise resilient, happy kids. Thank you for stepping up. Without your efforts to…
By the second week of September, an entire nation of students will have started the 2018-2019 school year. I fondly call this Be Nice to the New Kid Month. There are many studies on the positive effects of kindness. It’s…
The school crossing guard asked,“Can I help you cross the street?” It was the first day of school for my oldest daughter who seemed confident and ready for the next step: Kindergarten. But those kind seven words were not meant for…
Remember Harold Kushner’s best-selling book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People? Sometimes those “people” are our children. It would be wonderful if we lived in a state of nirvana but, unfortunately, we have to function in the real world…