So I finally brought mama from India! She’s almost 78, mostly well but with a few age-related deficits that affect her everyday tasks such as lifting items over 5 pounds and stretching to reach items above her. Sometimes she can’t open lids of storage containers or take her shirt off without help. Her vision has…
Inside the mind of a teenager
Many things have changed since I was a teenager. Our lives involved simple and limited processes. Most of us went to school, played outside with neighborhood friends, watched a little TV and went to bed. It was a loop of predictable actions overseen by our parents. Then routines evolved as the world experienced the industrial…
Fear and Hope
The last few years have seen an increase in violence in schools. As a teacher, I have come to school with fear, fear of the unknowns that lurk around our hallways and classrooms, and fear of the known consequences of a broken system in one of the most powerful countries of the world. Today is…
Parenting in a Shutdown
It’s been 3 weeks since schools shut down. For my 13 year old, life has been a dream. She has a little world of her own inside her room. Every corner, shelf, space is a collection of things she’s saved since she was a toddler. She’s almost a hoarder. She can stay in her room…
Times have changed: Covid-19 thoughts
Working from home has been quite interesting to say the least. No more packing lunches and rushing in the morning with my 8th grader’s breakfast falling out of her hands, and getting out of the door just in time to navigate through the buses and what seems like the entire West Valley traffic right outside…
Set them free…
My 16 year old has her driver’s license now but was hesitating to go anywhere alone. Now that school is about to begin (and she’s doing Running Start so she can’t be dropped off), she’s understanding the importance of driving solo. So she’s been overcoming her fears and going places alone, and feeling so proud…
A few sleepless nights…
Since the Florida school shooting, I have woken up a few times in the middle of the night and walked up to my children’s rooms. As I saw them fast asleep, I thought of those parents who lost their sons and daughters in what was once an inconceivable event, but has, in recent times, become…
Handling Failure
The topic of failure and how kids these days react to it came up at my class yesterday when we were discussing the trends and history in education. Some of the issues covered were dress code, discipline, legislature… but the topic of failure caught my attention a bit more than the others. I remember failing…
The Technophobia beast that lies within us.
It’s naive of parents today to think that if their child can find an app on an iPad or swipe unlock a phone, they now know how to use a computer. Technology is commonly associated with gaming but in reality, technology is a vast term that includes such a diverse array of offerings. I teach…
Helicopters! I’m talking about parents here.
In 1969, Dr. Ginott used the term helicopter parents in his book entitled Parents and Teenagers. I came across this term a few years ago and didn’t pay much attention to it until I became a teacher and ran into a few parents who fit that term perfectly. Helicopter parents hover over their children excessively,…