The hardest job as a parent is learning how to keep your own broken heart from showing when your child’s heart is broken. When our children are hurting, something inside us aches too. We want to fix it, rewind time, or somehow make the pain disappear. But life does not always work that way. Sometimes,…
Tender Minds
When moms become kids
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…
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…
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,…
Inspiring a child
Teaching my kids to be fearless dreamers has been on top of my agenda. Dreams evolve, dreams change, but the process of dreaming keeps a child inspired. I share my dreams with my children regardless of how silly they may sound. Inside every dream lies a clue or representation of what could make us passionate….