Overwhelm is everywhere. At least among people I know, more people than not have more to do than time or energy to do it. The solution largely seems to be: pare down. (I sometimes follow my own advice in this realm.) If you have less stuff, there’s less to put away, to maintain, to clean. … Read more
Won’t hurt yours, either! When I made the ice cream restriction, it wasn’t my whole diet I was worried about. No major health issues—that happened later. No guilt. I just realized that eating ice cream in large servings multiple times on most days of the week year round was not a good habit and I … Read more
The short version: my goal is to help people be educated so they can make decisions in an informed way. I am not trying to scare people or to be a downer, though I acknowledge that these days, most of the news is bad news. The fact is that in a capitalistic society, the main … Read more
The Kid was in a bad mood this weekend. Easy to inadvertently poke without any discernible reason. Sunday night, after another large incident over a benign thing, the three of us sat down and had a conversation to try to figure out what was actually going on. Turns out, he had read something in one … Read more
We recently implemented a three-part economic system with The Kid. Part 1: Allowance He gets a weekly allowance. It’s not as a reward or payment for anything done. In our thinking, it’s a means of teaching money management, and it gives him some autonomy in a world where most of his decisions are made for … Read more
A few years ago, I bought a course by Brené Brown through Udemy. The course is no longer available for purchase, but I still have access to it and go through part or all of it from time to time. At one point, she said (paraphrased), “85% of adults interviewed remember something so shaming from … Read more
A year ago, I was just beginning my extended school year as the result of a six-day teacher walkout in Arizona. Those days (the walkout; not so much the make-up days) were overflowing with so much emotion. Anger. Sadness. Worry. Emotions I can’t name. For example, being one of tens of thousands of people marching … Read more
Last night, The Kid approached me with urgency. “Mom! You have to do laundry!” Turns out, he was down to one clean pair of shorts. I do the laundry, but it’s his job to stay on top of it and let me know when he’s running low on socks, underwear, short, or pants. (He has … Read more
There was a guy at The Kid’s last track meet. We called him Yellow Screamer Guy, because he was dressed in yellow and walked up and down the length of the straight, yelling at runners. It didn’t matter where they were on the track. Opposite side? Still yelling. I made a comment that years of … Read more
So yesterday I wrote about the consequences of giving kids free time at school. Those thoughts definitely 100% do not apply to kids at home. Kids need free time. Kids need free time to play, to be bored, to imagine, to create, to be with friends. Also, adults need free time to play, to be … Read more