Nuturing young hearts, to grow a kinder world
Have you ever noticed the correlation between food and mood? Ever eaten a heavy pasta dish and felt lethargic afterward? When your kids eat sugar… have you noticed how they behave? We all know that fruits and vegetables are good for us. But we also have our excuses for not eating enough of them, myself […]
“Mouth hurts.” says my teething toddler. I lie on the couch with Nicholas at 4am. It has been 3 days without power, water, and intermittent cellular service. While we have a generator, we turn it off at night. In the cold, pitch black early morning, I try rocking him, teething gel, and offering him juice. […]
“Let your gentleness be known to all men.” Philippians 4:5 Some of the best lessons learned in life are the ones we glean from observation rather than lecture. Gentleness is a prime example. I have found that I can teach my kids to be kind, calm, and mild mannered…but if I don’t model gentleness…when the […]
Humility– freedom from pride or arrogance: the quality or state of being humble (Webster’s dictionary). ________________________________________ Humility is an underrated character trait, which I think needs more attention in this day and age. Like many of you, I find it hard not to be influenced by our self-centered culture. Sometimes, this fast paced social media […]
Middle school is notorious for being a time when children are a little more self centered than usual. In part, this is because of changes in brain development. This self-centeredness is also due to the shifting focus from parental to peer influence. And throw in the hormonal changes and you can understand why these years […]
Meal time is a great time to focus on teaching family values and developing a sense of belonging. Growing up, my parents always made family dinner a priority. All seven of us would gather around the table for a meal. Sometimes it was as basic as fish sticks, frozen veggies, and milk….at other times […]
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the fact that no gifts are expected and I get the opportunity to visit with family in a relaxed setting…you know before the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations begin. I come from a large family. I am one of five children. And growing up, we spent Thanksgiving […]
Somewhere in my youth I got the impression that there are two types of people. The extraordinary… you know those people who are beautiful, popular, super intelligent, or rich. And then there are the ordinary…people who have to work exceptionally hard to accomplish things, who have bad hair days, and have many bumps in the […]
I have a confession to make. One of my pet peeves is when someone says “Hey, how are you doing?” but they don’t listen or really even care about my reply. I have been tempted during one of my off days, to spill my guts and say something like “life really stinks right now because […]
About ten years ago, I worked, as a school counselor, for a very progressive school district in Pennsylvania. I volunteered, with a cohort of district employees, to participate in the “cultural competency cadre.” I figured, why not, it had a cool name, and the extra pay was enticing. It turned out to be an amazing […]
