Feb 01 2018
It seems to me that the word "competitive" is getting a bum rap in today's school systems and sports programs.
When I was growing up in primary school, there were awards for top marks and effort -- there was the most improved student, the award for highest achievement, the athlete of the year and sportswoman of the year.
Jan 18 2017
Last night I was putting my stepdaughter to bed, when she ran downstairs and frantically opened every cupboard in the front entrance looking for two flashlights.
Once she found the two flashlights, she moved them to another drawer, aligning them meticulously. When she was satisfied they were aligned perfectly, she closed the drawer and went happily to bed.
Jun 10 2016
I want to be kind, I really do. Kindness matters, I know this, I coach this, I speak about the power of kindness, and yet -- yes, and yet.
In my primary relationship (you know, that relationship with my husband), being kind seems to be in a wrestling match with being right. Being right just feels so good. It is a lustful emotion, an instinctual one, a need that can be sort of addiction.
Apr 13 2016
My heart swells when I read about the youth of Attawapiskat and the recent suicide pact that was thwarted by the quick actions of police, local services and community. I am the mother of four teenagers ranging from 16 to 20 yrs old. These teen years are tricky ones. I have only to look at my 6 ft “7” boy who most definitely looks like a man, and I think, yes, he is almost a man.
Jan 17 2016
My kids have all returned to school, and with them their friends, their boyfriends, and the happy high paced days and long nights of holiday with teenagers. Teenagers do not sleep the same hours as us adults, and trying to keep up with their zany schedule is as futile as it is exhausting. Irritatingly, it is often the late night conversations with teenagers that are the most rewarding, those conversations where they share a little bit about what is going on in their life, the observations they are making about friends and choices, the plans they have for the future.
Dec 24 2015
I wonder if the tide is turning about Christmas. This year, it seems that more is being written about putting the meaning back in Christmas. This is pretty dicey territory, because Christmas does in fact have different meaning for different people.
To many, Christmas marks the birth of Christ in a manger, with the three wise men and the sheep and the goats and the cow -- oh ya, and Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. Most of us know the story, but is that what most of us are actually celebrating at Christmas?
Apr 02 2013
As a speaker, a writer and advocate for healthy kids, I make my life in the business of communication. As a NLP Master Practitioner and Life Coach, I pay attention to the words people chose to express their ideas and emotions, and I am careful of the language I use to express my own. I am a voracious reader, and it is normal for me to have nine or ten books going at once. Words matter to me.
Apr 20 2011
I am so astounded that simple bribery works. I just bribed my child, pure and simple. All year we have been working to get him to remember to write his homework in his agenda. Each night as I check his empty agenda I hear the excuses. There is no homework, the teacher was sick today, the teacher is disorganized and, oh mom, I forgot. His look of anguish as he says” I forgot” is so sincere I believe it. He is a forgetful kids and struggles a huge amount with organization. We are paying a pretty penny for tutoring to help him with this challenge but this week I stumbled upon the solu
Nov 01 2010
Last night as I was accompanying my ten year old on her night of Trick or Treating, I had a thought I had never had before. Halloween is a great exercise! I watched as a gaggle of twelve kids not only walked the length of our 1km street, they ran full speed from door to door. Perhaps the creators of the beep test which measures the relative fitness of kids by testing them in wind sprint, flexibility and other exercise need to find the right motivation. Candy may be the answer. Candy seems to motivate even the most inactive child to sprint from door to door. Of course, the motivator ma
Oct 28 2010
All of us as adults can in some way relate to the concept of Mind Body Spirit. We may have for a time in our lives, ignored the needs of our body and found ourselves stricken with illness or injury. After a few years of this, most of us wise up to how connected our mental acuity and our productivity is to a balance in the mind, body and spirit. We simply function optimally when all are in balance. Our kids are no different and yet somehow, too many of us are missing the importance of movement for our kids.
