Life doesn’t stop because you don’t have the bandwidth for it. Sometimes, you need to shut down for a bit.  After struggling with too many emotions for too long, I recently had a little shut down. Maybe it was a big shut down, and unfortunately, it went on for too long. It wasn’t healthy – ...

There are some days of the year that are just more special than others. My favorite day is right around the corner.

This is the first year in over a decade I won’t be doing back-to-school shopping and I’m conflicted.  

It struck me this week, as I celebrated my birthday while on vacation, how my expectations for both have changed as I’ve gotten older (I’m not sharing my age, but my fun fact: I was born the same day as NFL star Tom Brady). 

As someone who has their toddler on a one-hour-a-day-or-less screentime policy, I didn’t think I would find much helpful information inside, that it would be geared more toward older kids.  Boy, was I wrong. 

The little boy that used to beg me to take him to the playground every day is now a moody teenager who is completely obsessed with technology. Lately he would rather spend his time on his phone or playing video games.  

I’ll be honest… I’ve been going through a rough time with my teens. I’m in the middle of the storm and it’s very unsettling.  

I wondered if I was alone in missing snail mail, so I asked my friends if they missed it too, or whether we were now conditioned to communicating electronically and/or getting nothing but unwanted mail.  I was surprised to find that most of them also wished they found more interesting paper mail.  

What toddler doesn’t like to get their way? But there are a few strategies we use as parents that I believe have helped cultivate a positive disposition.