The Blog
Our best advice when it’s tough with kids:breathe, laugh, dance, sing, hug, call a friend. Be gentle with yourself, you’re not done growing up yet. This won’t last and you are not alone.
Want your child to do chores?
A few months ago we talked to KJ Dell'Antonia. KJ’s a mom of 4 and a former New York Times reporter. She’s an excellent write; she’s wise and interesting. And her recent book, How to be a Happier Parent, is a great read. KJ lives on a farm, there is a LOT of work to...
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Holidays stressful for you and the kids? Get my 5 best tips!
In a few days we leave to go “home”! :) It started out feeling like a fun adventure. Now it sounds like sheer craziness… A 30-hour train ride to get to LA for Christmas, then a plane flight to Texas for New Year’s and another flight to get home. Visiting family on...
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Parenting a child who is “too everything”
I’m just now recovering from hosting the Happily Family Conference last week. And yet, I think I will never be quite the same… this past conference changed me. Did it change you too? As a mom–inspired by so many speakers who talked about finding strengths, super...
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When your child is upset, where do you focus?
What do you focus on when your child is upset or having a meltdown? Do you pay attention to your child or to yourself? Dr. Kristin Neff, autism mom and self-compassion researcher, answered this question for us… What she said–and what the research shows–might surprise...
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What the Dalai Lama wants for kids
Have you ever had an argument with a spouse or partner that goes like this: The argument gets more and more heated until you start talking about feelings, and then it all changes from clenched jaws to peace and tenderness? It’s pretty amazing that when we talk about...
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How to support without overparenting
After hearing Jessica Lahey, author of the Gift of Failure, talk about the growth that occurs when we allow our kids to fail… After hearing Dr. Dan Siegel talk about when to give your kids a little pushin’ and when to give them a little cushion... I’ve come to the...
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How to prevent Mommy Meltdowns
I’m going to talk about something that I’ve never talked about publicly before… a time when I had a meltdown. And I’ve got a 5-sentence mini-script that you can say whenever you are about to lose it. Seriously, it’s gold! First the story, I rarely talk about, when I...
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What NOT to say during a meltdown
I want you to meet Dr. Christopher Willard. He’s a psychologist, author of 5 books including Growing Up Mindful and Raising Resilience, father of 2 kids, meditator, and teacher at Harvard Medical School (he’s no slouch!). Chris shares about meltdowns and the brain:...
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Dealing with a difficult child? Start with yourself
This past weekend Jason, and I hiked up Dog Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon-Washington border. We started the hike at 6am. It was dark. With my headlamp, I could only see the part of the trail directly in front of me and the outlines of the trees...
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