by Cecilia Hilkey | holidays, parenting
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...read more
by Cecilia Hilkey | parenting
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...read more
by Cecilia Hilkey | parenting
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...read more
by Cecilia Hilkey | parenting, professionals, tools
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...read more
by Cecilia Hilkey | homework/school, parenting
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...read more
by Cecilia Hilkey | parenting, tantrums
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...read more
