Relationships
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Travel: Tips on How to Travel with Kids
We have done our fair share of flying with little people, and I don’t mean the plastic variety. The first flight I took with my now 11 year-old was from Los Angeles to Seattle when she was about 3 months. The most recent flight was this past December when we summoned up the courage to take our three to Australia with the youngest just having turned four. The first thing people asked about the trip was “How was the flight?”, and I could honestly answer that although long, it wasn’t that bad. But that’s also because we’ve had lots of practice. Even when our children were crawling or…
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Parenting: Ashoka’s Start Empathy Program
Over the past few years, we have heard more and more about the damage and even life-threatening effects that bullying has had on our youth. I think most of us experienced some form of bullying as a kid – but the difference today is the ability for bullying to reach much farther and in some situations more intensely via the Internet. That is why programs like the Ashoka’s Start Empathy initiative are so important to help parents and educators teach children the importance of empathy. I had a chance to speak to the organization about the program and what parents can do to help teach empathy. Tell us about Start Empathy and what its…
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Reflections: The Need to Understand
The Art of Communicating Well: As always is the case, writing a reflections piece for this site with a theme of love or relationships comes out of my personal experience. I teach, and teaching is how I learn. Similar to this reciprocal exchange, writing has long been the tool that I use to teach myself. Today’s idea has been floating around for a while, and I will address it today as means of pinning it down to explore it a little better. Last month I had an ugly breakdown in communication with someone that I respect a great deal. I can count on one hand the amount of times that something like…
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Instagram of the Week: Paving Your Own Path
In this time of having the ability to always be “on” and “connected” via iPhone, iPad or computer, it can be tough to decompress and slow down! Part of taking care of others involves the important step of taking care of oneself and knowing when it is time to relax and reboot. Last weekend we enjoyed our time together as a family but I made sure to take a little time out for myself and took a walk along the beach alone. There is something about the ocean that is just so soothing! I took several pictures and one of my favorites is of the little guy you see above walking along the shoreline. He…
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Relationships: What Mark Did You Make?
Teaching Values: Checking in with your kids each day is a great way to help them remember their values and to focus on the type of person that they want to be. And a great question to ask each night is, “What mark did you make today?” You see, every time you are with someone you leave a mark – either a “gold heart” or a “grungy mark” depending on how you treated them. The Golden Rule: When I was a young girl, my Dad loved to talk about the Golden Rule – “to treat others as I would want to be treated”. The Golden Rule was really about…
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Your Family Tree: Where to Start
The idea of starting a research project on your family history can be an exciting, yet daunting, one. Where did your family come from? How did your ancestors live? These questions are just two that got me started on a family tree. I wanted to know as much as I could about my family. When I first started, I was immediately overwhelmed and had no clue what to do. After quite a bit of research, I finally got on track and was amazed at some of the things I found. If you are interested in finding out more about your own family, I have put together a few pointers…
