After the COVID-19 lockdown two springs ago, I began taking the children in my counseling groups outdoors when school reopened in the fall. Noticing nature offered them the calming reset their minds and bodies needed. I needed it more than ever as well. On those brief walks outside, I allowed the boys and girls to … Continue reading Reclaiming Enchantment with The Lost Words
A gangly pre-teen, I was "too old" for Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood when the soft-spoken man in the red sweater and tennis shoes captured the hearts of American children, but still I watched him. Public television was a new thing back then and besides, there was only one TV in the house. Agitated and worn from … Continue reading Love Your Neighbor as Yourself: How America’s Fascination with Mr. Rogers Can Help Heal our Culture’s Vitriolic Division
I once asked a kindergarten boy if there was anything he'd like me to tell his mom, who'd asked me to call her after a counseling session with her son. "Tell her to get off the phone!" he snapped with a bitterness that took me by surprise. "What? You mean she talks on the phone a … Continue reading Castles, Catch and Kairos: Relearning Play in an Age of Digital Distraction
After 20 years experience working with children impacted by our policies regarding the US/Mexico border, I responded to the most recent border crisis (family separation) with a reflection carried by Colorado's oldest newspaper, The Pueblo Chieftain ( Children pay price over border policy.) It's about children, red/blue division and our national inability to recognize the humanity … Continue reading The Border and the Both/And
I'll never forget when, years ago in my counseling career, a young man in the community I where I worked committed a horrific, violent crime. But I also won't forget a Wednesday evening about two years after the tragedy when his name came up at church--where I was leading teenagers in a discussion about their … Continue reading Science vs. Self-Centeredness! Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me-World
An author who confesses that her childhood nickname was "Chatty Kathy" is someone I know I'll appreciate. In 8 Great Smarts: Discover and Nurture Your Child's Intelligences, Dr. Kathy Koch presents the multiple intelligence theory of Dr. Howard Gardner in an accessible guide for parents wishing to help children understand and grow their natural strengths. … Continue reading Frustrated with the Gift of Gab? Consider the Word-Smart Strength Behind It
The mother of one of the children at my school came to discuss strategies for handling her four-year-old daughter's constant complaints about rules. Exceptionally inquisitive and logical, the girl reminds me of one of my sons, who at about the same age, disputed my insistence on a daily afternoon nap. When I tried reducing the … Continue reading Peter Rabbit, Bluebeard, and Adam and Eve: A Theological Meandering
Humility is a beautiful, elusive quality, a virtue that's fallen completely out of fashion. Google its definition and you can ponder a graph showing the word's diminishing use in our language from 1885 to today. A century ago, we talked a good deal about humility. Today, not so much. Because I read to young children … Continue reading Counteracting the Big Me with Two Frogs and a Toad
