Life Lessons of a Failed Belt Test

Yesterday I wrote about Luke, a precocious 7 year-old who is struggling in school because other kids are noisy and disruptive in class.  I want to give you more background on Luke….as a reminder to all of us that we face different types of challenges each day.  Learning how to deal with challenges in life, including a group of kids in your classes who bug the heck out of you, is what the staff teach and model at my family’s Martial Arts Academy….as this story will tell. Luke failed his first belt test at the Academy in January 2009.  His mom Jennifer e-mailed my husband (the Head of School) that evening thanking him for holding Luke to high standards.  She wrote: “Thank you for helping us to teach Luke that there are times that he will have to work for something.  Until today he has never struggled to achieve anything.  Everything has always come very easily to him.  It … [Read more...]

“But Mom, I Want to Learn!”

Jennifer, a mom of a self-described “super smart, super geek” 7 year-old asked for advice last week about supporting her son through a terrible time at school.  Her son Luke is having a hard time dealing with the fact that he, in his own words, “wants to learn” but is not able to because he’s stuck in a class with kids who talk all the time and disrupt the teacher.  He can’t stand the fact that these kids “goof off” and, worse, share a table with him.  Jennifer feels lost.  When she was growing up, she was the “goof” who talked out of turn all the time.  She had never put herself in the shoes of the student who wanted – and needed – to be around others who were quiet and respectful of the teacher and the class rules.  Now, it's her son in those shoes. Luke’s a great kid.   Super smart, as his mother glowingly attests to, respectful and focused.  He reads … [Read more...]

Are “Back to School Experts” Forgetting a Key Ingredient to Success?

It's TURNAROUND time in millions of American households right now.  We're turning to a new schedule, a new routine, a new group of people in our childrens' lives.  New teachers, new peers in class, new demands.  Now is the time to start BUILDING those important, effective homework habits.  Often, though, we forget that it's also time to continue nurturing our relationship with our kids. Sure, we can help our kids build excellent Homework Habits.  We can, for example, help them set up a study area in their room.  ScholarFit's homework tip sheet is just the beginning...(and man, it's a good beginning!). I'm here, though, to remind you of something else....of a core lesson for all parents. A wise mom of three ranging in age from 6 to 13 sent me an e-mail last spring after getting in a fight with her teenage son about his forgotten homework.  “He’s trying to get control, … [Read more...]

A Social Side of College: Happiness 101

We shot bows and arrows, hiked up trails, and watched our kids build forts.  We listened to seven year old Nicolas practice his violin while standing on a stump.  We told tales of our travels, of the developments at work, of the challenges of raising kids prone to hitting, of grabbing toys out of their siblings hands, of dramatizing every challenge that comes their way.  We celebrated our childrens' curiosities - their questions about the stars, their eagerness to find bears, their delight in seeing some water balloons float in the hot tub, others sink.  We came from all over - a hundred miles South, a few hundred miles North, a plane ride away, and a double trip plane ride away (London, that is).  The picture here is pretty funny to me.  It's our version of an album cover, I guess.  My college roommates from oh so many years ago, reunited with their respective clans in the San Cristos … [Read more...]

The Labor Market We Create for Ourselves…and Our Kids

I sometimes wonder if I shot myself in the foot because I chose a non-traditional career path…especially after reading articles such as yesterday’s David Leonhardt article about career damage to mothers in the workforce. I don’t want to get bogged down in the Mommy Wars debate.  We all choose (and sometimes are forced into) mom-work scenarios that work best for us.  As Amy Hilbrich Davis of Inspiring Moms says, "One of the hardest things about motherhood is defining what success looks like to you.  We are each so unique, with different circumstances, needs & concerns.  The sooner you know what it is that makes you feel happy & successful as a mom, the sooner you will stop comparing yourself to every other mom.  Give yourself grace, be kind to yourself and to other moms as you work to achieve your definition of success"  From Inspiring Moms (FB & Twitter, July 26) I, … [Read more...]