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...]

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...]

I’m curious about a world without adjectives.  Descriptors via action statements, instead of vague terms about what something might look like, feel like, sound like.  I remember my high school English teacher drilling into our heads that the sign of good writing is the use of VERBS, not adjectives, as we were fooled into believing from our middle school days.  Verbs.  What do we DO, then, as parents?  As parents of “Fit Scholars?”  As parents of Martial Artists? Trust the Process Reach Out Have the Guts to Say “No” Parent with Intention That’s still a lot of adjectives.  How about….when all else fails: Do a jumping jack, grab a glass of wine & laugh at the absurdity of it all … [Read more...]

Anyone figure out yet how many acronyms it takes to educate a child?  How many you know the meanings of, and don’t know the meanings of?  How many you’d prefer to throw out the window, so that teachers talk to and with you when providing you with reports about your child in school? You know your child better than any teacher ever will – or at least in a different way!  You held her as a baby, laughed with her as a toddler, and swung with her on the playground.  You hear what she says in the car, and notice how she changes when she interacts with different peers.  But is the particular way in which you know your child appreciated – or even acknowledged – in parent-teacher meetings? Numerous studies (e.g. Compton, 2009; Lightfoot, 2003; Mehan, 1993; Ware, 1994) have suggested that parent-teacher conferences gloss over what is “really” in the hearts and minds of teachers … [Read more...]