I just got back from two weeks on the road. I racked up:

• Three climates
• two time zones
• and a whole lot of amazing adventures.

I was in Colorado, meeting clients, writing, and exploring the Rocky Mountains.

The mornings started at 24 degrees, the afternoons finished at 60 but felt...

Christmas 2011 - Also known as the year we hit the reset button on the holiday.

Christmas is the season of giving and receiving between friends, families, and coworkers, but from the perspective of a little one, it’s all about the ‘getting’.  

I sat on the floor, face to face with an 18 month old little boy. He was trying to put a circle shaped toy into a square shaped hole.

He tried again and again and again, and it wouldn't fit.  

Frustration strained his face. His hands gripped tightly around the little...

When my kids were one and three, the daily struggles were REAL and honestly, I thought it would never end.  

“Two and four have got to be better, right?” My daily prayer, mantra style. 

When I turned to my village for support they said loving, yet...

“It's not very beautiful is it?” We were painting little plaster Halloween creatures and this little four year old’s was multi-colored and multi-layered, hues blending to create new and different shades. 

When I hesitated, he put down the paintbrush held it up to...

"You can each pick one thing" I said to each of my girls as we entered the store. 

With that statement I released any attachment to what that item was.

Whether it was healthy or junk, a tube of bubbles or colored, lined index cards. (Even as a tiny Caroline already had a thing for...

It was a quiet summer Saturday morning.  I was up early, a cup of hot coffee in my hand while momming mantras ran through my mind: I will stay calm today. I WILL stay calm today. I can do this. 

The day before with my 4 year old had been hard. The day before that, even harder....

"Ok, it's time to clean up. Help me put these blocks back in the box please."

I was wrapping up a home visit and the recently-turned one year old looked at me and smiled. 

She then did these three things in quick succession:

1. Picked up a block
2. Put it in the wooden box
3. And dumped all the...

“Mom, what do you think I should do?” 

My daughter Caroline just started her first semester at Temple University, Japan. Her night is my day, and vice versa, so I often wake up to messages, pictures, or voice memos from her.  It’s a great way to start the day...

Parents & Early Educators ask me a short list of questions, on repeat. And this always makes the top three!

My job is to be honest with you. So here it is.

Consciousness is only HALF of the formula for raising and teaching well rounded, whole kids.

So why is conscious...

I duct-taped my 3 year old’s car seat buckle.

Yep, you read that right. 

The year was 2006  and we were on vacation in Cape Cod when Claire’s explosive behaviors began. It truly felt like an out of the blue, 180 degree change in our child. The crying, body...

"I don't know but I'll figure it out."

This is what my then 18 year old daughter Caroline told me after arriving in Japan only to find that the Aupair job she had lined up had fallen through.

I world away I was in a bit of mama panic and did what I counsel parents never to do ‍ peppered her...