I’ve been wanting to write about anxiety since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March, and although several months have passed, anxiety remains a major issue for children. Children (and adults) of all ages are anxious about all the upheaval in the world – from COVID to conversations on racism – and these fears aren’t the kind…
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If you identify as White and read my recent blog post on 57 Privileges of White Parents (which is now longer than that thanks to readers who got in touch and added more ideas), you might have come away surprised (shocked?) by the privileges you have, you might be wondering “well, now I know this,…
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A few months ago I was invited to speak to parents at a very nice preschool in a very nice neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area for a panel discussion about school choice. I was invited because a parent at the school had listened to my podcast episode on white privilege, and wanted to…
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This blogpost is part of a series on understanding the intersection of race, privilege, and parenting. Click here to view all the items in this series. Note: If you’re a person of a non-dominant culture (a term I use to avoid centering whiteness, and to acknowledge the power differential present in systems of structural racism)…
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Are you feeling overwhelmed and stressed by the intense prolonged, family time created by the pandemic? Many American parents are having trouble adjusting to this new normal. Everyone’s stress levels are high, but the extra strain of parenting young children has been magnified by isolation. For those working from home, there are the constant interruptions…
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Could more screen time actually benefit my child? Remember playing the telephone game at school and summer camp? The leader would give a message like, “There’s supposed to be a storm tonight with thunder and lightning.” Everyone whispered the message to the person next to them and by the time the statement got to the…
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“Please put your shoes away.” “I don’t want to.” “Put your shoes away now.” “No!” “If you don’t put them away you can’t watch cartoons tonight, and maybe we won’t have dessert either!” ~sigh~ (A conversation like this has never happened in your house, right? Didn’t think so. Mine either😉) When we ask our child…
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I’m guessing you’re feeling somewhere between ‘just keeping it together’ and ‘sheer panic’ right now. Perhaps you previously had one or some of your child(ren) at home with you…and now they’re all around all the time. Or maybe you work outside the home and now you’re trying to do that inside the home…while being attacked by…
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Back in college, a good friend and I had our hearts broken at about the same time. I remember being embarrassed by how physically sore I felt. It wasn’t cool to have your heart broken. I knew I was supposed to tell myself the break-up was ‘for the best’ and bounce back, but I felt…
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Trauma from events like Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can dramatically impact both individuals and their families long after the event itself is over. Even people who have experienced things that you wouldn’t necessarily think was a huge deal (which psychologists call “little t trauma”) can elevate a person’s risk for a wide-range of social, emotional,…
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