How to Teach Gratitude to Our Children

Some things I vowed I’d never say to my children. Like this one. “Don’t waste those waffles, girls. Did you know there are kids starving in Africa??” “What?” My younger daughter, age four at the time, looked up at me and crinkled her nose. “In Africa. And all sort of other places around the world. Even here in our own country! Not all kids get to eat as much as you do.” “But I don’t want waffles! I wanted cereal!” My seven-year-old whined. “Too bad. Eat the waffles. Some children are lucky if they get a bowl of rice—and that’s …

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One Good Reason to Spoil Your Kids

“Mommy, will you tell us a story?” My younger daughter, three years old at the time, looked up at me, pleading. Her wispy hair lay fanned across a cotton pillowcase, and her eyes shone glossy in the lamplight. “A story? Sure.” It was a typical bedtime request. My girls like to hear stories from my childhood, so I spin ordinary memories into fairy tales. They think this is fabulous entertainment. “Once upon a time,” I launched into my standard opener, “there was a beautiful princess named Princess Becky. Every week, she went grocery shopping with her mom, Queen Nana. At …

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If You Want to Get It Right This School Year

I forgot her water bottle. The first day of kindergarten, I had my daughter’s backpack stocked, her school supplied labeled, her lunch bag filled with her favorite food plus a special note using only words she could read—but! I forgot the bleeping water bottle. I am a terrible mother. All summer long, I thought about this day, the first experience of navigating math and music and recess without Mom, without my steady presence to help her make choices and pull her socks up and open her yogurt lid. And here is it, kindergarten. We have officially grown. My baby must …

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I Should Not Do That

I Should (Not) Do That

I suffer from a common condition. It’s called “shoulditis”—otherwise known as I should do that disease. Symptoms flare up under the most ordinary circumstances. When my friend calls to say she’s taking a Zumba class, I think of how long it’s been since my Nikes hit the gym, and my own voice whispers in my head, I should do that. When I scroll through Facebook and see a dozen photos of cutesy craft projects other moms created with their children, I’m deflated. I should do that. When my parenting magazine plugs a recipe for brownies using hidden carrot puree, I …

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