The Curse of the Excess.
My dad had some strong OCD tendencies and was an expert sort-er. He sorted socks by color, pens by color, m&m’s by color. He sorted containers by size, flower pots by size, and chocolates by size. The trouble was, once he started sorting, things got complicated. If he found a container he liked, he needed […]
You, and you alone.
The very first time I lived alone – no parents, no siblings, no companions, no roommates – was about 3 years into my teaching career. I had been living with a roommate in her condo and she was moving. And my parents were selling our family home and moving with some of my younger siblings […]
Help in the “missing”.
During the month of May in 1985, while some of you were merrily going about living your lives, I was going through some serious senior year angst. My dad teased me because before asking permission to attend every event that spring, I would dramatically say to him and my mom, “But it might be the […]
Don’t ask your kid this question.
Many, many of my conversations at the very large, very suburban, very public high school where I’m finishing my career are about grades. SO much talk about grades. This post is not about whether we should care about grades (we should) or whether we should expect our children to get ‘good’ grades (we shouldn’t). This […]
What support says.
I was lucky enough to know and love both of my grandmas, and a step-grandma, before they died. I don’t take that time, or them, for granted. I was also lucky enough to be able to choose a grandma. The one I chose was named Brownie. I met her in 1988 and for 22 years, […]
The Thing about Influence.
There’s something about pink frosted sugar cookies that make people smile. It’s kind of a proven fact. In my baking life, those cookies are the ones I get the most comments on. Period. They’re also some of the most time consuming to make. The dough usually has to be chilled. Then rolled. Then cut. Then […]
I think we all have a superpower.
I think we all have a superpower. Maybe it’s making warm, crusty bread or doing your daughter’s hair like Rey from Star Wars or bringing contagious energy into a room or telling the funniest well-timed jokes. I used to think I got skipped in the superpower department. Fluent in languages? No. A master of memorization? […]
Values and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be someone who indulges in a Disneyland lifestyle, I would have thought you didn’t know me very well. A kajillion people in matching t-shirts who just want to have fun? No, thank you. Chaos? Nope. People leaving their strollers unattended? What?! And $7 […]
The Shoe Exercise.
Every so often I have a client who is struggling with knowing themselves – really knowing themselves. Maybe they haven’t spent a lot of time lately listening to themselves, or really looking at themselves, or taking care of their own needs. Maybe they’ve been caught up in the needs of a spouse, partner, child, parent, […]
I’m not good at it. And it’s scary.
I always tell people “We grew up riding motorcycles” – which is true. Kind of. We had several motorcycles, and most of us rode them. It’s just that some of us rode them better than others. My dad built a second garage behind our house so we had an upper driveway and a lower one, […]
