Where Parenting & Culture Collide

My Mom- The best woman I know. My friend- who I have watched work miracles by sheer force of will. Me. Sometimes as a mom, I get it all wrong ( like this ). Lots of times actually. But just like EVERY mom who loves her kids, I have moments that are brilliant. If you're a mom, acknowledge to yourself that sometimes you are BRILLIANT! You are doing the hardest job on earth and sometimes you get it right! On the heels of my parent teacher conference debacle, I thought I'd share an idea that worked out well. I have a degree in Human Development. I love every stage of growth in children. I find it amazing. When my oldest daughter reached age 11 it dawned on me that her childhood was rapidly coming to a close. Soon she would be a teen, then a woman. There are cultures that assist in the transition from childhood to adulthood in powerful, effective ways. These cultures are filled with capable, confident teens that don't manifest the angst and turmoil we accept as a normal...

Today I attended a parent teacher conference . My opinion on parent teacher conferences is simply this: either your kid is doing just fine or they are not. If the its the former, why waste the time going in? If it's the latter- well, honestly call me when its a crisis, and I'll worry then. My daughter is doing just fine (2nd grade) although she is a little slow on her math facts. The teachers advice, "when you come to a stop light, have her add up or subtract the numbers on the license plate of the car in front of you." Advice I immediately filed in the "Ya Right, When Pigs Fly" folder of my brain while I smiled and nodded. Turns out the joke is on me. After discussing math, we moved on to writing. They are working on writing a true story, something from their life. They had to map out a beginning, middle and end to their story. My daughter's started like this, "My mom went crazy." Her teacher smiled at me and said, "nothing is a secret...

Three weeks into the new school year I was combing out my daughters hair when she said, "My head itches." Those words strike dread in a mothers heart. I immediately starting plowing through her hair and sure enough- lice! Panic attack setting in. I grabbed my other daughter and. . . lice! Full blown panic happening. I immediately called a friend, mother of six, hoping she'd know what to do. Sure enough she empathized, calmed me down and gave me solid advice on how to handle this crisis. Thanks to her advice, that was the last day I saw lice. As my daughter said, "you went gang-busters." And I did. It was all out war at our house that day, but the lice lost and I won. That same friend showed up that evening with pizza, salad and Oreo's. It had been a very long day of laundry, treatments, combing and cleaning. Pizza and Oreo's never tasted so good. Today we made caramel apples for her family as a thank you. I've used this recipe for years, ever since I...

I just started Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. I hope you know that name, but if not, rush over to ted.com . Watch http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html and then watch http://www.ted.com/talk /brene_brown_listening_to_shame.html . I love smart people with great ideas! I loved her TED talks, I will let you know what I think of her book when I finish. Update: I like a person who normalizes all my foibles. I love a person who normalizes them and then shows me a better way. Brene gets the job done. I definitely recommend this book, however, if I were to do it over, I would read Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection first. Either way, you'll be gratified by her down to earth, insightful wisdom. Specifically, this book addresses the salient issues of shame, scarcity mentality and disengagement. Her solutions resonate and are backed by solid research.

The morning started out foggy- love a foggy morning.  Every Seattle-lite knows, when the sun shines, seize the moment. When it shines in October. . . seize it NOW. Soon it will start raining and it won't stop for months and months. Friday was a no school day for us, the forecast: sunny and 60 degrees. I wanted to hike, I love to hike. My kids don't, but I persevere. My mom said to me once, "all my kids complained about hiking, all my kids have grown up to be hikers." So I hold out hope that my forced marches up mountainsides will transform them into cheerful hikers someday. I mentioned wanting to hike on Friday to my husband and he got the day off work. I have been hankering to hike Mount Pilchuck (http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-pilchuck) for years. My 14 year old doesn't love watching the kids, but given the choice between a 6 mile hike and babysitting, well. . . So, magically, Friday morning found my husband and I hiking up Mount Pilchuck ALONE! We...