Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

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.

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Go To Hell, It's Summer!

Yesterday was the last day of school for my three oldest kids. I feel like I just crossed the finish line of a marathon, hands on my knees gasping for air. The past few weeks I’ve passed other parents at bus stops, in school hallways, on field trips and returned their dazed looks with “how are you?” The predominant refrain is, “you know, June is crazy.” Yes, I know. Here is a sampling of what has been added to my already full schedule this month. Three separate choir concerts, a dance recital, 6 field trips, an end of the year medieval celebration, my daughter's formal “spring fling dance” and middle school graduation. Somewhere in there is the pressure to get (or even worse- make) a grand thank you gift for all my kid’s teachers and the guilt of failing, again, to do this simple task that everyone else seems capable of. Top that off with under-slept kids frantic about finals, excited about yearbooks and over sugared from end of the year celebrations. As I drop my daughte

Media Literacy

Years ago my life offered up a juxtaposition with a profound lesson. I was a mom of two little girls under the age of 5 and relishing the experience. During that time I was asked to help lead the youth group at my church. During the day, I spent my time oohing and awing over crayon drawings of heads with arms and legs coming out of them. Not that my two daughters needed my praise; they clearly felt whatever they created was a masterpiece without my saying so. In the evenings once or twice a week and every weekend, I spent time teaching and playing with girls ages 12 to 18. I began to notice something startling. My little girls preened and danced and colored and delighted in themselves and life. You could tell them they were smart, kind, talented, beautiful and they would grin and nod knowingly. Not so with the teens I loved. They would continuously scrutinize themselves and find themselves terribly lacking. Try to compliment them and they deflected. Of course, there were gir

Parent Teacher Conferences

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

Where Parenting & Culture Collide

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