In a quarter-century of working with children, I have been humbled many times. I have also learned much more from the children than they have from me. After thousands of hours of research, study, and hands on experience with children, I have 10 basics that I come back to as the core principles for being a better parent.

“If you love me, don’t create me in your mind.” -unknown

1. Love the child you have, not the child you wish you had. Many parents have an image in their mind of who their child will be. Remember that your child is…

The Bittersweet Heartache of Raising Independent Teens

I didn’t go the bathroom alone for years. There would be a little face peeking in the door and asking me if I was almost done. If it wasn’t her, it was her little sister, both of them clinging to me like baby orangutans. The days were exhausting. Wake, parent, work, come home, repeat. It was an endless string of hours, weeks, months, eons. It seemed endless, until it didn’t.

I don’t think I slept a full night from 2006–2011. Little bodies were crawling in, pressing against me, waking me to help them…

Do you ever feel like the only one in your relationship? Do you feel frustrated about unmet expectations or dreams unfulfilled? Do you feel like your partner does not love you? Sometimes, its necessary to carefully observe your partner’s words and actions to understand how they love.

Not all people express love in the same way. By understanding the different languages of love, you may see that your partner is communicating love in a way that is foreign to you. …

There are so many proven benefits of spending time in nature, even for brief, brisk walks. Here is an excellent scientific study showing the positive effects of immersion in nature on brain function, some of which include increased performance in problem solving, increased creativity and increased executive function, not to mention the obvious physical benefits.

When I was a little girl, my mother used to take me out to walk every day, rain, sleet, snow, or shine. This continued through my teenage years, when most of the time I would begrudgingly get off the phone to join her and proceed…

Put Your Health First and Leave Hangovers Behind With This One Change.

Would you love to enjoy the pleasures of drinking beer while cutting down on alcohol content and carbs?

What if you could lose weight while still drinking high quality IPA’s?

The good news is that you can!

Non-alcoholic and low alcohol beers have become increasingly popular over the past five years or so, as more and more people give dry January a try as a way to start out the new year clear headed and focused.

Here are six great benefits of choosing low carb and low alcohol…

Do you have anxiety about money? Most of us do. Make 2021 the year you get healthy physically, mentally and financially. Financial stress affects our general mental health and well being. Take control and improve your relationship with money with these eight simple steps.

1. Journal about your spending and saving habits. Write down everything you owe. Reflect on how you feel about it. This is the first step in getting a clear picture of your financial reality and your feelings about it.
2. Keep track of your bank account balances. You should be checking them daily, unlike the nearly 40% of…

“Thus it happens that at the age of three, life seems to begin again; for now consciousness shines forth in all its fullness and glory.” -Maria Montessori (The Absorbent Mind)

Math didn’t make sense to me until I was fourteen. It was my freshman year geometry class that unlocked the door to the world of math for me. I hadn’t enjoyed a math class before, ever. I could generally do the assignments, but I didn’t understand the process of what I was doing, until geometry. Geometry was different. It made sense. The numbers stood for something I could see, like…

In this modern era of screens, working with your hands and doing something other than typing or swiping is an anomaly.

As the teacher of young children, I am always astounded at what the children don’t know how to do with their hands when they first enter the Montessori classroom. It has gotten increasingly worse since I began my teaching career in 1999. I have been a witness, first hand, to the demise of hand strength in small children over the last 20 years. …