Sometimes it's fear. Hello friends! In a recent reflection, I explored motivation for kids. Here, I’d like to explore a common saboteur of motivation—fear—and how it can show up for kids (and us) in surprising ways. A story about Amy (Note: Details about Amy and her...
A reframe that can help parents support kids Hello friends, The other day I heard myself telling my 13-year-old that she “lacked motivation” to do something productive over break. And actually, this conversation didn’t begin over break. Uh-oh, I thought to myself,...
When you don’t know what to say Hello friends, A couple of weeks ago my husband lost his mom, and at first I wasn’t sure how to show up for him. You see, my husband has the chameleon feelings habit, which means he doesn’t like to talk about feelings. Most days, I know...
Habits that help when we're worried Hello friends, The other day my daughter, Maya, and I were waiting nervously in the waiting room of the oral surgeon’s office. We were frazzled from arriving late (more on that later), and Maya was fretting about the anesthesia that...
When gratitude and unhappiness collide Hello Friends, As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I have been reflecting on gratitude. Gratitude is essential… and yet it can be complicated. Sometimes it almost feels wrong to be grateful in a world that has so much...
Hello friends! I teach playful mindfulness and self-compassion lessons in schools, and today I’m inviting you into a few K5-4th grade classrooms to see how I help kids open to goodness and take in good things. Do you ever have those days when you’re fixated on what is...
Hello friends, This week’s story is the final chapter in my child-centered, play-based creation series. While these stories might seem to be about how I co-created the Mindfulness & Self-Compassion Workbooks for Kids, they’re really about something deeper:...
Hello friends, I loved hearing reflections on last week’s story from those of you who saw your own kids or clients in Sam. A few of you asked how to support “Chameleon” kids (and teens) who hide feelings without realizing it. For me, helping “Chameleon” kids with...
Hello friends, If you read last week’s story, you know how the Feelings Habit Animals were born: from six kids in my living room who insisted, “We need a quiz. That would make it fun.” They were right, of course. But after we created the quiz, the kids had a new...
Hello friends, The creation of my workbooks for kids began with a deep desire for all children, not just the ones in my classes, to experience the life-changing power of self-compassion… more self-love, more confidence, and the courage to do hard things. I thought I...