It’s like the world is in fast-forward. We rush rush rush and we forget, sometimes, to give feedback and, yes, accolades. In general, but most importantly to those who we love and who deserve it most. We forget that sometimes a verbal pat on the back and acknowledgement is reason enough to keep trying. We forget that everybody likes to have their effort noticed. So, think about two key roles that you play – parent and partner – and a few comments for each that might be n

It’s kind of hard to say that I want you to acknowledge your mom. Mostly because I feel as though that might sound as though I’m wingeing and I want my menfolk to acknowledge my own role as a mother (ahem). And maybe that is my goal. But. Rather than focus on them, instead, I think I’ll tell you about why I am grateful for my own mom, who is an awesome amazing person. And for whom I am forever grateful. Sometimes a relationship is hard to capture with words. I’ll give

Why does everyone seem to think their life is the toughest? It doesn’t matter what experiences you’ve had, I promise you, others will think theirs is worse. Or bigger. Or longer. Or harder. I have decided that it is time to stop comparing. It’s time to stop feeling like we have to compare ourselves to our friends, to our contacts on Facebook, or to our colleagues. Sometimes, you have to force yourself to focus on the grass in your own lawn (proverbial AND otherwise),

#1 (That’s you!) 1. You listen. When your child comes to you with a problem or an idea, you stop what you are doing, look at your child and focus so you can really hear what it is they are trying to tell you. Even if your child is not quite conversant, you are the one they come to because they know you will hear what it is they have to share. And that to you, it and they are important. 2. You look out for them. You have found the best preschool, after vetting all other

I was reading back through some of my earlier blog post. One caught my eye and stuck in my mind. I was writing about our different families: those that we are born with, and then those that we choose for ourselves. Beyond our spouses and our children, we also choose our families with the friendships we make. Especially overseas, where we often live across oceans from our biological families, it is vital to create a support system for ourselves. These are the people we tu

The boys vs girls discussion could go on ad nauseam. I don’t know that much about raising girls, other than what I experienced growing up with two sisters. There did seem to be a lot of drama, though. Now, raising boys, I’ve had some practice. What I have learned about parenting, though, is that when young, they are very very different animals. Here’s what I’ve noticed about boys: Sticks. If we kept every stick my boys have found, we would be able to build ourselves a

We rush rush rush and we forget, sometimes, to give feedback and, yes, accolades to those who deserve it. We forget that sometimes a verbal pat on the back and acknowledgement is reason enough to keep trying. We forget that everybody likes to have their effort noticed. So, think about two key roles that you play – parent and partner – and a few comments for each that might be nice to hear. Remember these same comments when you look at your own partner. Start the convers