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Welcome to Capable Kids Q&A, where you send me your dilemmas about lovingly nudging your kids towards a thriving can-do spirit, and I pull together the research, expertise, and wisdom out there to bring you encouragement and ideas. (Thank you for sending your great questions; keep them coming.) Do you receive my newsletter? For new Capable… Continue reading Capable Kids Q&A: Differently Wired
Q: Can you focus on building an elementary kid’s confidence—in particular ages 6-8? A: This is such a fun, exciting age of possibility—early elementary kids are usually fairly agreeable, and they can do far more for themselves than they could a few years earlier when they were in preschool or kindergarten. (And preschoolers and kindergartners… Continue reading Capable Kids Q&A: Confidence Tips for Kids
Welcome to Capable Kids Q&A, where you send me your dilemmas about lovingly nudging your kids towards a thriving can-do spirit, and I pull together the research, expertise, and wisdom out there to bring you encouragement and ideas. (Thank you for sending your great questions; keep them coming.) Q: How can I encourage my 9-year-old only… Continue reading Capable Kids Q&A: Reluctant Cyclist
Welcome to Capable Kids Q&A, where you send me your dilemmas about lovingly nudging your kids towards a thriving can-do spirit, and I pull together the research, expertise, and wisdom out there to bring you encouragement and ideas. (Thank you for sending your great questions; keep them coming.) Capable Kids Q&A: Procrastinating Teen Artist Q:… Continue reading Capable Kids Q&A: Procrastinating Teen Artist
Hey there, Around here winter has reached that stage I'm calling the Great Softening. Finally, finally, finally, the temperature is getting above freezing every day and the drip of water and shrinking snow promises that spring is slowly creeping in. Once again, spring will win. This, plus good news about COVID numbers, means I'm feeling… Continue reading The Latest: My New Article + Bonus | Can I Help? ❤️| Tidbits
Allowing kids to try to meet (and master) real-life challenges helps them build a healthy, protective sense of self-efficacy. Happy to share my latest for the New York Times. Emptying the Dishwasher Can Enrich Kids’ Mental Health Published online February 11, 2021, and in print on February 14, 2021.
Hey there, Over and over, I've wondered how parents of young kids are making it these days. Because I stayed home with my kids when they were small, doing that with a side of pandemic thrown in is where my mind goes first: The isolation of new motherhood without being able to go to a… Continue reading The Latest: How to Survive Parenthood | Quests | Something Delicious
Hey there, Anyone else have whiplash from this long, strange January? We started with so much hope, a fresh page. Then, worsening COVID numbers (including the illness of one of my loved ones, who has since recovered), violence at the Capitol, impeachment. Last week, I felt an unfamiliar sensation: hope. The week was rightly dominated… Continue reading The Latest: Art and Hope | “Crap” | Tiny Parties
If you haven't heard about Bean Dad, lucky you, I think? (I'll explain. And briefly, I promise.) But, really, it is possible to be kind and to raise capable, independent kids. Here's my latest for Washington Post. How to Raise Capable Kids Without Feeling Like a Jerk Published in Washington Post, January 5, 2021 (Photo… Continue reading How to Raise Capable Kids Without Feeling Like a Jerk
Who would have thought anyone could miss an 8-hour road trip. Well, in 2020, all things (and no things) are possible. My new essay: When There's No Holiday Road Trip Published December 22, 2020 in Your Teen