Wash the dishes, wash the dishes; The Christmas dinner dishes; Three generations in the kitchen all at once (Hawksley Workman, 3 Generations) My mother was the keeper of our family rituals. Fiercely independent and proud of her amazing turkey dinner timed just right, she would never accept help from us, her two adult daughters. She took complete responsibility for…
With Thanksgiving already over in Canada and the United States, and with Hannukah, Christmas and other celebrations coming in just a few weeks, we are firmly into the holiday season. Like the rest of this year, it promises to be a season unlike any other we have experienced before. During a time of year that…
I sit here listening to the lyrics of a song my daughter wrote when she was 15, and it brings me right back:I’m floating away, seems my mind just won’t stay in my brain.It’s all just a haze and the ghosts overtake me, no escape … no escape.I’m going in circles … what happened to…
This fall looks a lot different than anyone could have anticipated. Many parents are finding themselves in the position of deciding to keep their children at home and figuring out what that might look like. Many teachers are finding themselves in the position of trying to “teach” in the midst of restrictive protocols and increased…
As parents are pondering the best path forward for their children and families during this pandemic, a number of pundits have been featured on Canadian news channels urgently stating that children NEED to go to school. One even stated that children need to go to school more than they or their families need to be kept…
If one were trying to create a recipe for frustration, these past few months would be the winning combination. Frustration is one of our primary mammalian emotions and it arises when things are not going the way we want them to.Not being able to move about the world as we are used to doing? Frustrating!…
We are being called upon these days – for good reason – to confront racism wherever we should find it. It is being uncovered in some of the very institutions we depend upon to preserve order and justice in our society. The sense of anger and betrayal runs deep. There is also a growing realization that…
My 17-year-old son Jacksen bounded out of his room this morning, fresh out of bed, greeting us without a hello or good morning but instead straight-up yelling, “That’s it! I’m not staying in this house today! I’m going out! And I don’t care what anybody says right now!”Did I say, “No you are not! You…
There is a plethora of advice these days emerging on HOW to turn one’s home into a school. The underlying assumption is that it is indeed in a child’s best interest for this to happen. In many cases this could be true. For some children the cost could be too much. The most important reason for…
I’d like to share a few thoughts on taking care of children in alarming times. These are not new ideas by any means, more like reminders for those who are familiar with the attachment-based developmental approach. I’ll try to keep it brief as alarm has a way of shortening our attention spans. But first, some comments…