I write this from the road, literally. I am in the midst of a good old-fashioned family road trip. Now, the nature of my work dictates that I spend a lot of time thinking about the ways in which families work, those things that create a cohesive unit. And I'm suddenly thinking that we may, [...]
Yeah, you've probably envisioned the perfect morning. Cup of coffee out on the deck at sunrise, perhaps. Deep-breathing and yoga stretches? A gentle jog through the woods? When you're a parent, those ideal mornings tend to fall away for an hour or two that tends to be a bit more, say, chaotic. More like a [...]
I've come across the issue of how teens handle, or mis-handle, money many, many times. This is a truly tricky topic. By and large, parents I work with want their teens to be able to date, provided they are mature enough for that type of relationship. In the same breath, parents also want their children [...]
How do we teach compassion, in a genuine way, to our children? This has been an ongoing theme in my practice over the course of the past year or two. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions I'm asked, and a few thoughts: - With so many people suffering around us, why is [...]
My wife and I met more than twenty years ago in an improv class at Chicago's famed Second City. So it's fun when we head down there to take in the latest show, which we did a couple weeks ago. Three guys took the stage, bare as usual save for three small chairs. And these [...]
"What do I do if I can't stand my kid?" This question was posed to me by the father of a teenage boy recently. His son is all "punked-out", as this dad put it. He doesn't really try very hard in school. There's the skateboarding and the earrings. His clothes are too big. And for [...]
As the first verses of "Lovers in Japan" give way to the chorus, Coldplay launches thousands of colorful paper butterflies into the audience. And I mean thousands, tens, maybe hundreds of thousands. And the butterfly cannons are re-loaded for the second chorus. Then the third. More butterflies each time. If I hadn't attended a recent [...]
The Columbine massacre took place ten years ago this week. In the wake of that tragedy, many in my field went to work trying to determine the root causes. Gun control was an issue. Where were the parents? What preventive role should the school have played? When the dust settled, though, most of us concluded [...]
For me, writing is a curious, sinewy, writhing joy of a process. As I continue to write, one issue I will almost certainly need to contend with involves, literally and ironically both, my availability to write what and when I need to write. It is not, for example, that the source material is there, logged [...]
I know a number of parent, Moms mostly (but Dads are not excluded), who feel a need to direct and re-direct every move of their children. The resulting chaos can sound much like a sitcom: highly entertaining, sometimes funny as hell. The only things missing are proper lighting and a laugh track. It often goes [...]