The thought of getting a driver’s license is thrilling to teens. To most parents, it’s terrifying. Attached to the little paper that brings wheels and freedom to your child is an expanded list of worries for you.  Not only are all the other drivers on the road... Read more...

I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. They scream failure. It doesn’t start that way. But inevitably the best laid plans… Two weeks into that new diet, that exercise routine, that tidy bedroom, and it’s back to square one and self-flagellation. Oh well, maybe next year. That doesn’t mean... Read more...

Young children notice difference. As they try to make sense of their world, they pay attention to regularity and irregularity, what is familiar and what is not.  And there is no judgment involved, just recognition of difference. Truth be told, most people notice difference.  It’s no big... Read more...

Was your parent one who asked, when you brought home an A-, “Why didn’t you get an A?” So many adults have a version of this tale to share. They have never forgotten it, twenty or thirty years later. Most children really do want their parents to be proud... Read more...

For months I’ve waited for the chance to see Race to Nowhere, an incredible documentary film. The trailer was circulated around the web ages ago and caught my eye. I tell you now, run, don’t walk, to see it. (www.racetonowhere.com). That’s how important it is. When... Read more...

“Coach Accused of Punching Son”  The headline in the LA Times caught my eye.  A youth baseball coach is facing a simple assault charge for punching his 9 year old son in the face after the boy was ejected from a game.  Are they kidding? I read... Read more...

It’s hard not to love the movie Babies. That’s what I chose to do for my Mothers’ Day observance.  It was kind of like eating chocolate… all good! There were none of the not-so-fun parts of babies, like colic and diarrhea and sleepless nights. Just one... Read more...

A Mother’s Day blog should be  meaningful, perhaps profound,  poignant, maybe a little sappy, and really chock full of platitudes about the importance of mothers.  It should be, but I am on a different journey. I was sitting in Disney Hall, watching the dynamic Gustavo Dudamel and listening to... Read more...

While I cannot take credit for inventing the expression lousy local conditions, I use it all the time. It’s just so right-on-the-button. Lousy local conditions refers to those times when a child’s less than perfect behaviors are magnified or even created by the conditions of his environment. The... Read more...

What  an amazing experience I had last weekend when I lunched with two women with whom I went to elementary school, one of whom I have not seen since I graduated from 6th grade. Seriously! Keep in mind that I graduated from Seeds UES in Los Angeles,... Read more...