Every interaction is an opportunity to enhance or detract from a child’s self-esteem.  Last night I was reminded of this fact during an emergency veterinary visit.  As is often the case, crisis strikes at the most inopportune times.  You know the scene: first day back to school after the final summer weekend, husband away on [...]

Adults have the ugly habit of casting  predictions on a child’s future.  They playfully ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, without intending to give any merit to the answer.  Why would they?  We all know from our own experience as children that it’s just a rhetorical question. When we’re not asking [...]

With one tween off to Middle School for the first time, another who would “rather lick my shoe” than go to school, and a little one starting first grade, emotions were high on this first day of school.  It was entertaining to watch the morning unfold.  Like a three-ring circus, each of my children had [...]