WHAT’S YOUR ROLE IN YOUR FAMILY? We all had one growing up, and we all have one now, although they may be very different.  Family dynamics are volatile, and often change over time. Were you viewed as the PEACEMAKER, SCAPEGOAT, NURTURER, GOLDEN CHILD, HERO, FUNNY GUY, or simply INVISIBLE?  Were you the smart one, the lazy one, tidy or messy?  Did everyone...

THIS HOUSE MAY BE TORNADO PROOF, but what about earthquakes, hurricanes or bombs?  Can we build anything that will keep us safe from everything?  No.  And while I’m all for doing whatever we can do to keep ourselves safe, at some point, we need to accept things over which we have no control.  We need to do everything within our power to address climate...

SOMETIMES GOOD THINGS HAPPEN!  And yet, we tend to remember only the bad ones.  Every day is filled with these yucky events:  we lose our car keys, forget a meeting, our printer runs out of ink right before we need that document. Went down to Laguna Beach last month and put money in the parking meter next to my car, not mine (wasn’t paying attention), so got...

ELECTIVES vs CORE SUBJECTS strongly suggests a value judgement, don’t you think?  But it wasn’t always like that. When we are little, our parents seem equally impressed with our ability to draw a sun with stick rays as they are our ability to write our names.  Just about anything we do, including pooping in the toilet, is greeted with big smiles of...

MOTHER’S DAY, like most holidays, can be joyous or sad, and often both.  If all of your children are happy, healthy, can stand on their own two feet, and love you, it’s a happy day!  Even if your children live many miles away, (one of my sons is in South Africa today), if you know they love you and you have many happy memories together, it’s a...

GUESS WHAT? RICH KIDS DO BETTER IN SCHOOL.  We all know that, but guess what?  Test scores have actually been RISING for THREE DECADES here in America.  Bet you haven’t heard that in the news lately. An average 9-year old today knows more math than an average 11-year old just one generation ago. According to this study, including race, coming from a wealthy...