Health is something we all desire for our children. Physical health is fairly straightforward to assess, as problems usually show up in terms of pain and discomfort. Emotional health, however, is a bit trickier to measure; how do we even know what to look for? Consider this story from Tamara …I had a weeping fig that…
This is a story about our little Mexican dog, Poquito, and his journey with food. It wasn’t too long after we had moved to Vancouver Island that my husband, Andrew, went on a special trip to Mazatlan with a group of youth. About halfway in, I received a phone call. Through a fuzzy connection, Andrew…
Part I: Using the Agenda I have spent over 40 years working in schools supporting administrators, teachers, and staff who devote their lives to educating our children. In my role as a school psychologist I am often asked to help with children who are having difficulty behaving. Over the span of my career, I have…
I love the sub-title of Deborah MacNamara’s new book: Making Sense of Preschoolers (Or Anyone Who Acts Like One). When I read this title, immediately some youths and adults come to my mind, to whom I would like to say: “Don’t behave like a preschooler!” Or, “Don’t be so childish!” I would love to…
When families live through difficult times, be they natural disasters like hurricanes, forest fires, tornadoes, floods, or family tragedies such as car accidents or the sudden death of a loved one, there are many different ways to respond. In my last editorial, I encouraged parents to allow their children to express their feelings, and especially…
I was recently asked to give the keynote address for a Behaviour Summit organized by the Eastern Townships School Board in Quebec. They called together all of their stakeholders: directors, principals, teachers, consultants, aides, lunch monitors, bus drivers, secretaries, trustees, and parents to brainstorm ideas for how to help students to better handle the behavioral…
When my eldest child was born the whole world shrunk down to the size of her face, the feel of her skin, the sound of her cries. The days grew long, I was bleary eyed with exhaustion, and all my energy went into the here and now, into meeting all the moment-to-moment needs of a…