How to Connect with Our Children's Emotions

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How to Connect with Our Children's Emotions

"It is scientifically proven that the greatest force for the physical and mental health of a teenager is a good relationship with a caring adult." I remembered this phrase from Dr. Lisa Damour, a specialist in adolescents and advisor for Inside Out 2, as I was leaving the theater after watching this extraordinary movie with my family. I still can't believe I had the great fortune of meeting Dr. Damour and learning so much from her at the Responsibility.org Summit in Washington, DC a few months ago.

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How to Reclaim Your Space Without Guilt

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How to Reclaim Your Space Without Guilt

In times of change, it is crucial for me to pay attention to not neglect the routines that make me feel good because if I prioritize them at the bottom of my list, it immediately impacts my physical and mental health. To respect those routines, I know I have to reclaim my space, and in these schedule-less months, it's quite a challenge. Over the years, I have become more assertive in seeking and finding those moments, but do they really give me what I need?

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Eight Weeks

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Eight Weeks

-Eight weeks- were the only two words that jumped out at me from my phone screen as I read the email from school this morning. Eight weeks is the exact amount of time that the school gives us as a final opportunity to settle any outstanding school-related matters, as it's also eight weeks until my daughter achieves another great milestone in her life: graduating from high school.

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Yes! Parents Are Still The Number One Influence On Their Kids.

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Yes! Parents Are Still The Number One Influence On Their Kids.

I always wonder if my kids are really listening when we engage in conversations about significant topics. Are they truly getting what I’m trying to tell them? Am I paying enough attention and listening to what they have to say as well?

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Starting 2022 from Tranquility Island

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Starting 2022 from Tranquility Island

-I don’t know- are three words I’ve had to repeat to my kids more often than I’ve liked to since the pandemic started. Every time I pull this ace out of my sleeve like an experienced magician, a knot in my stomach tightens. These three words usually mean that uncertainty is knocking at my door like an unsolicited visitor I’ve feared all my life.

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Our kids’ true sword and shield for life

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Our kids’ true sword and shield for life

I get teary-eyed just to think about the topic I’m writing about today. To see my kids growing up has been a mixed feelings process involving joy, uncertainty, and yes, I must admit it, fear as well. My children are reaching that moment in their lives in which they’ll start their college adventure, and as much as I want to resist it, I know that moment will arrive sooner than later. I think my mind is ready for that moment, however, my heart is not, and I think it will never be.

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2020: Radical Honesty for a Radical Year

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2020: Radical Honesty for a Radical Year

Living in a polarized country, cornered by a pandemic has led me to have conversations with my children that I never thought I would have at their young ages. Topics like abortion, racism, misogyny, respect, the electoral college, science, death, the structure of the American government, the use of a mask, and the good of humanity are incredibly complex conversations that happen daily in my house this year 2020.

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How Meghan Leahy’s Curiosity Technique Helped me during this Pandemic.

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How Meghan Leahy’s Curiosity Technique Helped me during this Pandemic.

"If you don’t have rupture at home during this pandemic, you’re not with them".

These words really touched my soul when I heard them from Meghan Leahy, a parenting coach, and columnist for the Washington Post, who’s also the author of several books on the same subject.

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How to help our kids cope with FOMO in the Social Media Era

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How to help our kids cope with FOMO in the Social Media Era

I really miss those days when the guilty pleasure of snooping social events only happened once a week during breakfast, while reading the section of the Sunday newspaper. Now, thanks to the invention of social media (although I have to admit that it’s very useful for many things) that snooping has become a daily, addictive and constant activity in our lives. Events, celebrations, promotions, first days of school, trips, news, and a good article here and there, swarm in my cell phone practically all day.

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