Professional Photography: How and Why To Use It
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Professional Photography: How and Why To Use It

July 22, 2014 Summer often means picture time: family pictures, senior portraits, weddings, and special occasions. I recently sat down with Daisy Portraits’ Larissa Annen, to ask those questions that we all have when we think about hiring a photographer. I have a nice camera and cute kids, why do I need a professional? Your kids want…

7 Back to School Traditions: Getting Your Kids Excited
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7 Back to School Traditions: Getting Your Kids Excited

August 11, 2014 Some schools near us started back to school today. Thank goodness my kids have a few more weeks of summer vacation, but it reminds me that we need to start getting ready. I’ve said before that our family has an insane number of traditions, and many of them revolve around school starting again. I…

Top Back to School Videos: Inspire Learning … Or Smile
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Top Back to School Videos: Inspire Learning … Or Smile

August 25, 2014 The three most dreaded words in childhood: Back. To. School. If it hasn’t happened for you yet, it will soon. Need some inspiration? Here’s A Message From Your Kids’ Teacher  to parents via Jimmy Kimmel. “Remember: We don’t suck, your kid sucks.” Okay, maybe that wasn’t exactly inspiration. Although, students can be pretty…

Resetology: Calming And Connecting Secrets From The Principal’s Office – Get It Today
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Resetology: Calming And Connecting Secrets From The Principal’s Office – Get It Today

August 28, 2014 I’ll admit it. Sometimes I struggle with parenting. I catch myself yelling at my children to get out the door in the morning. I referee fights instead of letting my kids work it out themselves. I beg and plead for good behavior. But what if I didn’t have to? I met Jim House at a local…

Back to Happy: No More Back to School Blues #EmotionalSmarts
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Back to Happy: No More Back to School Blues #EmotionalSmarts

September 2, 2014 This month’s Emotional Smarts conversation came on the heels of my daughter’s first ever back to school related melt down. Because she faces a lot of changes and uncertainty, this new school year feels overwhelming to her. I imagine many of us deal with the same anxiety or reluctance in our kids…

Valuing Differences: Opening Kids’ Worlds Through New Perspectives
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Valuing Differences: Opening Kids’ Worlds Through New Perspectives

September 15, 2014 We recently spent the day with one of my favorite cousins and her family. She and I are astonishingly similar for being so different. We share a rather twisted sense of humor that relies heavily on sarcasm and a general go-with-the-flow perspective toward life. We both put family extremely high on our priority…

When It Isn’t a Costume: Dealing with Developing Hormones
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When It Isn’t a Costume: Dealing with Developing Hormones

October 6, 2014 This Halloween season, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde might not be just a costume! You might notice smells, excess hair, a tendency toward drama, and even behavior altering rage. This very change snuck up on our family. It struck with deodorant and went downhill from there. We have ushered in the age…

5 ADD Interventions That Apply to All Kids
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5 ADD Interventions That Apply to All Kids

October 14, 2014 A friend of mine has been going through the very lengthy and detailed process of testing her son for Attention Deficit Disorder. As I listened to her explain the symptoms, many sounded like my daughter. One expert describes this kind of brain as choosing what is most interesting instead of what’s most important….

Fall Festival Survival: 5 Tips for a Smooth Carnival
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Fall Festival Survival: 5 Tips for a Smooth Carnival

October 21, 2014 Between school, organization, and community events, there’s a good chance you’ll be sucked into attending a Halloween/Fall/Harvest festival this season. My first few of these chaotic mash-ups of families felt like a nightmare. I learned through experience and watching other parents that there’s an easier way to navigate the day. Here are…

Watch the Polls: Teach Kids to Think Critically About Voting
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Watch the Polls: Teach Kids to Think Critically About Voting

October 28, 2014 Next week, on the first Tuesday of November, people all over our nation will head to the polls to vote for various candidates, propositions, and bond measures. Every four years, the election process becomes glamorous, or at least high-profile, as we elect a new president but these mid-term elections can slip by…

Ask Annie: Teaching Options & Exit Strategies For Girls
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Ask Annie: Teaching Options & Exit Strategies For Girls

October 29, 2014 Dear Annie, My daughter has a lot going for her except confidence. We’ve always emphasized caring and kindness and I’m proud to say that she embodies these traits. The problem is that she is easily disappointed when others don’t embody these ideals and in 5th grade there are many girls who don’t. Today…

5 Tips for Parenting Positive Body Image in Girls
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5 Tips for Parenting Positive Body Image in Girls

November 4, 2014 Fifty percent of American girls report using unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting and taking laxatives to control their weight. It’s a startling fact, especially if you have girls. I myself have two daughters and it’s my mission in life to raise them to be confident…

Sarah Josepha Hale: An Overlooked Thanksgiving Role Model
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Sarah Josepha Hale: An Overlooked Thanksgiving Role Model

November 18, 2014 While I researched yesterday’s article 10 Random Things You Might Not Know about Thanksgiving, something made me progressively more angry. Number 6 on that list includes Sarah Josepha Hale who campaigned for Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Articles mention her frequently in connection to the celebration with the explanation “author of Mary…

Gift Ideas: When You Just Can’t Buy Another One of THOSE!
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Gift Ideas: When You Just Can’t Buy Another One of THOSE!

December 10, 2014 Last year around this time, I wrote Go Beyond the List to help people to think through the gift giving season. This year my son wrote up a wish list that read as a never-ending catalogue of Star Wars Lego sets and I found myself asking those same questions yet again. Legos are…

Ask Annie: My Child is Always Daydreaming!
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Ask Annie: My Child is Always Daydreaming!

December 10, 2014 Dear Annie, My 10 year old daughter can’t remember to bring home school assignments. She’s a very good student, well mannered, etc. We lovingly say she is off with the fairies. In fact, she’s always drawing fairies and unicorns! We’ve tried a planner, notes taped to her backpack, and taking away special…

A Children’s Classic: The Mother-of-a-Tween Version
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A Children’s Classic: The Mother-of-a-Tween Version

December 30, 2014 My re-write of a favorite childrens’ story based on our post-Christmas gifts tween daughter experience … If you give a tween some lip gloss, She’ll ask for eyeshadow to go with it. When you tell her she’s only ten and talking crazy, She will attempt to put the gloss on her eyelids….

Advocacy: 5 Steps to Speaking Up For Your Students
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Advocacy: 5 Steps to Speaking Up For Your Students

January 13, 2015 Every mother wants to believe her angel is special: the smartest, the quickest, full of the most potential. Then again, some moms feel that other children don’t have to focus/think/listen quite as hard as their baby. She might even be right! But at what point does your little sweetie need specific help from the school?…

Ask Annie: Helping Girls Stand Up For Themselves in a Friendship
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Ask Annie: Helping Girls Stand Up For Themselves in a Friendship

January 15, 2015 Dear Annie, My daughter came home from school in tears today and reports that a supposed friend led a group of girls away from her, excluding her from all the recess games they were playing. What do I do?   Mama Lion Dear Mama Lion, You probably feel like roaring at the…

The Money Effect: A Social Experiment
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The Money Effect: A Social Experiment

February 3, 2015 Writing the piece Martin Luther King Jr: One Teacher’s Lesson on Understanding, a few weeks ago reminded me of a social experiment I’d heard about in a documentary on PBS a while ago. It discussed another social division of power prevalent in our society, the wealthy and the “poorer” class. The studies researched adults, not children,…

To TV or Not to TV: Moms Answer the Question
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To TV or Not to TV: Moms Answer the Question

February 17, 2015 Let’s be honest. TV runs the way of fast food, sugar, and spiked coffee. We wish we could avoid it all together, but sometimes we thank the heavens it’s available. The American Academy of Pediatrics released newer guidelines for television, internet, and handheld devices last year. They still recommend limiting kids’ viewing…

Fight Back: Common Sense Media Takes on Body Image
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Fight Back: Common Sense Media Takes on Body Image

March 17, 2015 Media today tells girls they would be happier, more popular, more beautiful, more (yikes!) valuable, if they would just lose weight and conform to what society dictates. As parents we see the unique beauty that they already possess. In a perfect follow-up to last week’s article, 6 Videos That Take a Stand…

Social and Emotional Learning: A Help or a Hindrance?
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Social and Emotional Learning: A Help or a Hindrance?

March 24, 2015 Since writing the article, A New View: We Need to Empower Introverts, about introverts in schools, I’ve thought a lot about behavioral influences on learning. My kids certainly approach their education differently. My son focuses intently because he worries about missing something the teacher might ask while my daughter tends to focus on the…