2014 | PulseonParenting

Sorry, Mr. Robbins, My Mind Just Doesn’t Work That Way

Oct 21 2014

Life is short. Too short to drink bad coffee (as is advertised by the coffee shop I’m sitting in right now), eat processed cheese and to not give downhill skiing a second chance (God help me). Well, I tried and tried to get into Nurtured by Love, the account by violinist Shin’ichi Suzuki on his “talent is learned” philosophy, but have struggled through the first third of his 142-page book. As my frustration grew with trying to learn valuable insights on our son’s violin method my husband told me Life is short. Read something you enjoy. His advice got my attention. Because when…

The Principal Always Rings Twice

Oct 16 2014

What do parents and doctors have in common? Call. Which means we must have some sort of electronic gadget within easy reach (surgical attachment, anyone?) so the school or the sitter (or the hospital) can get ahold of us at a moment’s notice. The only difference is parents must take this responsibility round the clock, not every third weekend or weekday (which, don’t get me wrong, is plenty tough). But like doctors, we parents can have a degree of superstition about how to ward off bad news delivered by phone. For me, my mobile is always in my pocket or…

Cheaterpants

Oct 14 2014

My younger son loves to play games. And not surprisingly, he loves to win. He is so driven in fact, that he is a flagrant, and I mean flagrant, cheater. As in he grabs a handful of cards from a deck and chooses the one he wants, right in front of his opponents. Or he tries to break the rules by announcing just that and then shoots us the I-am-so-guilty-but-maybe-they-won’t-notice look. Therefore, my son has been dubbed “Sir Cheaterpants.” Fortunately he is a good natured boy and takes the ribbing well. But his inclination to “stack the deck” in his…

Runway Model?

Oct 09 2014

I am barely five-foot four. There is nothing in my closet with a designer label (unless Osprey and Merrill count). I firmly believe my own flesh-and-blood heels belong no higher than a couple centimeters off the ground. So I doubt anyone would mistake me for one of the genetic enigmas we call “runway models.” But the other day, something happened that could change that.

Learning the Language of Music (Yes, There are Strings Attached)

Oct 07 2014

I first heard about the Suzuki method of musical instruction when my sons voiced respective interests in learning violin and classical guitar. After we talked with both instructors, and observed their differing styles in response to our inquiries, I grew curious about the methodology that tied these teachers together. So enter the book for October 2014: Shin’ichi Suzuki’s book Nutured by Love. Suzuki was an accomplished Japanese violinist who astutely observed that children learn their native tongue through simple repetition. He felt that by using the same approach, with an understanding that ability is learned and not innate, children could learn…

Overscheduled, Underworked

Oct 02 2014

I’m just going to come out and say it: Kids need to work more. They need to scatter legos and build, build, build. They need to challenge each other with board games and don old clothes, pretending to be a Spy Kid, Dorothy from Kansas or Captain America. If play is a child’s work, why don’t they get to do it more often?

For the Remaining 88 Percent

Sep 30 2014

In my last post “Twelve Percent of You Really Need to Read This Post” (September 25, 2014), I wrote briefly about what to say when someone confides they are struggling with infertility. As I thought more about it and received some feedback, I’d like to expand on what I said. We humans want to fix problems. We become uncomfortable with the unfamiliar. That’s just the way we are. And when a loved one comes to us revealing a painful ordeal, we want to help and make things better. But some things we cannot change or influence and infertility is one…

Sep 25 2014

Actually everyone should read this post. But of course, I am a bit biased. No. More than a bit. Twelve percent of couples struggle with the inability to conceive naturally. That number may seem small. But even smaller is the number of women who break the silence on their sadness and frustration. So when someone has the courage to broach the painful topic of infertility, it can be an awkward conversation. For example, the course of three days I learned a new friend is expecting her first baby, another friend delivered her second baby, and yet another is facing…infertility. The…

Several Thousand “Octibels” Above the Ground

Sep 23 2014

Not unlike many infants, my younger son at six months old had a penchant for squealing. His whole body shook with unbridled glee as he opened his little mouth wide and let loose, eyes shining with the head-ringing volume he attained. As proud as he was, and even though he was making the happiest of infant sounds, few others were as pleased as he was at his ability. Case in point: the crabby fellow air traveler who had the nerve to tell me he didn’t like being seated next to a mother and her baby on an airplane. So…

It’s OK to be Cliche

Sep 18 2014

Be grateful for everything you have. I was reminded of that recently after learning some tragic news about an admired acquaintance. I took pause to enumerate all that is good in my life. I have my health. I have a marriage to a wonderful man that has lasted more than twenty years. I have three exuberant, healthy children that can drive me nuts (yes, that is a blessing!). Then post-reflection I checked my email and began, almost reflexively, stewing about some thing and some one and some situation that was described in the time-suck that is my inbox. How…

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