I grew up in the country, in a house without central heat and air. We had a furnace in the basement and every Saturday in the winter, my two siblings and I would load up in my dad’s Ford F150 and drive down to the woods behind our house. He would cut down a tree […]
It’s amazing to me that we don’t teach kids how to think. We teach them how to solve academic problems but nowhere in school or in kids early years does anyone teach them how to solve conflicts, manage emotions or change the way they think about events in their lives. This misstep is indicative in […]
Underneath all anxiety – no matter what type of anxiety it is – is an undercurrent of fear. The undercurrent of fear is what dislodges us from rational thinking, makes our minds race and our hearts beat fast. It’s this undercurrent that keeps us constantly worrying, our minds constantly going and it’s only in focusing […]
I watched yet another kid climb into the window above the couch in my office. Within minutes, he jumped down, slam dunked a basketball at least 20 times, finally sat down on the floor and said, “Ok, now I’m ready.” He and I both knew what he meant. It was time to start the session. If I […]
Every holiday, kids ask for the same things: the new American Girl doll, a high-powered video game or the latest electronic device. However, this year the Sorgenfresser Worry Eater has hit the market and is expected to be big. Huge, actually. So big that Amazon has predicted it to be a top 20 Christmas gift. […]
Any day now, kids will be filing back into classrooms. After a summer of running around, swimming, going to camps and being free, kids will be expected to sit in desks for nearly seven hours and listen. If they tap pencils, hum or slide around in their chairs, they will be asked to pull cards, […]
Many anxious kids are already getting nervous. It isn’t because of standardized testing or that they’re stuck in school while the weather is beautiful outside. It’s because summer is coming and with summer comes anxiety. How could kids POSSIBLY be anxious in summer? There isn’t homework or tests or long hours sitting in a desk. […]
After one of the coldest winters in history, kids are throwing on shorts, running out of the house and sucking up every last minute of daylight. And after months of being cooped up, they are feeling the freedom of being able to get out their energy. This is something all kids need to do, but […]
I was giving a presentation last week and a man raised his hand and said, “My child cannot accept failure. Every time he does something he’s not immediately good at, he gives up.” My response: “Is school easy for him?” His response: “Yes. He’s in seventh grade and has never gotten a B on a […]
Last week we shot a book trailer for Why Smart Kids Worry. The production team asked me for 100 thoughts that go through the minds of smart kids during the school day. “100!” I said. “That’s a lot!” I thought it might take me a day or two to come up with the sentences but […]
