Early in my education as a counselor I was taught about family patterns – the notion that we can (at minimum) gain some insight into what may be happening in our lives by looking at our family history. Disease, mental health, addiction – we all know that these things have genetic links that tie us to our parents, grandparents, and even further. However, we often overlook the fact that family pat…
Just the other day I was in a conversation with some moms whose kids (like mine) are nearly grown. Someone asked, “what three things do you wish you had known when your kids were little?” After thinking about the experiences we’ve had with raising kids over the past 20 years or so, here are my thoughts: Experts don’t know everything. You’ll read the books and articles, meet with the pediatric…
The scene of this blog posts opens with me, standing outside on our front porch, in the rain, trying my best to catch my breath. Inside, two boys were in their cribs, where they would be unable to find trouble, screaming at the top of their tiny lungs. While these lungs were tiny, they were quite capable of filling the house with sound. Unpleasant sound. Screaming for relief for some ailment that…
I’ve worked with students, mostly teenagers, for more than a decade now, and I still remember an experience of one of my very first weeks on the job. I was a first time counselor at Pine Springs Camp in the Laurel Highlands, and I was working with a cabin of young campers – most of them something like 6 years old. One morning as we were getting ready for the day’s events, one of our campers ran full …
This time of year always makes me think of the many traditions that we have developed over the years of raising our children. I suppose that’s because of the variety of fun holidays that occur within the next few months. One of the parts of raising kids almost to adulthood (my four kids are now 17-20 years old) that has totally surprised me is their interest in hanging on to some of the family t…
