Picasso said, “Every child is an artist.” I believe that to be so true! With a little direction and a variety of materials, young children will get right to it. Creating comes naturally to them. 

I teach a lot of early childhood classes, and I am so grateful to get to work with both children and their parents. I love my job. It is great fun... but sometimes my classes don’t go smoothly. Luckily it doesn’t happen often, but it DOES happen, sometimes. 

This is just one of Becky Bailey’s positive nursery rhymes that can be found in her book I Love You Rituals.

A garden is a simple, wonderful way to help your children learn to appreciate the benefits of delayed gratification. I was thinking about this as I experienced it myself while watching two beautiful flowers in my yard bloom over the period of a week for each. 

The happiest, most fulfilled people I know are life-long learners. They simply love to learn. They are curious.

When I meet these kinds of people, if I can squeeze it into our conversation, I like to ask how they played as children. The usual response, I’ve noticed, is…

Someone recently asked me when our job as parents is done. That got me thinking about my own beautiful, amazing mom and her role in my life throughout all the years. When was her job raising me done? 

The ability to delay gratification is necessary for true happiness. It’s a difficult mindset to cultivate, because we are surrounded with opportunities for instant gratification everywhere.

Teaching children (and ourselves) to really think through a potential purchase takes practice.

Have you had the chance to read THE DANISH WAY OF PARENTING? This book does its best to explain why people in Denmark have been voted the happiest people in the world for over 40 years! 

This photo brings me peace and makes me happy. I am grateful every single day for being able to get outside, sharpen my senses, and feel connected to my family and the earth. 

Before kids, my husband and I always made time to walk and talk, even if we had to get up early and go before work. Then, when our boys were born, we would pack up all the equipment and still get out there.

The Royal Wedding got me thinking about love and princesses and “happily ever after.” Meghan Markle is certainly a different kind of princess (or technically duchess), right? True confession: Before her engagement, I knew absolutely nothing about Meghan Markle. I still don’t, really. However, the adjectives I have read or heard spoken about her are what interest me.

A child’s day should be filled with connections: 

•When they wake up from sleeping all night 

•When they enter their classroom 

•When they get picked up from school 

•When they go to sleep for the night

After spending time away from a significant adult, children need to reconnect.

A big part of being truly happy in life begins with understanding and accepting exactly who you are.  If you are confused about what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and what you value, you will have a harder time developing confidence.

If your family’s picture book collection does not contain a book by Kevin Henkes than your family is missing out!

How much free, unstructured time does your child have each day? How much free, unstructured time with friends? 

Children stay pretty busy. When they’re at home, we spend a lot of time directing them. It’s time for this... time for that. Then it’s off to school. After school, it’s off to enrichment classes. When you think about it, that’s a lot of adult direction! 

This morning I was thinking about a passage I recently came across by a Buddhist monk and peace activist named Thich Nhat Hanh. He said:

“When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well.

Before you even know you are pregnant, your baby has started developing their sense of touch. It is the earliest sense to develop and the one that is critical for healthy development.

“We human beings are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others.” ~Dalai Lama XIV

This!!! TRIANGLE, by the brilliant Mac Barnett and genius illustrator Jon Klassen, is one of my favorite, funny, children’s books available right now.

Einstein said “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.” 

Children’s minds are naturally open and curious. They learn about life through play. They should have all kinds of opportunities to strengthen their imaginations with open-ended activities, so they can begin to make unexpected connections.

Typically, when I walk on the trail, I keep my gaze at eye level or above. I notice the trees and birds and clouds in the sky. I pay attention to what’s coming up ahead of me. The other day, though, I happened to look down and notice these gorgeous little flowers with their colors popping brightly in the sun. It was as if they were begging to be noticed among the fallen brown leaves and weeds.