December’s Atlantic Monthly had a fascinating article about childhood development called The Science of Success http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/dobbs-orchid-gene. It was long, but the gist of it was that scientists, having long studied the negative effects of difficult children for the potential costs to society, have begun to ask why nature would continue to produce children with these …
Re-creation
This Christmas we headed to Vermont for a week of skiing. I bundled up and set my sights on the mountain, my only agenda to have fun. I fell in the snow teaching my daughter how to ski, we were delighted and a little scared (mostly her) on the chair lift, and we giggled all …
The Beauty of Eloquence
Last evening at a dinner party, a friend suggested I check out Obama’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Having now watched it, I am struck again by the power of president Obama’s eloquence. More than a pretty turn of phrase, eloquence is such an important tool to opening us to possibility. The Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary …
The Nature of Change
This weekend my three year old daughter got a ‘big girl bed’. She’d been anticipating it for weeks, and got in it with her new birthday doll and a huge smile, totally rejecting the baby she’s had for the last year. Of course my emotions were mixed. Alongside my happiness at her joy, I thought, …
Expectation Overload
This week I promised myself I’d find something other to write about than Tiger Woods. Nevertheless, I find myself thinking about it. Specifically, I am intrigued by the notion that women today have to wear so many hats. Many of us, Like Tiger’s wife Elin, are raised to be ‘good girls’. Presentable, sophisticated, good wives, …
Living Organically
There are times as a Life Coach when you are your own best case study. Personally, I know that I tend towards being overly ambitious. Knowing that, I thought I’d had a good plan for the months following the birth of our second child. Get lots of babysitter help, take the summer off. Still, within …
The Good Wife
Is it me, or is The Good Wife with Julianna Margulies the new Sex In The City? Maybe it’s because I’ve gone from single girl in NYC to married with children, but for me this show has hit a nerve. Last year I facilitated a twelve-week group for women looking to go back to work. …
Little Miss Bossy
Originally posted 10/13/09 This past June I experienced one of the less pleasant milestones of parenting: Having my perfect child evaluated. It was the end of the scholastic year at the daycare, and I was told that next year they would be keeping an eye out for how her leadership skills would develop. Leadership? She’s …
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Originally posted 9/30/09 Two weeks ago Guy Trebay wrote an article in the New York Times Style section about the designer Murakami. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/fashion/20diary.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=guy%20trebay&st=cse It’s a very tongue-in-cheek look at the affectations of trendy design world characters and how silly they can be. In fact, it’s a modern day telling of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Reading …
The Power of Focus
Originally posted 9/19/09 What working mom wasn’t fascinated by Kim Clijsters’ beating Venus Williams last weekend? As for me, I said, “YES!” with such a feeling of vindication. Having felt guilty for a year and a half as a working mom in corporate America, it was so validating to see that a new mom can …