A high school student in our community died last month, likely by suicide, though no one has officially identified the cause of death or released the student’s name to the larger school community. The principal and district superintendent sent emails shortly after the incident. They offered additional mental health support and lamented the loss, imploringContinue reading “Talking about suicide: Advice for communities, friends, and families”
Category Archives: Parenting
Every parent was a child once
As parents, we are affected by how we were parented and by the events of our childhood. Did we get what we needed? How were we disciplined? What were the behavioral expectations? Were they realistic?
Cloudy skies inside: Checking in with your emotional weather
This morning I lay in bed, too early to be awake. I felt my internal weather pattern shift and move—a roiling of clouds and keening winds. I didn’t try to make sense of these sensations, though they were informative. Something is stirring me up.
Talking with your son about sexual consent
Talking with your preteen or teenage son about sex can be awkward. Talking with him about sexual consent may feel even more so. The default parent go-to is often to provide the rules: No always means no (although in current thinking, the idea is that yes means yes, which focuses on getting positive consent). TheContinue reading “Talking with your son about sexual consent”
The tween years are hard (on moms!)
As a parent, you’ve made it through the sleepless nights of infancy, the foot-stomping whirlwind of preschool, and the (hopefully) relative calm of the elementary school years. Perhaps you were a bit nervous about the ages between ten and thirteen, that uneasy shift from childhood to the tumultuous reign of the adolescent. Maybe you wereContinue reading “The tween years are hard (on moms!)”