Enjoying life just because….
I was driving my 11-year-old home from school the other day when she asked if I would let her out so she could run the last four blocks. It was a cool spring day as she ran to the house, laughing and carefree while I drove alongside her. It was all I could do to choke back the tears as I watched her run, partly because she seemed so happy and partly because I wanted to freeze... Read More
Waiting to Exhale
Yes, this is me. And yes, I am praying – thanking God for allowing me to sit back in the “child’s pose” after working my glutes into a frenzy with enough back leg extensions to give me race horse thighs. Believe it or not, this photo was snapped as I took part in a beautiful surprise gift. Let me explain. “Something good is going to happen to... Read More
Affirming words can go long way
Clean your room. Study. Go to bed. Cut the drama. Hurry up. Why’d you get a C on that test? Clean your room. Study. Go to bed. Cut the drama. Hurry up. Why’d you get a C on that test? (I tend to repeat the same phrases when I talk to my kids). However, I’ve discovered that I often don’t repeat the phrases that should be repeated. Recently, someone told me that... Read More
Resist Spring Break Slowdown
It’s starting already. A few warm days is all it takes before the realization hits us: Spring is near! That’s when kids begin the Spring Break Slowdown. It’s hard to believe I’ve been teaching long enough to sense the change in atmosphere. I see it in my students and my own children. Something about the approaching warm weather causes kids to ease up at school. Suddenly,... Read More
No wimpy parenting, Part 2
Recently at my school, I sat in on a round table about privacy. It was an opportunity for teens to voice their views on the meaning of privacy and whether the government has usurped too much of it. Of course the conversation worked its way around to teens’ privacy at home. I managed to bite my tongue without making myself bleed (after all it was a chance for them to talk,... Read More
Children need to cope with variety of teachers
As a teacher, I promise you most of us don’t have time to sit around and think about how much we hate individual students. That’s not to say we don’ t enjoy teaching some students more than others, but I digress… As a parent, I feel your pain and frustration when it comes to teachers you don’t like or don’t understand. For parents who are inclined to think... Read More
Share Black History Month with Black Books
There is something about getting lost in the characters and the story of a good book that gives me a feeling like no other. I love movies. There are some television shows that make me howl with laughter. I’ve cried during plays and concerts. But nothing tops curling up with a good book and letting the writing and my imagination take me to a place where my soul is stimulated... Read More
Nursing Tales
When 20-year-old Alicia Lewis-Howard delivered her first child at Harlem Hospital two years ago, she planned to breastfeed—but only for one month. “It’s going to be painful,” her aunt and others told her. But the nurses at Harlem Hospital provided just the right amount of support to teach Lewis-Howard the proper way to painlessly breastfeed her newborn daughter, whom... Read More
Study habits take work
Go study. Just study. All you need to do is study. Good grades don’t just happen, you have to study. If I had a dime for every time I uttered some version of those words to a student or my own children, I’d have a nice little slush fund. The reality is most kids are not born with a study gene. I hate to admit that I’m having a bit of an epiphany. How many of us can say someone... Read More
Lovestruck: Grandmom Knows Best
When my friend and power publicist Jenea Robinson wrote about her grandparents’ 60 year marriage on Facebook, I was intrigued and asked for details. Here she shares how her their marriage impacts her family – and her thoughts on her own happily ever after. It’s Their Anniversary. When I sit back and think about being with someone for 60 years, I am totally amazed. I... Read More
