I love it when blog themes drop out of the sky at some point during the week. Quite often this happens for me on Sundays. Small Godly life lessons become clear just before I sit down to write, and today was no exception. So, we have a new little kitten. She appeared on my oldest son’s doorstep just before Christmas, and since he and his wife are already at their pet limit, my second born drove...

“Was he bad today?” Though I’m certain the question was asked out of genuine concern, I was disheartened when parents would pick up their children after school and ask me this question. When I hear the word “bad” being used in this context, I cringe. Words matter, and many of our word choices polarize into all-or-nothing categories that are damaging.   Good, bad, smart, dumb,...

Ever feel as though you are being pulled in seven directions? Or asked to do so many things at once that you don’t feel as though you are doing any of them well? If you are a teacher, you can relate. Great. Hold that thought. You may have noticed how student behavioral concerns often manifest in clusters, with deficits blending together. A child struggles to follow directions, get attention...

This week I was flipping through TV channels and came across the animated children’s special, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year. In it, Father Time told Rudolph that if the horrible vulture, Eon the Terrible, takes Happy, the Baby New Year, time stops and the current year never comes to an end.  2020 forever?  I shudder at the thought. This got me thinking about our upcoming passage to the new year....

It usually happens without warning. Unexpectedly, a memory is triggered and a song you hadn’t thought of in years surfaces. And once the tune finds its way into your brain, you can’t shake it. I had this experience last weekend and a song is still cycling through my head. I’m not complaining though. Let me explain. My wife and I were trying to record “Joy to the World” for a virtual church...

I believe a critical step in dealing with inappropriate behaviors is determining which are the result of poor choices and which are more likely poor habits.   With the human brain wired for survival, only able to consciously attend to one thing at a time, it often moves behaviors into an ‘autopilot’ category in order to store energy and focus attention on the most critical issue at hand....

A warning for all parents: your children will drive you crazy.  This is normal and to be expected.  Genealogy is a funny thing.  It is uncanny how our kids are able to intuitively exhibit the very behaviors that most readily bring out the worst in us, their parents.  Ironically, I feel certain the behaviors that annoy us are often ones we exhibited when we were younger. The good news is that...

How was your Thanksgiving week? For me, it was priceless. I spent time with my family, truly stepped away from work tasks, and got some much needed rest. It was like pressing the reset button on my emotional and physical health meter. I’m guessing many of you can relate – getting overwhelmed by the swimming marathon of never-ending daily tasks. We dive in and come up for air on an “as...

Do you ever overthink things? I do – and too often the mental clutter I create escalates my behavior. I do it to myself by focusing on my challenges. And I’ve discovered my mental habits are just as hard to break as my physical ones. My wife and I spent the week in Columbus, Ohio helping a close friend move to a beautiful area called German Village. In her strategic attempt to declutter,...

Did you know anger is referred to as a secondary emotion?  It is usually triggered by other emotions, like fear or frustration.  Anger is part of our survival makeup, protecting and shielding us from other vulnerable feelings.  I have encoded this small piece of information into my long-term cognitive and emotional memory to help me deal with some pretty volatile situations – at times with...