Taming the Preschool Beast

Nothing unleashes a preschooler’s inner beast quite like extracting him from a fun environment without advanced warning. When my daughter was 4 years old she had an epic outburst at a children’s museum in Chicago because I failed to give her proper notification of our departure.  In doing so, I robbed her of the gradual transition I knew she needed in order to calmly exit the building. The fit she threw nearly got us thrown out of the museum. Looking back, my preschooler’s tantrum, which included tossing her shoes down a slide, was simply her way of staying true to … Continue reading

Marriage Lessons For Children

Sometimes I worry. Ok, most of the time I worry, but this is a specific worry. What am I, a divorced woman, teaching my daughter about marriage. I’ve been divorced since my daughter was ten. My ex husband and I made a point to never argue in front of our daughter, so she never got the chance to see us work things out either. I want my daughter to have a marriage that we all dream about so I trot out all the tired cliches: Marriage is a life long commitment. Anything worth having, including marriage, is worth working for. … Continue reading

Creating Miracles

They say that when it comes to saving the life of their own child, parents can become superhuman – lifting cars and fighting off villains. But sometimes, saving the life of your child doesn’t take one adrenaline rush, but rather years of patience, determination and vigor. When your child has a life-threatening genetic disease that will claim her life if left untreated, a parent may have to fight the system in order to save his child. Take John Crowley for example. Two of his children, both babies at the time, were diagnosed with Pompe disease and he and his wife … Continue reading