Posted on February 12, 2014 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson As I work with E to diligently write the names of each of his class members on Valentine cards to celebrate the holiday this Friday, it raises a larger question. How am I …
Posted on February 6, 2014 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters. It’s like anything else. You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. – Jim Butcher, White Night Yesterday, the teachers at E’s school decided to have …
Posted on January 16, 2014 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger – but recognize the opportunity. – John F. Kennedy When E was between the ages of two and three, he adopted the very developmentally appropriate …
Posted on November 1, 2013 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. – Elie Weisel Our busy lives require that we move quickly from one activity to the next with our children. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on coat, grab the backpack, go to school, go through …
Posted on October 3, 2013 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little Cheep, cheep, cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more. – From the musical, Music Man (1957) It is easy to forget that the music of our speech, our tone of voice, communicates just as much as the actual content of what is …
Posted on September 13, 2013 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha No child enters their preschool or even early elementary school years having perfected the art of sharing. As parents, we are eternally frustrated by the “this is …
Posted on September 5, 2013 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one. – C.S. Lewis Whether your child is starting the year in a brand new school or returning to a school community, there is an opportunity to make connections with new friends. Friendships at …
Posted on August 29, 2013 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is him/herself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow. – Paulo Freire The beginning of the school year presents an opportunity to get a fresh start with …
Posted on March 28, 2013 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
If it is his privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be inter-dependent. ― Mahatma Gandhi All children have to deal with and understand the paradox of separateness and connection, of individuality and belonging. In utero, babies have no sense of separation. They are physically connected to Mom through the very liquid …
Posted on March 21, 2013 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in the movement there is life, and in change there is power. – Alan Cohen How …
© Copyright, 2026, Jennifer Smith Miller. All rights reserved.
© Copyright, 2023, Jennifer Smith Miller. All rights reserved.