Did you know that I am a drummer?  I have taken intensive drumming classes in Ghana, Togo, Brasil, and throughout the United States.   For 8 years in New York City, I was in an all-womens Samba-Reggae drum troupe. We drummed in all the major parades throughout NYC and throughout the tri-state area.  Shout-out to Batala […]

I want you to have a great time off, Marcie. For real. You deserve it. And, what’s more, your kids deserve the happy, relaxed parent you become when you take good care of yourself and lower your stress levels.  How to do this when you have no childcare for weeks on end, the whole routine […]

I didn’t throw a plate during dinner. But here’s what did happen. I was giving my 4 year old dinner, and, as usual, she wasn’t eating well. We have spent a lot of time in my household talking about the “dinner rules” and mostly they’re very effective.  The dinner rules are: we sit. and we […]

Did you ever have those misunderstandings as a kid that lasted WAY longer than they should have? I did, and it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. When I was a young kid, my family moved around a lot. First with my single mom and my sister and later on with my stepdad […]

Shannon share’s the impact of joining Raising Resilient Kids on her family Let me tell you about one family’s story in the Raising Resilient Kids class. Shannon and Paul had two girls, ages 9 and 7. They had a harder time with their oldest. As Shannon describes: “our older daughter was exuding behaviors that were […]

Therapy might not be needed- learning new tools as a parent could provide the resolution needed for your family So many parents come to me telling me that they’re interested in joining our class, and also curious if they should find a therapist for their kid. Often this is because their kid is particularly disruptive […]

Playing independently can help build a child’s frustration tolerance- which brings life long benefits If you’ve attended one of my workshops, you know that I preach the importance of independent play! This is the one skill, more than anything else our kids learn, that will impact them for the rest of their lives. And, for […]

Often people come to me telling me that they’re on board with a more “gentle” approach, but their partner isn’t. Or that they listen to all the podcasts, read all the books, do all the things… but their partner won’t. Parents ask me all the time “does the fact that we have different approaches harm […]

I want to tell you the story of a family I worked with, where things were overall fine. Her son had moments of big meltdowns, defiance, and struggle to focus. But, she figured many of these behaviors were under the umbrella of “normal”. I’m telling you this because many folks feel that things aren’t “bad” […]

Raising Resilient Kids…Without the Hardship Is your kid too soft? Is your kids life too lacking in hardship to develop actual resilience? This is a concern many of us have. Most of us want to do things differently than our parents did, but want to instill a similar amount of grit, self-assurance, and independence. I’m […]