Hey Friend, A few years ago, I met a 13-year-old I’ll call Marcus. He had just been placed in what many people casually referred to as a “bad kid school.” A separate program for students with significant behavior challenges. By the time he got to us, the story about him was already written. Disruptive.Defiant.Unmotivated.Angry. Adults spoke about him like a problem to manage. But when I sat across from him for the first time, I didn’t see a “bad kid.” I saw a boy who hadn’t figured out what...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, If you’ve ever spent time in a school, you’ve probably heard this phrase: “It must be a full moon.” Teachers say it on the days when everything feels off. More tears.More arguments.More impulsive choices.More energy than the room can hold. It becomes a kind of shorthand. A way to make sense of the chaos. And since today is Friday the 13th, it feels fitting to talk about superstition. Because when behavior spikes or moods shift, adults naturally look for explanations. A full moon....
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey friend, I once sat at a tiny preschool table with a boy named Mateo and a thick kindergarten pencil. Mateo was four. Energetic. Curious. Bright. And completely stuck. The assignment was simple: write your name. The other kids were scribbling confidently. Some letters were backwards. Some floated off the line. It didn’t matter. They were trying. Mateo stared at his paper like it had just accused him of something he didn’t do. “I can’t,” he said. His grip tightened. His jaw clenched. He...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi friend, I want to tell you about a moment with a student named Leo. Leo was eight. Bright, funny, curious, and completely overwhelmed that afternoon. He had ADHD, but what mattered most in that moment wasn’t the diagnosis. It was what was happening in his body. The classroom was loud. Transitions had stacked up. Expectations were shifting faster than he could track. By the time I was called in, Leo was pacing, breathing fast, eyes darting. He wasn’t disruptive in a dramatic way. He was...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey friend, I want to tell you about Sarah and her son, Ethan. This is a composite story, but if you’ve ever stood by the door with your keys in your hand and your heart racing, it will feel very real. It was a Wednesday morning.Not a disaster. Just tight. Sarah had already checked the clock twice. She knew they were going to be late if they didn’t leave soon. Lunch was packed. Backpack was zipped. Shoes were sitting right there by the door. Ethan was on the floor, staring at his socks....
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, which means a lot of messages about love are going to sound polished, romantic, and effortless. This isn’t one of those. I want to talk about the quieter kind of love.The kind that shows up on an ordinary Tuesday night when everyone is tired and patience is thin. I’m thinking about a moment I see all the time in parents I work with. It’s the end of the day. Not a crisis. Just heavy.Dinner didn’t go as planned. Someone needed more from you than you had...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friend, I want to talk about something parents almost never notice in themselves — even though it matters more than they realize. A mom told me recently,“I don’t know if I’m actually getting better at this… nothing feels different.” But then she paused and said, almost as an afterthought,“Well… yesterday I didn’t yell. I caught myself right before I did.” And that right there... that tiny moment she almost dismissed...was progress. Real, meaningful progress. Here’s the thing most parents...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friend, There’s a phrase I often repeat to parents, and when it sinks in, something shifts: Behavior is communication. Not manipulation.Not defiance.Not attention-seeking in the way people usually mean it. Communication. A child’s body speaks long before their words do. I was reminded of this during a moment with a student a while back. He had just slammed his backpack onto the floor, muttered something under his breath, and refused to come into the room. On the surface, it looked like...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friend, There’s a moment parents rarely talk about, but nearly all of them carry: The moment after the moment. Not the yelling.Not the tension.Not the meltdown itself. The quiet crash afterward , when the house goes still, your body settles, and suddenly the guilt hits harder than the conflict ever did. A parent told me recently,“I yelled… and afterward I just sat there feeling awful.” She said it like she was confessing something unforgivable. But here’s the truth: That heavy feeling...
3 months ago • 1 min read