594. Norks and Noogly

There’s something about a pet that meets a human need. A dog can be the kind of friend we sometimes wish people could be. It’s probably good that people don’t give us the same kind of unthinking loyalty we can get from a dog, but nevertheless, there are times when some of us wish they…

There are all kinds of dangers in this world, and we don’t want our children to end up in the emergency room of the hospital, pictured on a milk carton, or dead. We want them to live long, healthy, happy lives. And so we do what we can to make sure that’s what happens. Of…

As our children go through school, they’re bound to meet up with situations, teachers and/or children who, to put it mildly, aren’t quite right for them. Adults, too, sometimes have to spend a lot of time working with people they’d rather avoid altogether, and/or doing things they’d rather not do. We have more power over…

Some children, for various reasons, like to be done with their work. It could be that there is some carrot at the end of the stick – that whatever the child is going to do after the work is done is so attractive that finishing is a high priority. Unless the teacher or parent has…

Setting limits for children is one of my least enjoyable ways to spend time with them. I don’t have much trouble setting limits when it comes to the way they treat me; I won’t let them jump on me, destroy my property, use things I don’t want used. They respect those limits, and don’t argue…

Memory doesn’t light all the corners of our minds equally. There are several different kinds of memory. I taught about six hundred children, and I think I could identify about 300 by their pictures (taken at the time I taught them). That’s pretty good. But I’m taking a course in Feldenkrais movement, in hopes of…