36 Questions to Get Closer to Someone You Love
The art of asking good questions, and listening carefully to the person’s response, is an important skill for forming and maintaining positive, close relationships. Our social connections are the most important predictor of life-long happiness and health. Watch Susan Pinker’s TED Talk if you need convincing! Arthur Aron, a prominent social psychologist, discovered that he…
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Stop Dreaming, Start Doing: 5 Steps to Finding Your Career
This post is dedicated to the fabulous young adults who choose to forgo privacy, sleep, and social media to work 24 hours a day, six days a week, as summer camp counselors. “What am I going to do with my life?” I hear this question a lot from recent college graduates and those heading into their final…
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10 Reasons Great Parents Choose Summer Camp for Their Kids
My shy, quiet nine-year-old went to camp not knowing a soul. Two weeks later, she came home transformed. She blossomed. She made friends, learned a multitude of activities, felt safe, loved, confident, and happy — really, really happy. As hard as it was on me, it was all worth it for her. It was the…
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Ep. 172: Screen-Free Week with Jean Rogers
Visit Sunshine Parenting for more resources & episodes. In this episode, Jean Rogers, Director of the Children’s Screen Time Action Network, and I talk about children’s well-being, ways to maximize your family’s screen-free time together, and fun resources for celebrating Screen-Free Week. Jean and I talked about The Social Dilemma (documentary) in Ep. 159 of the…
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[Encore] Ep. 116: Why We Need to Unplug to Connect with our Families
Show Notes Subscribe for resources and ideas for happier, more connected families. This is an encore presentation of one of my favorite episodes. Enjoy! In this episode, I’m reading one of my most popular blog posts. It’s one that’s really applicable during these times that we often take to just spend some time reconnecting with…
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[Encore] Ep. 68: 12 Parenting Tips for Happier, More Connected Families
Subscribe for resources and ideas for happier, more connected families. This is an encore presentation of one of my favorite episodes. Enjoy! Each month this year, I’ve shared a One Simple Thing tip for creating happier, more connected families. For this episode, I share all twelve tips! 12 Tips for Happier, More Connected Families January: Daily…
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24/6: Giving up screens one day a week to get more time, creativity, and connection by Tiffany Shlain
24/6: Giving up screens one day a week to get more time, creativity, and connection by Tiffany Shlain My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Tech Shabbat allows you to take a break and remember an era when spending time on things that take time was part of the pleasure.” -Tiffany Shlain, 24/6 In 24/6, Tiffany…
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Need a 2020 Reboot? Try Doing a September Reset
I think of September as one of my three “new years.” I take time early in September to reflect and regroup before launching into the fall. I first learned about this concept of thinking of three new years on one of my favorite podcasts – Organize 365 with Lisa Woodruff. Even during a pandemic, we…
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Ep. 123: Connection Comes First
Show notes & links available here. In this episode, I’m talking about my theme for this month: Connection! All month long, my posts and podcast episodes are centered around this topic, and it’s one that I feel is critically important to raising thriving kids. In fact, the first chapter of my book Happy Campers (Secret…
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Giving Kids Our Full Attention
Rapport feels good, generating the harmonious glow of being simpatico, a sense of friendliness where each person feels the other’s warmth, understanding, and genuineness. These mutual feelings likely strengthen the bonds between them, no matter how temporary. -Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The Revolutionary New Science of Human Relationships After conducting research on children’s social skills…
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Presence: My One Word for 2020
For the past three years, instead of writing a long list of resolutions or goals, I’ve come up with ONE WORD I want to guide my year. I’ve also encouraged my family to come up with their own words and share why they picked them. My previous One Words have been: 2019: Focus 2018: Peace…
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