On the children who fall through the space between a mother's instinct and a checked box. A quiet moment with a favorite book, one page at a time. (Photo: Curated Lifestyle, Unsplash) One Fish, Two Fish My daughter Stella, who is now 19, reports to me every now and again that she filled out her required reading log the same way every night in first, and then second, grade: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. Not because it was her favorite. Because it was the only book she

What toddlers — and babies — actually need from the logical adult in the room Not every connection looks like rolling on the floor. Sometimes it looks like this — a real task, a willing child, and an adult who showed up for it. (Photo: Curated Lifestyle, Unsplash) The Voicemail My brother Ed is a CEO. He is precise, logical, direct, and not — by his own matter-of-fact admission — the goo-goo-gah-gah type. So when his wife had to fly to Arizona and left him to pick up his near

What your child is really asking when they want to help with dinner The dough will be uneven. The memory will not be. (Photo: Curated Lifestyle, Unsplash) You are twelve minutes from getting dinner on the table. The pasta water is almost boiling. The onion is translucent. You have successfully timed three things at once, which is a minor miracle, and you are — finally, briefly — on track. Then a small hand appears at your elbow. "Can I stir it?" And somewhere inside your very

When toddlers know exactly what they want — and don't yet have the words to say so. She has a very specific idea about this banana. (Photo: Luiza Braun, Unsplash) There's a particular kind of parental terror that has nothing to do with danger and everything to do with a banana. A mom I coached recently during an early intervention visit called it the "banana stage" — and she wasn't smiling when she said it the first time. With her older child, it had felt traumatic: hundreds