Matilda & Jo

“So I say to myself, remember this, ‘Kindness begins with me!’” Anybody else learn that song growing up? That is one of the Sunday School songs that has always stuck with me and will still get stuck in my head randomly. Especially when I’m not feeling super kind feelings toward someone… But ultimately, it’s true. Kindness really does begin with us as individuals. It’s part of who we are and is also something we can continually develop as we surround ourselves with…

What comes to mind when you think of strength? Do you imagine feats of physical strength and bulging muscles? Maybe perseverance through adversity? Perhaps one of those stories of a mother lifting up a way-too-heavy object to save her pinned kid? (PS my sister-in-law has done that, so that actually does come to my mind) Do you think of kindness? Kindness has several parts of its definition, but my favorite is that a kind person demonstrates considerate behavior. They show an awareness…

How many times have you been told that self-care is essential for your well-being? A lot. Probably a million times just in 2020! Now how many times have you talked to your daughter about self-care? Probably less. It’s pretty easy to neglect that, because…aren’t kids naturally pretty self-centered? Isn’t everything we do because they asked us to do something for them? They are the sun to our Copernicus, right? But childhood mental, behavioral, and mood disorders are on the rise in the…

“Smoke, you leave the air alone!”  My daughter yelled that as we passed the old Geneva Steel mill. It’s actually water vapor that comes out of it, but she saw it as smoke. And she hated it. She was three. Part of that may be because the previous two summers were bad fire years with lots of smoke that got us all sick, especially her. For about a year she would point out smoke in the air and get mad at it. …

Think back to some of your favorite childhood memories with friends. What was going on? For me, I remember riding bikes to Shepherd pool to swim all day, playing street hockey/basketball/baseball/etc. with all the neighbor kids, sleepovers on the trampoline, ski trips to Utah, and playing with cattle bones we’d find in the woods while camping. Many of my best memories were outside.  In college, I moved from Arizona to Utah and discovered super accessible hiking, campouts in sand dunes, and being…