Smart Blog
As the school year winds down, the pace picks up
Life has a way of spinning out of control the final month of school. This year is no exception.
Take just the first four days of this week, please!
Monday: Pick up my daughter’s swim team carpool at 4:30. Take my son to batting practice from 6 to 7. Sit in my car and get some work [...]
Even some of the brightest college students lack responsibility
Psychology professor Carol Dweck teaches some of the country’s brightest young adults in her classroom at Stanford University. Great grades, stellar SAT scores and resumes that stand out in a crowd.
They seemingly have it all. But there’s one thing Dweck says many of her young students lack: The ability to take care of themselves once [...]
Memories of Motherhood: These cards are way better than Hallmark’s
My most cherished Mother’s Day gifts are kept in my nightstand drawer, cards and other mementos my kids made at school or here at home. I’m sure you have your stash, too. Every once in a while, I pull them out and remind myself of how lucky I am to be a mom.
There’s the yellow, [...]
Why I appreciate my kids’ teachers
Good teachers teach kids the academic lessons they need to know. Great teachers offer so much more.
Here are six examples of why I appreciate my kids’ teachers.
I appreciate teachers like Vicky Romero, who love the challenge of bringing out the best in each student. Mrs. Romero was my son’s third-grade teacher.
Noah was a bright, [...]
Getting into a great college take more than smarts; it takes hard work
It seems rarely a day goes by without college planning creeping into conversations around our house.
Hannah, the daughter of some close friends, proved to us that with hard work and dedication you can get into Berkeley, UCLA and other top-flight schools.
My daughter, Emma, a 10th-grader, attended a college fair with her school a few [...]
What would I do without my carpool moms?
In honor of Earth Week, I think it appropriate to wax poetic about my fellow carpool moms, four moms who help me save the planet and save my mind.
They are Coreen, Dorie, Raquel and Shelly. Together, we get our daughters back and forth to water polo practice during the winter and swim practice during the [...]
Time to sharpen the pencils! Standards tell us what our kids should learn; standardized testing tells us what they have learned
Ah, springtime, that time of year when our children’s skills are put to the test and adults keep score. I’m not talking Little League or softball.
I’m referring to the standardized testing window that’s about to open for school children across the country. If you’re like many - maybe most - parents, you probably question [...]
A lesson best learned young: Accept responsibility for your actions
There are an awful lot of lessons parents can teach their kids about the faltering economy. Here’s a simple one even a kindergartner can grasp: Accepting responsibility for your actions is good.
Take the case of Hank Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group who transformed the company into an insurance giant by casting [...]
The Obamas and other high achievers can take on “too much”
I can’t help but think that President and Mrs. Obama are getting a good laugh out of people who fear they are taking on too much.
All partisan politics aside (I know this is impossible but bear with me here), we have just witnessed the reins of our country pass from a classic underachiever to a [...]
Message to AIG executives: Don’t take what you don’t deserve
Here’s a message we all need to send to the AIG executives who are receiving about $165 million in bonuses after contributing wildly to the country’s financial collapse: Don’t take what you don’t deserve.
It’s the same message we’re teaching our kids every day.
Lawyers have told the Obama administration that AIG must hand out the bonuses [...]
