Ryan came home from school today excited. His speech on the current state of health care had gone well. He had spent hours researching and organizing his thoughts on paper. Then there were the hours he spent practicing. But that’s not what this is about. It’s about socks. As Ryan was explaining the details of his presentation, he was kicking his feet behind him. I glanced at his foot as it came up and noticed that there were five, yes…
All parents want their children to succeed in school. And since Kindergarten is a child’s first exposure to “formal” schooling, preparing them for success is an important first step on the academic ladder. But “preparing” our kids for academic success does not mean completing reams of worksheets and stacks of flashcards. It’s actually a lot easier than that. It simply requires looking for opportunities to seamlessly tie “lessons” into daily life. And the good news is, because these lessons are…
A recent study from Accenture found that the easiest way to get a raise or a promotion was to ask for one. Yup, 85% of those surveyed who said they had asked for a raise actually got something. It reminded me of Nathan’s recent tutoring negotiation. He was recommended, by one of his old math teachers, to the mom of a seventh grader who needed help in algebra. Her first email to Nathan did not mention the fee she was…
When we invest in something, we are looking to benefit from it in the future. For example, when we invest in regular oil changes for our car, we expect that the car will serve us well for many years. And when we invest time into a vegetable garden, we hope to have a bountiful harvest. As parents, we invest in our kids’ futures every day, multiple times a day. When we tell them that eating carrots will help their night…
I cut an article out of the paper today to share with Nathan. He had invested in Walmart several years ago because he liked the idea of them going green. He knew that a big company like Walmart could make a difference. He was right. According to the article Walmart is now holding farmers accountable for their farming practices. It’s recycling its used plastic into dog beds, producing smaller laundry detergent bottles to reduce packaging, and it’s transporting its goods in hybrid 18-wheelers…