Recently, my closest friend whom I have known since such a small age that I cannot remember not knowing her came to visit from Sacramento. We were sitting on the floor of my living room doing that thing you do when you don’t get to see someone you love very often. We were going through… Continue reading Notice the Patterns, but Hold Them Loosely

How many of us adults live with anxiety daily? How long have you been feeling anxious? Has motherhood or other life transitions heightened your anxiety, perhaps giving it an unexpected twist? Anxiety is a shared struggle—one that doesn’t discriminate. It affects people from all walks of life, from celebrities to members of our local communities,… Continue reading Moms living with Anxiety: Messages to Our Past and Present Selves

Aimee Jaremowicz RD, LDN, interviews Julie Bombacino, CEO and Founder of Real Foods and parent of a tube-fed child.    “At first I was shell-shocked! AJ had been nursing for 6 months and I never knew that epilepsy could lead to needing a feeding tube. (I think I was like much of the general population… Continue reading A Mother’s Perspective: Bonding With a Tube-Fed Child

If your child has anxiety, school can be a daily struggle. Your child may resist getting out of bed, express physical complaints like stomachaches or headaches before bed or in the morning, or struggle to make friends. Some subjects may feel especially challenging, and the noise and activity of the school environment can be overwhelming.… Continue reading Supporting an Anxious Child in School: What You Can Do

Whether it feels like it or not at the moment, cold weather is coming. We are in the flux of late fall when you’ll get a few sunny afternoons, but the overall days are getting shorter and chillier. With each minute lost to twilight, I think of Charlie, my son who uses a wheelchair, who… Continue reading Cold Weather Gear for Wheelchair-Users

Holiday vacations are weird and stressful, but also maybe a little wonderful. You have to run towards the wonderful part head-on so you don’t miss it.

My son Charlie recently underwent hip reconstruction surgery. If you had asked me what I believed to be the hardest surgery Charlie would have, I would have said the tracheotomy while he was in the NICU. Or perhaps later, the tongue reconstruction, which involved cutting a pie-wedge slice out of his tongue and suturing the… Continue reading When the Answer Isn’t Clear

Bacon, Pumpkin Spice Jo-Jos, String Cheese, Pop Tarts, Peach Rings, Watermelon – this is a list of foods I did not know my son liked two weeks ago. Why? Because I never gave them to him. Why? Well, that’s a longer story. When Charlie was born, he went home from the NICU with a tracheotomy.… Continue reading Ruts are Real and Pumpkin Spice is Amazing

As you and your children are finding your groove in the school year that has not-so-long-ago kicked off, we are all balancing the many demands of work, academics, extracurricular activities, home life, and a social life. It’s a lot, and the balancing act for us and our kids, teens, and young adults requires a great… Continue reading What are Executive Functioning Skills and Why Do We Need Them?