The fallacy of Space and Stuff

For two weeks this summer, I slept in the same bedroom with my three children. This was not a large or palatial room, but we were comfortable. And we were happy. I started thinking about our six-bedroom home filled with all the requisite Stuff. Despite all the bedrooms and furnishings, my two older children sleep in sleeping bags on the floor in the same bedroom. I wake up everyday thinking, “Something’s wrong with this picture!”. And indeed there is. It’s the fallacy of Space and Stuff. Has Space and Stuff become our modern-day KAHUNAS???

This meeting is called to disorder

My generally mild mannered, kind, empathetic 7-year old has suddenly asserted his independence. We have been pulling our hair out trying to decide the best way to handle this new behavior, so I decided to have our first family meeting — with our 2-, 4- and 7-year olds. . I got the idea from one of my favorite parenting books, Positive Discipline. I’ll admit that the meeting got off to a rocky start. However, after calling the meeting to its appropriate level of disorder, I have three promising observations and several agreements to report.

Transitions

After a month-long hiatus, I am back to the blog! We’re all transitioning from the fun-filled but sleepy days of summer to the back-to-school craze. The school year has hit with a bang as each child faces his age-appropriate challenge. And, of course, I’m going through my own professional transition. Nonetheless, we welcome the rhythm and structure of a new year, its challenges and changes yet to be revealed.