Let me tell you about my neighbor’s daughter, Maya. At 14, she was vibrant, always laughing with friends. Then she got Instagram. Within a year, she stopped joining family dinners, snapped at her younger brother, and hid in her room.…
Let me start with a confession: I used to judge parents who let their kids watch endless YouTube videos. Then I became one of them. During a chaotic grocery run, I handed my toddler a phone to stop his meltdown.…
I’ll never forget the day I realized I was failing my son. He was struggling to tie his shoes—a task he’d practiced a dozen times. His face crumpled, and before he could even whimper, I jumped in: “Here, let me…
Let me tell you about the time my daughter turned into a ghost. At 13, she went from sharing every middle-school drama to grunting monosyllables. Dinners became silent battles of eye-rolls. Her bedroom door might as well have had a…
Let me tell you about the time my family almost missed our annual camping trip. My sister forgot to book the campsite, my parents were swamped with work, and my niece was glued to her tablet. Then my mom said,…
Let me tell you about the time my niece, Clara, screamed for 20 minutes because her sandwich was cut into squares instead of triangles. I stood there, frozen, holding a knife and wondering if geometry was now a battleground. Sound…
Let me tell you about the time I accidentally became the office doormat. As a new manager, I wanted my team to like me. So I said yes to every request, avoided tough conversations, and let deadlines slide. Within weeks, projects stalled,…
Let me tell you about my family’s Tuesday night tradition. Every week, no matter how busy we are, we gather around the kitchen table for homemade pizza and board games. My teenage nephew groans, “Do we have to?”—then ends up laughing harder…
As a parent, I thought I understood the risks of social media—cyberbullying, screen time limits, stranger danger. But what I didn’t realize until recently is how deeply platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are rewiring teens’ brains and fueling a…
As a parent, I’ve spent nights lying awake, wondering if my child’s meltdowns were just “a phase” or something deeper. Anxiety doesn’t always announce itself with panic attacks or tearful confessions. Sometimes, it hides in plain sight—a stomachache before school,…