Please note: I've moved my ongoing blog/newsletter to  . Check it out and subscribe for free!​ This infamous question has torpedoed many a new romantic relationship. People famously hate answering it. It feels like someone else is trying to get into our mind when we’re lost in thought. But here’s a different take on it: I think we should be asking   this question, frequently, to get a sense for how we are actually using our mental energy. And, in a Stoic sense, this question can help us practice some home improvement on our inner citadels—the place we can retreat to inside our m ..read more

What do American parents care about today? I am always interested in research about my fellow caregivers, so I just read a discussion of a new Pew Parents Study in a New York Times newsletter with interest. The study was summarized by opinion columnist Ross Douthat. My response here is not to the study itself, which you can  , but to Douthat’s discussion of it—which focuses on what he calls “workism.” In fact, he has grimly titled his newsletter article  “Is ‘Workism’ Dooming Civilization? Notes on the New Pew Parents Study.” “When you ask [American parents] to give weight to profess ..read more

​Are you concerned about teens and social media? I am. That’s why my ears perked up when I heard that Seattle Public Schools decided to sue social media companies over the harmful effects they are having on school children in their district. According to NPR, the suit targets:  "...TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth. Seattle Public Schools filed the lawsuit [in January] in U.S. District Court. The 91-page complaint says the social media companies have created a public nuisance by targeting their ..read more

I'd like to begin by sharing that I've launched a , where I will be sharing my posts and sending them directly to your inbox. If you've subscribed to The Stoic Mom in the past, you should be receiving the newsletter already. If not, please and subscribe for free! And now, for my latest post: Whenever my kids are heading back to school, I have an early warning system: My stomach kicks into action, summersaulting and twisting, and I start popping Tums like there’s no tomorrow.  (The candy-colored coated chewy ones don’t taste sooooo bad. I’ve recently used up a full jar of the stu ..read more

Please note: I've moved my ongoing blog/newsletter to  . Check it out and subscribe for free!​ It’s a delicate balance when you strive to be both a parent and a human to your kids. As a mom, I take many opportunities to create healthy boundaries and set expectations for my children, but I am a human in a parenting role first, and an authority figure second. That allows me to be an honest and authentic person to my children, relating to them with all my flaws and my triumphs.  In keeping with this approach, I try to stay open to “feedback” from my teen children (even if I sometimes br ..read more

Please note: I've moved my ongoing blog/newsletter to  . Check it out and subscribe for free!​ This infamous question has torpedoed many a new romantic relationship. People famously hate answering it. It feels like someone else is trying to get into our mind when we’re lost in thought. But here’s a different take on it: I think we should be asking   this question, frequently, to get a sense for how we are actually using our mental energy. And, in a Stoic sense, this question can help us practice some home improvement on our inner citadels—the place we can retreat to inside our m ..read more

Please note: I've moved my ongoing blog/newsletter to  . Check it out and subscribe for free!​ What stressors are bothering you? What could you let go of in 2023? One of my stressors is what other people think of me. I spend more time than I’d like to admit wondering about how others are judging me. All the people I encounter are potential judges, whether at home, work, with other parents, in my neighborhood, or in my online community—which is the entire world! My Stoic practice is excellent for considering ways to defeat this way of thinking. Worldly “achievements” racked up to impress o ..read more