Sometimes we tend to over schedule our kids’ days. And sometimes I’m guilty of under scheduling. But like a wise parent said to me a few weeks ago in the office: our kids need to be bored. It’s summer.
When Sadness Is At Your Door
How often do I talk about SADNESS with my patients? Every day.
Milestones: Telling Stories
Is telling stories a milestone? You bet it is!
Toni Morrison
A great legend has passed away, but her words will inspire for centuries to come.
we don't eat our classmates
Penelope is starting school for the first time but she’s having trouble making friends….because she keeps eating her classmates.
Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!
My Bookworm girls always come back to Harry Potter. We discuss what we’ve learned the most from the HP series and JK Rowling.
A Midsummer Night's Book Reflection
The Bookworm girls are, well, bookworms and here is what they have read this summer so far.
I'm a Physician who did NOT get into med school
I woke up this morning realizing that it’s been almost 20 years since I was accepted to med school off the wait list. I like to call it my last minute decision to go to med school but it was anything but last minute.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea Read-Along Part 2
Here are my thoughts on the second half of Tahereh Mafi’s A Very Large Expanse of Sea Part 2 (Chapters 18 on). Warning: there are SPOILERS here, of course.
Book Vs Movie: The Sun is Also a Star
“Carl Sagan said that if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. When he says ‘from scratch’, he means from nothing. He means from a time before the world even existed. If you want to make an apple pie from nothing at all, you have to start with the Big Bang and expanding universes, neutrons, ions, atoms, black holes, suns, moons, ocean tides, the Milky Way, Earth, evolution, dinosaurs, extinction-level events, playtupuses, Homo erectus, Cro-Magnon man, etc. You have to start at the beginning.”
~from The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Carmela Full of Wishes
Carmela Full of Wishes is full of heart and has stolen MY heart in its rendering.
Dear Mom
Happy Mother’s Day 2019 <3
Dear Boy
Dear Boy is an anthem for little boys to be who they are, but not in a boys will be boys old-school way
If I Was the Sunshine
Julie Fogliano has woven together a lovely soft sort of ode to a loved one in a call and answer format. It’s a quiet melody that is not quite predictable, but depicts an ongoing relationship that draws two people (or things) together. Loren Long’s gorgeous illustrations are vibrant and full of flight, ocean waves, changing seasons, and always, always the ways we interconnect with each other and beyond.
First Pages: Salt To the Sea
“Guilt is a hunter.
My conscience mocked me, picking fights like a petulant child.
It’s all your fault, the voice whispered.”
~from Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
What If It's Us
What I loved about What If It’s Us is that Albertalli and Silvera realistically portray the voices, the angst, the humor, the friendships, AND the awkwardness of teen relationships.
L.A. Times Festival of Books 2019 with the Bookworm Family
A belated recounting of our annual trip to the L.A.Times Festival of Books
Dear Evan Hansen
Every day I meet an Evan Hansen or a Connor Murphy or an Alana Beck. Or a Zoe Murphy. Every day I meet one of these kids in our office, whether they are teens or still toddlers.
For the Evan or Connor who is already a teen, I take a deep breath. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, Evan and Connor are characters in the musical (and now novel), Dear Evan Hansen. Both of whom are struggling with feeling alone, with feeling anxiety, with feeling/being depressed.