Kid Focused

12/05/2024

This is beautiful…

Happy Mothers Day 🌺

“My brother and I were both placed into foster homes at a young age. He was lucky—he went to a family called the Ripleys. I went through four different homes in three years, and each one was worse than the next. I’d get to see my brother every few months. Ms. Ripley would take us for lunch at McDonalds, and that’s when she first noticed the scars all over my body. She immediately made arrangements for me to join their family. Back then the word ‘family’ didn’t mean much to me. But the Ripleys made me feel welcome in their home.
Whenever I did something wrong, Ms. Ripley would sit me down and explain why it wasn’t OK. But then she’d say: ‘You’re not going anywhere. Because you belong to us now.’ Shortly after I joined the family, Mr. Ripley was diagnosed with cancer. And later that year he passed away. Ms. Ripley’s entire world fell apart. They’d been high school sweethearts. And now she was alone with two foster kids. Nobody would have blamed her for taking us back.
But instead she took us to court and made it permanent. The three of us moved into a single wide trailer in Mississippi, and that’s where she raised us. She worked whatever odd jobs she could find. We never had much, but we went to movies. We had family game nights. She kept us busy with little league and Boy Scouts. She must have been super stressed, but that’s not at all what I remember.
I just remember the affirmation that she gave me. It was always: ‘You’re smart.’ And ‘You’re handsome.’ And ‘You survived all that stuff because you’re strong.’ She cried when I joined the Marines, but she knew it was my best chance for a college education. And eventually I graduated from law school.
Last year I had a daughter of my own. And that really put me into an emotional tailspin. Because I realized how every little choice I make is going to affect her future. And then I started thinking about how different my life could have been. Because my early development had been the opposite of what a child’s should be. I should be broken, but I’m not. Because thirty years ago my Mom decided to keep me. And somehow, despite all her sadness and heartbreak, she poured enough love into me so that I could heal.”

07/07/2023

Awesome!

24/06/2023

As we exited the Indiana Jones ride, side-stepping throngs of people around us, I noticed a small child having a meltdown. Her back was arched, stiffened, so that her frustrated father couldn’t buckle her in the stroller. She was 2 or 3, wearing a baby-blue Elsa gown. Her face read exhaustion as did her parents’. The mom muttered something to the dad that I couldn’t hear, but even in their own Disney-inspired clothing it was clear they were certainly not in the “happiest place on earth.”

We hadn’t been to Disneyland as a family since 2017 before we went earlier this month right when school got out. There’s no better time to avoid the crowds when it comes to Disneyland. In March, in October, on Wednesdays, 365 days a year that place is jammed — the most successful business plan...

18/06/2023

Happy Father’s Day!

17/05/2023

I’m sure going to miss my middle school students! I will encourage them to keep reading when school breaks for summer next week.

One of the many things I appreciate about teaching middle school English is that it’s often the last time a child gets guided classroom reading. We read books together and then we talk and write about them. By high school it’s often left to a student to complete reading on their own. Rich discus...

25/04/2023

Utah is the first state in the country to pass legislation that would limit minors’ social media use. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed two bills into effect last month, collectively known as the Social Media Regulation Act, that would prevent children from using social media from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and require social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook give parents access to their teens’ accounts. It is set to take effect March 1, 2024.

A simple question by my teenage daughter at the dinner table recently got me thinking. “Why are there so many rules to protect kids,” she asked, “like having to have permission slips or not allowing adults who don’t work at a school to just walk around, when they are free to just about anywh...

04/04/2023

Can you name a few? 🍎

Truth! 💗

22/03/2023

“Can we get pizza? It’s National Pizza Day,” my daughter asked me recently. I was confused. How did she know that? I had to look it up and, indeed, National Pizza Day is on Feb. 9. I was oblivious to National Sons Day, too, which was apparently on March 8. Only when I saw other moms posting tributes to their sons online, which gave me a mild pang of guilt, did I realize it…

I have been curious about this new wave of holidays and discovered they’re all a big marketing ploy.

“Can we get pizza? It’s National Pizza Day,” my daughter asked me recently. I was confused. How did she know that? I had to look it up and, indeed, National Pizza Day is on Feb. 9. I was oblivious to National Sons Day, too, which was apparently on March 8. Only when I saw other moms posting tr...

19/02/2023

“Disconnection is a disease … Rates of su***de, anxiety and depression are rising in our youth despite our advanced culture of wealth, creativity and productivity.”

Five years ago this month, in the first hours after my mother died, the words came out of nowhere, striking me like a lightning bolt: Life is all about relationships.

22/12/2022

Depression doesn’t always look like darkness. It can mask itself in jokes and smiles, in song and in dance. It can be rich and good-looking on the outside, dripping in the best clothes and jewelry. It isn’t always isolated either; it can be flanked by a loving family and adoring friends.

The shocking news of Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ su***de is a stunning reminder that we don’t know what is really going on in people’s lives.

Depression doesn’t always look like darkness. It can mask itself in jokes and smiles, in song and in dance. It can be rich and good-looking on the outside, dripping in the best clothes and jewelry. It isn’t always isolated either; it can be flanked by a loving family and adoring friends.

23/11/2022

I shared Alanis Morissette’s 1996 hit “Ironic” with eighth-graders to kick off our suspense unit recently. Once an anthem sung ‘round the world, only a handful of students had heard it before.

When they listened to “it’s like rain on your wedding day” and “it’s a free ride when you’ve already paid” as they read the lyrics, I saw the lightbulbs of understanding brighten as they grasped the concept of irony — when the unexpected occurs.

I shared Alanis Morissette’s 1996 hit “Ironic” with eighth-graders to kick off our suspense unit recently. Once an anthem sung ‘round the world, only a handful of students had heard it before. When they listened to “it’s like rain on your wedding day” and “it’s a free ride when you...

30/09/2022

When she started at the ripe age of 13, my daughter was surprised to learn she was making more money hourly than her enterprising older siblings. “Why doesn’t everyone want to ref?” she asked during training.

She soon found out.

It’s been a perk for my youngest to watch her three older siblings navigate their first jobs. She gets a peek into a bigger world filled with new people and experiences. We all get to benefit from their newly acquired skills like how to pour the perfect soft serve or make restaurant quality pizzas...

19/08/2022

Some sobering reminders of life’s fragility of late. It’s important that kids learn these lessons too!

I used to think living to the average lifespan of 80 was a given. I suppose it was the optimism in me, but it was also a sign of my naïveté. I felt robbed when my Grandpa Jack of Herculean strength lived to be only 84. It was hard to think a Superman of a guy like he was could ever die. One of my ...

15/06/2022

“In this world where the most outrageous thing a person can do in front of a camera is regarded as king, it’s what one does in the quiet — to open a door, offer a seat, show integrity when no one is watching — that reigns supreme.”

Everyone loved Wally Richardson. The El Dorado Hills resident and World War II veteran spent more than 20 years lighting up the north side of town with his friendship, kindness and fun, greeting thousands of neighbors, particularly school children and their parents walking to and from Lake Forest El...

26/05/2022

“Wally often spoke about the ripple effect he hoped his actions would have on young people, citing Saint Mother Teresa’s words, ‘I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.’”

Here’s a profile I wrote about a wonderful role model in my small community who passed away at 98 years old this past week. We need more Wallys in the world ❤️

Wally Richardson’s signature smile and wave was a mainstay near Marina Village Middle School and Lake Forest Elementary School. Thousands of students enjoyed “Wally-isms” and friendly greetings nearly every day. Photo by Diane Orciuoli

11/05/2022

My teenage daughter made an excellent point recently while we were talking about the surge in high-profile su***des the past few months. “People should have mental health check-ups just like physical check-ups,” she explained, which led us to think about the buzz phrase: “We need to destigmatize mental health.”

What would that look like and how might we go about doing it? What if we could check in with kids while they’re young enough to get help for an issue before it has the chance to get bigger? What if small mental health woes any of us suffer from could be treated before they metastasize into full-fledge depression?

My teenage daughter made an excellent point recently while we were talking about the surge in high-profile su***des the past few months. “People should have mental health check-ups just like physical check-ups,” she explained, which led us to think about the buzz phrase: “We need to destigmati...

12/03/2022

When I traveled to Russia as a 16-year-old in 1990 I thought I’d arrive to the cold, Siberian wilderness I’d always seen on TV. I was there only eight months after the Berlin Wall came down and 17 months before the full collapse of the Soviet Union, yet nothing even closely resembled the words “cold” or “war” during my stay.

When I traveled to Russia as a 16-year-old in 1990 I thought I’d arrive to the cold, Siberian wilderness I’d always seen on TV. During our three weeks there, the delegation of student ambassadors I was with traveled by bus to dozens of towns spanning Moscow to St. Petersburg. Among many activiti...

11/02/2022

Tips to help your kids focus

Wordle is a little word game that’s made a big splash since it was released just four months ago, skyrocketing from 90 daily users to millions today. It’s a simple concept: a player gets six tries to identify a single, five-letter word and you can only play once each day. Americans are hooked be...