Lunchboxes everywhere. Crumpled homework at the bottom of a backpack. Forgotten water bottles. It’s easy to slip into the “I’ll just do it myself” mode. After all, it’s faster, neater, and less stressful… in the short term.

It’s a time of big transitions. And during transitions, children often seek one thing more than anything else: A sense of belonging and significance.

Shared Agreements are collaboratively created guidelines that reflect everyone’s voice and values. When kids help create the agreements, they feel a sense of ownership. And ownership increases cooperation.

When we invite kids to be part of the process—when we shift from controlling to collaborating, we give them a sense of belonging and significance. These are the two core needs Positive Discipline reminds us to meet if we want to see lasting behavior change.

So, Why SEL? Why Now? Because no matter how brilliant your curriculum is, no matter how many classroom strategies you have in your back pocket—none of it lands without connection.

When a child is dysregulated—angry, anxious, overwhelmed—they’re not choosing to ignore you. Their brain is choosing survival. And in that state, learning is biologically impossible.

SEL isn’t one more thing on your plate. It is the plate. It’s not a new task. It’s how you do everything else more intentionally.

Every time we handle frustration, solve a conflict, admit a mistake, or show kindness—we’re teaching. Whether we realize it or not. And while it would be amazing if kids could just absorb emotional regulation by osmosis, they’re actually looking to you to show them how it’s done.

Social and Emotional Learning is simply this:

Teaching kids how to understand and manage their emotions, build positive relationships, handle challenges, and make responsible choices.

Let summer be a season of becoming—not a season of measuring. Let your child find the wonder in slow days, the wisdom in play, and the spark in the “boring” moments. And let you find peace in knowing: You don’t need to be perfect, Pinterest-y, or performative.

You just need to be present. The learning? It’s already happening.

Learning doesn’t begin with instruction. It begins with curiosity. And you don’t have to teach it. You just have to not squash it.

So the next time you hear “Why is the moon following us?”—take a breath, smile, and remember: That’s not a distraction, that’s the lesson.

Nature is the OG classroom—Original and Generous. It teaches patience, observation, problem-solving, risk-taking, and resilience. And best of all? It doesn’t even try to.

When you build your day around connection, curiosity, movement, and creativity, you’re doing more than “keeping them busy.”
You’re feeding their development. You're honoring how they were designed to learn.

Let’s ditch the idea that healing has to “look” a certain way. That it means being calm all the time or having nothing left to process.

Healing isn’t about reaching a place where nothing hurts. For most of us, it’s a mix of breakthroughs and breakdowns and learning how to feel it all—without falling apart every time.

You get impatient, overwhelmed, maybe even stuck in the same spiral of “why am I like this?!”

Growth isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s incredibly quiet. Subtle. Awkward. And slow.

It’s you biting your tongue instead of snapping back and noticing your mood before it ruins your day.

Nobody really prepares you for being being a parent, right? You don’t just become a mom and carry on like normal.

You learn to carry not just your own emotions, but everyone else’s, too. You become the emotional thermostat of your home—and somehow, it becomes second nature to put yourself last.

But you don’t stop being a person just because you became a parent.