The Mindstorm

Category: parenting

  • How Do I Trump Fear?

    I have been trying to explain to friends, family, and others why I, a middle-aged, middle-class white woman, am afraid of what the next four years holds now that Donald Trump is our President Elect.  I keep reading comments like, “we will have to wait and see what happens,” or “we will all be okay.”…

  • A Parent’s Perspective – Elizabeth Loan

    Years ago I worked for a school who only served kids with moderate to severe disabilities, primarily Autism. Part of our training was a series of lectures from other health professionals, support service agencies and other assorted individuals who worked in the field. One of the trainings was titled, “A Parent’s Perspective.” It consisted of…

  • Columbine and Action

    Did you see Sue Klebold on ABC’s 20/20 last Friday? I watched it twice.

  • A Long December

    I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted.  Winter is long and cold here in Chicago, and frankly, I am, as much as I hate to admit it, I am prone to seasonal depression which makes me pretty much hide out, eat, binge watch Netflix, and shun bearing my soul to, well, anyone. But…

  • Fail

    I’m failing in spectacular fashion. Our bonus kid has been struggling with learning how to be part of a family without falling into her old pattern of alienating everyone around her before they can disappoint or hurt her.  She vacillates between needing intense, toddler-like levels of affection to openly despising every word anyone over the…

  • Join Me In Hell

    Everyone has those movies that, no matter what time they come on TV or what you’re doing when they come on, you’ll stop everything to watch them.  One of mine, What Dreams May Come, was on cable today.

  • Keeping Focus

    When the Newtown tragedy happened, there was immediately a lot of Internet rhetoric around two topics: mental health care and gun control.  Being a proponent of both, I jumped into conversations about both and tried to steer the conversations to addressing both.  It took me about two days to realize – after the media started…

  • Why?

    I’ve been watching the news, joining in on discussions on social media, and reading the editorials and blog posts about the horrific events that transpired on Friday in Newtown, Connecticut.  I’ve spent three days in many different states of mind – disbelief, horror, grief, anger.  I’ve wept tears for the children and their teachers that…

  • We’ve Lost Hope: Guest Post

    I was honored to be asked by Pete Earley, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist, to write a response on his blog to a letter he received from a concerned parent about their son, who struggles with both mental illness and addiction. Here is their letter: Dear Pete, We have tried to get our son professional…

  • Book Review: Easy to Love but Hard to Raise

    I have a confession to make.  I’m not proud of it. When parents of children with mental illnesses I personally feel are less severe than Tim’s express how hard it is to raise their child, I sneer. It’s almost involuntary.  I feel like shouting, “Ha! I’ll trade you my kid for a month, then we’ll…