Excerpt from “A Parent’s Playbook”

Enrichment Activities An Excerpt from A Parent’s Playbook

“It’s what we’re excited about that educates us.”

~Lives on the Boundary.
Rose, M. (1995)

A mother raven flew over a swan swimming in a lake, and thought him unspeakably beautiful. Believing that his fine white color came from washing in the water in which he swam, the raven left her nest and took her chicks to live near the lake.

But no matter how often she washed her baby birds’ feathers in the water, their black color never changed. Instead the birds all nearly starved because the food they ate did not exist near the lake. Once the mother raven realized the error of her ways, the family of birds returned to their native home and flourished because they were able to nourish themselves as nature intended.

When we as parents attempt to transform our child into a different kind of child, we deny their spirits nourishment.

While we may have to live with one-size-fits-all during the school day, we have an opportunity to feed their spirits with extracurricular activities, and celebrate who they were born to be.

As parents, we want to give our kids the chance to discover inner strengths that can turn into adult careers that they are truly excited about—not just logging 40 hours a week to pay the bills. One of the best ways for parents to accomplish this goal is via enrichment activities.

Unfortunately, today’s parents are all too familiar with scenarios where a child begs to enroll in a certain extracurricular activity, only to decide two weeks into the session that he can’t stand it. So, the parents are left to either (a) write off the money spent on the series of classes or (b) drag the child kicking and screaming to the remaining lessons week after week as his initial interest in the subject dwindles.

This chapter will reveal how to avoid these scenarios and instead stimulate your child’s appetite for learning.

Regardless, however, of your child’s personality type, here are some key questions to ask to ensure that the program, teacher and curriculum are a good match for your standards as a parent.
• What is the teacher-to-student ratio in your available classes?
• What is your philosophy with regard to discipline?
• What is your drop-in policy?
• How will you communicate with me with regard to program happenings
(e.g., games, recitals, holidays, etc.)
• How long have you taught at this particular location?
• What is the turnover rate of the rest of the staff?
• Is the program licensed by an applicable state agency?
• Check that the lessons will be taught in a safe and healthy space.
(Are the materials clean? Are first-aid kits available? Do any outdoor play
spaces have fences or natural boundaries?)
• Check the Megan’s Law database for the name/address of the potential
instructor.
• Don’t forget to ask for a few recent parent references.

I’m Refreshing My Blog (and Bust Ghosts)

Updating old blog content is a bit like digital archaeology: you head in to dust the archives and end up unearthing questionable life choices from years ago. Between the over-filtered photos and advice that’s aged like room-temperature milk, the past can be… loud.

The Ghost in the Machine: Lately, I’ve been dealing with a resident spirit: The Ghost of Peanut Butter and Whine. This digital poltergeist has been causing chaos behind the scenes:

The Vanishing Act: Deleting images and leaving empty boxes where helpful tutorials used to be.
The Link Graveyard: Sneakily swapping my trusted brand partners for sketchy “AI Crypto” links.
Font Sabotage: Reverting my modern, clean text back to “Geocities-era” antique fonts.

The 2026 Refresh Plan: I’m giving my archives a facelift to keep my blog traffic climbing and my readers happy. Here’s my step-by-step exorcism:

Exorcise 404s: Running a broken link checker to find and fix every dead end.
Modernize the Recommendations: Swapping outdated 2019 products for my 2026 essentials.
SEO Deep Clean: Updating metadata to ensure my focus keywords are in the headers and the introduction for maximum impact.