Karen

Why I choose kindness

Posted by Karen on Nov 9, 2016 in Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments

The votes have been counted, the victor declared. The election is over. Some mourn, some celebrate. Yet as with any competition, how we behave in the aftermath matters. It’s time to stop with the hatred. It’s time to stop with the divisive language. We will be nothing as a country if we won’t try to find a way to come together to move forward. Maybe that’s being simplistic, maybe it’s viewing this through rose-colored glasses. But please, our children are still watching, and they see how we treat each other in victory and in defeat. We are all role models for the voters of the...

Grateful for the scent of laughter

Posted by Karen on Aug 9, 2016 in Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments

My son rounded the corner into the laundry room, an impish look on his face. “Mom, does it kind of smell like up-dog in the house?” A flurry of thoughts ran through my brain as I paired socks from the latest clean load, and I asked a seemingly logical question: “What’s up-dog?” “Not much, what’s up with you,” the 11-year-old replied, visibly pleased I had so easily fallen for his joke. I laughed out loud, and it felt good. Today, I am grateful for my son’s sense of humor.

What Mom is really saying

Posted by Karen on Feb 3, 2016 in Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments

“It’s supposed to get to 50 degrees today,” my daughter said as she grabbed her backpack before heading out the door to school. It has been an unusually tame winter, but 50 degrees was almost inconceivable for February in upstate New York. I noticed she was wearing a short-sleeve shirt under her jacket, and questioned her in a way that was interpreted as disapproval. “Mom, I sometimes wear short sleeves even if it’s freezing,” said the 17-year-old as she pulled on shoes, her tone conveying slight annoyance. I nodded. That was true, and as she kissed me goodbye and headed to the garage, I...

Gratitude = Happiness

Posted by Karen on Jan 10, 2016 in Featured, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Check out the New York Times piece, “Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier” by New York Times Contributing Op-Ed Writer Arthur C. Brooks writes. Brooks writes: Be honest: When was the last time you were grateful for the spots on a trout? More seriously, think of the small, useless things you experience — the smell of fall in the air, the fragment of a song that reminds you of when you were a kid. Give thanks.