Category: Margie’s Musings

Time and time again through the years I have listened to parents, (mothers in particular) when they search for how to describe something that worries them. They usually end up saying, I can’t explain it but I “know” something “is not quite right.” They often add, ” but maybe it is just my imagination” in a voice that suggests a mixture of hope they are wrong and fear that they are right. After working in the field of mental health counseling, teaching, school psychology, and now life coaching, I can honestly say this is such a repeated theme that it

I think I have a cure for anyone who harshly judges teachers and “kids these days.” The cure is inexpensive and refreshing.  And in your local schools.  At least it works for me. Every time I go to a performance at a school, from kindergarten programs to senior plays, I come away with a renewed respect for kids and their teachers.  Unfortunately, I usually only get around to going when a child I know is in the performance.  That is too bad because they are public and they are most often amazing.  Last weekend included. My husband and I went

Last night I ignored my Inner Voice of Wisdom and threw caution and good sense to the wind. The very opposite of the message in my last two blogs!  I went down a path of self-indulgence, and paid for it by awaking in the night.  Here is the story. They say “we are what we eat.”  They also say, “we are what we think.”  Hmm. At two o’clock I woke up so hungry I thought it was time to get up and have breakfast.  This almost always happens to me when I over eat the night before, but I had conveniently

While these words are very familiar, they mean different things to each of us.  They are subjective perspectives as well and typically rather unscientific.  Heaven knows, there are books, poems, and songs galore written on the topic of love alone.  So, I will be using these terms only in the context of what they mean for my own 2012 focus. With heavily used words that most people have assumptions about, I have sometimes found that saying what they do not mean is easier than what they do mean! I will do both here. LOVE: (Plugged in to our Power Source)

Have you noticed that children feel things deeply and often follow the impulse to express those feelings? Do you remember when you were young and bursting with life? Did a parent or teacher or minister ever say something to squelch your fervor? Today’s article is another personal story. The picture below captures the essence of the entire story that took place when I was seven and a half .. . and on a day when it felt to me like the  “sky was the limit.”    Last month I wrote about Halloween right after my seventh birthday.  This month’s story

Have you ever noticed that when you get a phone call with unexpected news your mind shifts gears?  Isn’t it amazing how everything can shift for you in a split second?  Your mood shifts, your mind shifts, and your plans often shift! Did you know that something as simple as one word can sometimes have the same effect? The mind is a decision-making, meaning-making instrument. We all know that words carry within them the meaning we attach to them and of course that meaning affects how we think and feel. Two days ago one word exchanged for another shifted my

I am thinking today about school and teachers. It is that time of year again. In truth, we are all teachers of our children. We parents and grand parents are all teachers in the purest sense of the calling. In that sense I am also remembering two important things.  We sometimes get worried sick about the mistakes we make on those days when we  lose patience, yell, or dig our own heels in.  Then, we feel overwhelmed with guilt and fear that we are ruining our children’s life. By way of reassurance, let us remember that we learn most by