The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Sports Parents

Highly effective sports parents embrace their role of being the parent.  They do not coach their child.  They do not try to experience every last moment of the sport along side their child.  They are their child’s parent, providing support, unconditional love, discipline and acceptance of their child for exactly who their child is.  They […]

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Tough Love

Originally posted on Raising Mama:
“Tough love,” says the mother as she forces her child to the busy street corner with a sign declaring his sins to the world. “Tough love,” nods the father as he blasts his daughter’s laptop into pieces and posts the video online. “Tough love,” applauds the Internet commenters, when a…

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But is this her thing? Parents’ quest to find their child’s talents and passions.

One of the first parent meetings I ever held when I opened JAG Gym, was with a clearly anxious, deeply loving mother who wanted to discuss with me the progress of her daughter who I will call Katie.  According to the mother, Katie seemed to love gymnastics and showed natural talent, but was often distracted […]

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Fit and Funky

When my daughter Abrielle was 4 years old, I enrolled both her and her 5 year old sister Samara in a dance class called “Fit and Funky,” a combination of jazz and hip hop class for the pre-school set.  To me, it was a blessed 45 minutes where these two very active girls could get […]

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The Professionalization of Youth Sports

A few things to know about me: I love sports. I love competition. I love winning. I hate the direction of youth sports. Why?  Because more and more youth sports are being treated in the same manner as professional sports. In professional sports, the athlete is a paid (usually a very high paid) adult who […]

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The Secret of the Beginner

Last year, I began practicing yoga.  And let me tell you, that was (and continues to be) a humbling experience.   I was terrible (now I am only half terrible I am pleased to report).   But I was able to stick with it because I know the secret of being a beginner. This is the secret […]

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Gymnastics: The Key to Leadership Success?

As a business owner I spend a great deal of time reading and thinking about how to be a successful and more effective leader and entrepreneur.  I am fascinated with the sociological and psychological research on what makes a person successful and the traits of effective leaders.  Recently, after reading several articles and books on […]

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Silver Linings

This marvelous little cartoon explaining the difference between empathy and sympathy has been floating around emails and Facebook for some time now. If you have not yet had a chance to view it (or even if you have), take two minutes to watch it. It is well worth it. Dr. Brown’s observation that empathy drives […]

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The Trouble with Perfectionism (me included)

(The irony is not lost on me that as I am working on this blog post I am frustrated that it is not good enough and am angry with myself that I lack the discipline to finish what I have started.   You see, I have perfectionist tendencies that often get in my way of getting […]

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