Durable Human (2 book series)

Tag Archives: parenting

Kids Need Parents to Pay Attention

Kids are getting fed up with all the time their parents spend on technology. Yes – those same kids who are themselves involved in upwards of 8 hours of media per day.

The news comes from top behavioral experts at the annual conference of the Family Online Safety Institute.  I was there in search of advice for reining in screen time now that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that children and teenagers should spend no more than two hours a day on digital media.

But it didn’t take long to realize those darned kids aren’t necessarily the trouble. To borrow a phrase from Pogo, we have met the enemy and he is us. Continue reading →

Pediatricians to Parents: Kids Need a Media Diet

8 year old girl on cellphone

America’s pediatricians have an order for parents: get a handle on how your children are using media.

Kids are certainly getting their fill of texting, online games, social media and YouTube videos. The average 8-year-old now spends almost 8 hours a day on screens of various sizes.  Make that 11 hours for teenagers.

But a new statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics warns too much screen time can “contribute substantially to many risks and health problems” ranging from disrupted sleep to substance abuse to weight increase. Continue reading →

Where Steve Jobs Left Us

Steve Jobs pumpking carving photo by Jenifer Joy Madden

This article was co-written shortly after Steve Jobs died in 2013.  

Steve Jobs was a durable human. His natural curiosity led him to explore new ideas, his brilliance allowed him to capitalize on what he learned, and his creativity drove him forward.

Jobs applied his experience to the design of what he called “seamless” products: devices so intuitive that using them is second nature. Yet he himself grew up in a world without such gadgets. Continue reading →

Being in the Cast of Listen To Your Mother

Listen To Your Mother. Although I couldn’t get my mind around exactly what the show was all about, from the moment I heard there were auditions in the D.C. area, I felt compelled to try out. We were directed to a nondescript hotel in the suburbs of northern Virginia. Despite indications that all was legit, my skin was crawling as I knocked on a door at the end of a long hallway on the ninth floor. But show producer Kate Coveny Hood and director Stephanie Stearns Dulli lived and breathed and couldn’t have been more welcoming and reassuring. I tried to stay calm as I delivered a story I wrote about my durable mom for a recent Mother’s Day. A few weeks later, when I learned I was a chosen one, I was excited and terrified. Reality finally struck that I’d be joining fourteen other writers on the stage of a full-sized theater complete with lights, camera and lively audience. Continue reading →

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