A Letter from A Parent

by Taryn Grimes-Herbert on July 1, 2011

I recently received this letter from a parent regarding “I’ve Got A New Home: An activity book for kids on the move”. He gave me permission to share his story with you.

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Taryn,

My family moved to a new house last year at this time. My daughter was 7 and my son was 2. Both of my children were adjusting very well to the entire move. It was a bigger house, they each have there own room, the back yard is 5 times the size, they got to pick the color of their rooms. It was all very exciting and stressful all at the same time. My Daughter started a new school and seemed to be doing fine. Almost too fine. We noticed months later, while looking back at the early months at the house with 20/20 hindsight, that her school work was lacking in those first few moths of school. We then realized that maybe she didn’t adjust to the transition as well as we first thought or as well as she was letting on.

I have been following your facebook page for a long time and have been following the progress of your books. It was the first thing I thought of when I analyzed what my daughter and son might be feeling. I went on line and I bought a copy of “I’ve Got A New Home”. I can’t begin to tell you how much it helped to get my daughter to open up about her thoughts and feelings. There were things that my daughter was going through that we had no idea about. Your book was the catalyst that started a dialoged with her that, I feel, was a tremendous factor in her huge improvement at the end of the school year and also was a gateway book that opened up her eyes to poetry. I wish I could convey to you how good it felt when I would have those parent moments when you notice that things are “too quiet” in the other room. When I went into the room to investigate I saw her take it upon herself to take the book down again and read through it and look through it.

We are about to celebrate our one-year anniversary in the new house. Thanks to you and your book I have seen my daughter open up in a way that I have never seen before, and you and your book have been instrumental in the year long process of making our new house a home.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Gregory L.

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The Best and The Worst

by Taryn Grimes-Herbert on June 22, 2011

Every once in a while, when I’m hanging out with my kids, I try to create an opportunity to learn a little something about that part of their life I may not be privy to. Sometimes I start an art project with them. Sometimes I challenge them to an improvisational “sing-off” (I never win those) and sometimes I just start reminiscing.

I start by saying something like, “You know what the best decision I ever made was?” or even “Do you know what the worst mistake I’ve ever made was?” I try to keep a level of humor and humility, hoping to show them that I know I’m not perfect, but I am smart enough to learn from my mistakes. It’s an effort to lead by example. They usually just listen for a minute or two, but then they start adding to the conversation–sharing their own “bests and worsts.”

On occasion, I’ve learned quite a bit during these conversations, and it’s provided an unexpected opportunity to teach some important life lessons.

It’s those little moments that can be the biggest influence.

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Makeover Madness

June 20, 2011

We try very hard to keep our house in order. We do. We really do. But there was always one space that just seemed to have us stumped–my daughter’s bedroom. It was as if there was just no way she could keep it clean. We lectured. We withheld privileges and set deadlines. But every time [...]

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IQ vs. Smarts

June 17, 2011

I spent this morning’s car ride to school navigating a heated discussion about intelligence. I should have had my coffee before I got in the car. My son was determined to identify the smartest person he knows. I was concerned that his need to figure out who that might be was somehow tied to his [...]

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Humor

June 16, 2011

We all try to give our kids the basic tools they need to get through life–an education, healthy eating habits, exercise, hobbies, manners, etc. But every once in a while we lose sight of an important one–humor. It’s crucial, especially when a child is the target of bullying, to maintain some perspective and appreciate the [...]

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Learning to Think

April 29, 2011

I often wonder what happens once I’ve walked out the door of a classroom I’ve been visiting. Students are so enthused while I am there and they get excited about every concept, but how can I be sure the message sticks? Recently, while standing in front of a group of 4th graders I brought up [...]

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Teaching Kids to Stand Strong

April 28, 2011

Every time I send my kids off to school, the last thing I say to them is, “Choose to be happy!” They know exactly what I mean by that because they’ve heard it every day since my son was about seven. That was around the time he first started exhibiting signs of being bullied. Out [...]

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Listening to Our Kids

April 21, 2011

Every once in a while one of my children will come into the room sputtering. Perhaps, it’s because of his or her sibling, a broken possession, or maybe a friendship issue. Sometimes they’d be so upset that it seemed like anything I said in response added fuel to the fire. Over the years, I’ve tried many [...]

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The Happy Bubble – A Repost

March 25, 2011

Many times over the past few months, I’ve been asked to repost the Happy Bubble exercise! So, here your go! In every workshop that I do, I introduce something called the happy bubble. Sometimes, for the older kids, I refer to it as the “orb of power”. But no matter what you call it, it [...]

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Stomp Out Bullying

February 17, 2011

This week I am featured on Lifetimemoms.com, being interviewed by Beth Feldman. She is raising money to help her community stomp out bullying and asked me to speak at an event she’s having in New Rochelle on March 3rd. I would appreciate it if you checked out the interview and voted for her! Go here [...]

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