At a storytelling conference, my friend told the tale of trying to write a thank-you note as a child for an unexciting holiday gift: socks. It’s hard to feel gratitude when it’s obligatory. It can be more fun to ignite thankfulness by spontaneously thinking of people in our lives who help us in ways we might not usually honor. For example, the school gives little gifts to our delivery people every year. At this time of year, I’d like to share my gratitude for people who do things we couldn’t...

When we’re trying to teach children to relate to others in empathic and considerate ways, it’s exciting to think about a neurological concept called social-emotional matching. Matching is a way that our brains synchronize with others’, and it happens all the time. When a friend or colleague shares an upset, we show empathy through eye contact and sympathetic facial expressions. Our ability to align with their emotions is part of being fully present and connecting. When people’s emotions are...

It’s interesting that when asked to share photos of their children helping, most parents selected pictures of home cooking projects. I was happy to see that many of the children exhibiting cooking skills were quite young. When it comes to encouraging children as helpers in the kitchen or any other environment, starting at an early age is important. A three-year-old is excited to learn how to slice a banana or a stalk of celery. An eight-year-old who hasn’t been taught how to slice fruits and...