You were THREE years old when you caught sight of a half-dressed beautiful woman. You didn’t have much of a vocabulary yet but when your eyes got wide and you said “BAM BAM” I knew exactly what you meant. (Woman was Jessica Biel in an Adam Sandler movie.)


14, 21



When disciplining remember: First acknowledge the emotion, then address the behavior.


2-4, 13, 15



We are all incurably human.


5, 15, 21



Watch YouTube video on how to administer an Epi-pen injection. You have friends with allergies you may need to know how to do this.


11-15



Numbing doesn’t work. Let it hurt, let it heal, then it lets itself go.


15,21



“Dress braver than you feel. Act braver than you feel.” - Ray


17



Do the work. No short-cuts.


14



You’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. What’s something worth being hated for?


11, 14, 17, 21



My biggest mistake was thinking that my life had to follow a singular path: college, marriage, kids, stay at home mom. I never imagined any other path: career, travel. I never questioned my assumptions. Never doubted that my way was the only path to happiness. It wouldn’t have occurred to my parents to teach me anything else, to encourage me to imagine a hundred different choices. But I’d like to encourage you. Take your talents, interests, passion, and potential out for a spin. See what sits right with you, where you feel most alive and most safe and most yourself. Feed your body, mind, heart and soul. I love you so much.


18, 21



NEVER sit while someone near you is working.


14-21



You are never too old to play in the snow.


16



Read The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig.


4



Read the instructions. Don't ask for help if you've been given instructions but haven't yet read them. RTFM. (Read the flippin' manual.)


14-21



Review basic grammar mistakes: Their, they’re and there. “It’s” and “its” “a lot”, etc.


10



Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower.”


14



“If the pain was deep you will have to let it go many times.” Yung Pueblo from book Lighter


15, 18, 21



Be supportive of someone who is trying to better themselves.


16



Check out teen life coach Coaching with Will.


13



Go to minor league baseball games this summer. Better seats, less crowds, easier, cheaper. Great players. Kids won't know the difference.


9-15



“Tell me the story of your day.” (Works better than “how was your day?”


5, 6, 10



Read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit together


11



Never post a pic to social media that you wouldn't want Grandma to see. NEVER send or ask to receive naked pictures. It's tacky, gross, illegal and not worth it. Even if "everyone does it". It's rude and disrespectful.


11-13, 18



If you’re unable to help someone, help someone else. Throw some goodness or beauty in the bucket of humanity.


16



Zoom out! Perspective is your friend. At certain times in our lives we have the focus turned up so high that we don’t see beyond ourselves. (Adolescence is one of those times, totally natural.) Zoom out. You’ll feel better.


13, 15, 17, 21



It’s hard to want something and not have it. Kids have to learn how to sit with that.


3-17



Sad but important fact: You’ll never be enough for some people. Never. -Chasten Buttigieg


18



You are absolutely priceless. What someone thinks of you, whatever may happen to you, no matter who loves you (or rejects you), nothing can diminish your worth or your worthiness. You. Are. Priceless.


10, 14, 17



Addiction is when you can’t get through the day without something. It’s not that you need to feel high, it’s that you can’t live without what gets you high. Humans are all wired to be at risk for addiction


13, 15, 18, 20



One of the best doctors I ever worked with started his day by walking through the office and saying “good morning” to everyone. He’d do the same before he left at the end of the day, just making sure everyone was ok, to call him if they needed anything, etc. I don’t know what your career will be but if you’re in a position to do so, I hope you’ll adopt this habit.


21