Hello Reader!

I usually send out the monthly newsletter on the first Sunday of each month but this month I'm doing it the second because of the timing of the Spring Cohort so good morning and Happy Easter to those who are celebrating!

I've been thinking a lot about love and control these days, about how we often want to control the experiences of those we love, basically. I've mentioned before that my dad is ill and last week he was officially placed on hospice. I've been reading and thinking about death as I process all of this.

One of my struggles is that I want my dad to have a "good" death. I mean, who doesn't want a good death for the people that they love? We don't want them to suffer physically or mentally or spiritually. And I have ideas about what a good death means, which may or may not echo the concept of a good death held by my dad's or his other loved ones (of which there's a lot -- I'm one of six kids across three marriages and he's now on his fourth marriage and there are step-kids and step-grandkids there, too, which means there are A LOT of opinons and care).

I am re-learning the art of balance in my relationships where I can (and do!) care deeply but also remember what does and does not belong to me. So I may want to sit with my dad and ask him to tell me stories about his growing up but he wants to sit with me and watch The Expendables 3 and who am I to say that this isn't an appropriate way to spend his remaining time? After all, it's his remaining time and maybe I can just be grateful for getting to be there with him.

I'm trying to emulate Ram Dass, who says, "In my head is an environment for that person in which they can do what she or he needs to do. It’s none of my business to die their death."

I love my dad and so we watch Sylvester Stallone save the world. Normally watching an objectively terrible action movie (with Mel Gibson no less -- my dad keeps asking, "Who is THAT?" and then forgetting and asking again) is not my idea of a good time. But being with my dad as he winds down his life? Yeah, that's worth it. How he spends his days is both none of my business AND something I care deeply about. I can and do inhabit both spaces and that balance, bringing awareness to that balance, is what makes watching The Expendables 3 sacred time.

Which is how parenting is, too. There are all the things we want for our kids -- a good life! good friends! a loving relationship! -- and our ideas of good may or may not reflect their ideas of good and we are always trying to figure out where to push, where to pull, where to lean back and do nothing. It's so much our business while they are small and little by little, we let go of our agenda but we sure continue to care deeply.

Anxiety support is all about that -- figuring out how to let go. Figuring out how to care deeply and let that belong to us and not so much to them.

Boy oh boy, there is always learning to do, eh? I appreciate getting the opportunity to learn over and over again along with my Child Anxiety Support members! The learning is so much more rich when I get to be with you all!

In the site

• We've got a question about magnesium supplements posted in the All Community Chat. I pulled some research about it but our member is asking about personal experience. Any thoughts?
• I went over the first lesson of Strong Kids, Strong Families talking about the purpose and goals of the child anxiety assessments and the parent assessments for last week's live. You can find the recording here.
• And tomorrow at 9am EST I'll be talking about the second lesson in Strong Kids, Strong Families: The Dance Between Parent and Child to explain more about the research behind the SPACE and other parent-led child anxiety programs. You can RSVP to get notified by heading here.
• Check in with Eve just before then at 8am EST tomorrow to get your week started out right with her live Stress Reset! Get the Zoom link by heading here! Want to know more about Eve and what she does? Her April intro is here!

Links for the week

• Boy there's an AI for everything these days, isn't there? This one is a dream interpreter. Type in your dream, ask what it means. Let artificial intelligence tell you!
• Do you agree with this list of 100 Worst Rated Dishes in the World? Anything you'd leave off? Or add? Some of these look pretty good to me!
• If you want wireless earbuds but need them at a more reasonable price (like for a child who maybe perhaps loses them a lot), what about these cheap-o Skullcandy versions? Especially because they come with Tile embedded in 'em so you can hunt them down before they go through the wash!
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See you in the site!

P.S. Not yet a member? Want to grab a time to talk to me and ask about the program? Here's my scheduling calendar!