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The Home of the Brave

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I was watching a show on Netflix called, The West last night with my husband. I was so full of emotions because I am North American Indian, Potawatomi and Chippewa Cree from Turtle Mountain. I have such a connection to the land and my people without ever having direct relatives teaching me the ways. I was fortunate to have a family friend that I called after my mother died that was a legendary American Indian Elder. His name was Tone-Key, pronounced "Tonkey Eye." His daughter and my mom were best friends, and as fate would have it, they died within a year of year other. When I called him, after finding his number in my mom's phone book, I just wanted to send my condolences, and I desperately needed more connection to my mom, my people, and myself. I was pregnant with my fourth child, and I woke up in the middle of the night with this profound feeling of loss. It wasn't just the loss of my mother, albeit, there is none more significant. I felt a loss of a part of myse...
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Talking to kids about Drugs

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Speaking to children about drugs is as simple as speaking to them about everything. If parents are connecting to their children regularly anyway, then asking them what they know about drugs should be easy. The only time it is difficult to discuss these heavy matters is when you have been avoiding the deep subjects of life altogether. Make a special date specifically to speak with your children on these topics. Take them out for people watching, or any time together away from the home for less distractions. Being a disciplinarian is not our only parental role. Being a mentor to our young people will keep the doors of communication open, which is important because the topic of drug use should come from parents not from the outside world. When children feel heard, and when they know their opinion is respected, you will get their input. Once you discover what they know about drugs, and where they heard it, it is simple to get the facts straight together. If you really do not know the tr...
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I told my son, "Screw you."

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I generally do not nit pick my children. I allow them to live, and move and have their being, and when they need me - I am always here for them. Even with their homework! If it doesn't get done, they fail. I learned that it is okay to allow kids to live with their mistakes. I get involved to correct them, not to punish them. The only time I boldly step in, in when they are unloving. My 16 year old son is a red headed boy, that I have gone rounds with...till one day when he was about 5 years old - I said, "I'm gonna stomp off your freckles," and we both laughed. That was it. It was over. I stopped the resistance to my parenting, and made it about his life. When I did not care about the perception, but more about the real mother and son relationship, things changed. To this day, after giving me lots of grey hair that I cover often, he is in Modeling United Nations (MUN) with his school, honors classes, football, wrestling, and into girls, oh - and rap. He doesn't...
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