For a long time, I hated hugs. As a child, I hated being instructed to hug adults I didn’t know, I hated classmates greeting me with air-hugs that felt forced and fake, but I also didn’t even feel comfortable hugging my own family and close friends. It took me a while to realize it was because physical touch had been used as a form of control when I was a young child. My stepfather would use his hand on my shoulder at church to hold me still, a captive at the pressure of his

I think patience might be the number one thing I hope parents teach their children, by word and by deed, both. My sister, bless her heart, has two amazing little boys - twins - who are developing very differently. One likes to sit and talk and the other can't hold still at all. Obviously, they're running at different paces (figuratively, not just physically. Pun intended). They keep my sister and her husband on their toes. And they keep eachother thinking too... Toys and