I know the 9/11 anniversary has already past, but my reflections have been spread out over much more than one day. In fact, much of it came late last night while talking with my kids and this morning when I was alone.

Earlier this week, I saw an article headline about bullying and jiu-jitsu. I finally read it and was pretty impressed.

Wow – lots of things to get to this week in the world of mental health. For today, I want to react to an upcoming episode of iCarly that I saw advertised.

I found a report today about the connection between marriage and childhood poverty. As you might expect, the report highlighted facts and commentary about how married families experience less poverty.

Parenting has become an industry. So many books, videos, experts, (ahem) bloggers, and talk shows tell parents what they should and shouldn’t while raising their kids.

If you or a family member has been affected by a severe weather disaster, you may feel helpless (even hopeless). However, there are some important things you can do to care for your family’s mental health needs.

As a resident in aptly named “Tornado Alley”, I’ve been through a few tornadoes and plenty of severe thunderstorms (even a few blizzards and harrowing ice storms). But the tornadic destruction in the South just takes my breath away. The death and destruction is hard to take in, even when I’m a thousand miles away.

As a parent, you want to help your kids. You also need to plan ahead for your own financial needs. You’ll find some great advice in this financial article I found on Yahoo news. But here’s the thought I had running through my mind the entire time I read it – the title of this article is really missing something.

I always thought I would breastfeed my children, even long before they were born. It turns out I had a few unexpected challenges, but nothing that stopped me from doing the best I could. I thought I had seen trends of improved acceptance for what I was doing. My coworkers seemed OK with it. I saw some articles in the newspaper about moms being proud about their breastfeeding. So many friends of mine and moms in my family were breast feeders as well.

Last week I caught part of an article in Time Magazine called “Small Child, Big Worries.” It focuses on a diagnostic manual developed by a non-profit child advocacy group called “Zero To Three”.