I finished my Christmas shopping today. I’ll accept your applause and congratulatory wishes. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Clearly, I’m exaggerating the importance of this accomplishment but it does feel good to get finished doesn’t it? It’s quite the chore for most of us. There’s a lot of stress involved. Well, at least there is for …

Mmm num ba de; dum bum ba be; doo buh dum ba beh beh. Sing it with me. “Pressure pushing down on me, pressing down on you.” I apologize if that song gets stuck in your head, but it’s been in mine for a couple weeks now. A conversation with a friend got me thinking …

Each morning I wake up my kids, give them a hug and tell them good morning. One of those children (I’ll protect him today) wakes up grumpy more often than not. He frequently greets me with a complaint. He didn’t get enough sleep. He doesn’t want to do a particular thing at school today. His …