Your brain is exquisitely sensitive to your surroundings, tuning into external cues and distractions whether you like it or not. Understanding how this happens could change the way we work
Image zoom Find children’s media featuring every kind of family.
It s easy to normalize nontraditional families through picture books and TV shows so that when your kids do come across different kinds of families in real life, it s not weird at all, says Kiaundra Jackson, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles. She suggests the book
My Family, Your Family, by Lisa Bullard, about a little girl named Makayla who goes through the neighborhood looking for something great about the variety of families she encounters. Or try the film
Despicable Me, a goofy farce about a supervillain who grows close to three girls from an adoption agency. (Spoiler: He becomes dad to all three.) Parr, whose books like
Cue What s on Deck
Special-education teachers rely heavily on routines and visual cues of what s coming up next so that students won t be surprised and then act out. You can adapt this tactic outside the classroom, says Roberta Dunn, executive director of the disabilities advocacy group FACT Oregon. For example, if your kid constantly asks, Are we there yet? even if you re just driving across town, Dunn suggests breaking up the trip the same way teachers break up the day. You might say, First we ll pass the used-car lot with the balloons, and your kid will peer out the window. Once you pass the dealership, tell them the next landmark, and so on until you arrive. Boom you ve turned a chore into a super-fun scavenger hunt. Breaking down a day, a schedule, or even a car ride into units establishes targets where children can direct their energy, Dunn says.
Auction paddles at the ready!
Christie’s will be hosting a series of sales next month highlighting the furniture and
objets d’art
that once decorated Mr. and Mrs. John H. Gutfreund s New York apartment on Fifth Avenue. Design lovers are invited to discover the cherished dinner services, storied jewels from the House of Chanel, and fine English furniture through
in-person
January 14–29, 2021. into her New York apartment for an
intimate
dinner party filled with vintage English plates, early-20th-century engraved stemware, and French Champagne flutes,
all of which are up for auction by Christie s. Read on to learn Susan s lessons on gracious entertaining.