Anyone who knows Wilson will tell you he is a very kind human. I am proud to say I have heard it from many teachers, adults, and even a handful of kids. He’s always been that way; he's very empathetic and someone who doesn’t start a fight. So, it was a great surprise to me when Wilson's behavior was the first thing I heard about in kindergarten. We had never heard this in all his years in daycare/pre-school.  The first parent-teacher conference was a shock. It started with the teacher sliding Wilson’s handwriting across the table and telling me it was a problem. No solution was offered. Then she told me Wilson had pushed someone on the playground. Not that day, but recently. No real details about what happened; she had heard it from the aides. I asked if she saw anything positive and mentioned that Wilson was really funny, hoping it would trigger a compliment. She hadn’t noticed. Apparently, no one had taught this young teacher the “sandwich method” that most managers learn - g...

Now that you know the “ending” of our story – Wilson is settling into Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois – it only makes sense to start at the very beginning. I have to admit, this has been a hard blog to write because I don’t know how much of the beginning is important.  Everything was pretty “normal” for the first child of working parents living in suburban Boston. I think we shared many of the same hopes and dreams for that teeny baby that most parents do. You want the best for your child. You see that perfect little face and are full of hope.   There’s so much you don’t know when you see your baby for the first time. Will he be smart, funny, athletic, artistic? Will he struggle with the same things I did? Will he be an introvert or an extrovert? Which pieces of which parent will show up in him? Who will he look like? Wilson is my maiden name, and as the oldest of three girls born to an only son, it made sense to name my son Wilson. When he was born, he looked like...