The School of Living · everyday skills for a whole life
Parenting & Relationships
Raising children and keeping adult bonds in good repair — what the research says, and the conversations it prepares you for.
Feeding, sleep, soothing, and safety through the first twelve months — and care for the exhausted adults too.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~14 hours
Unit I — The Newborn Weeks
Feeding: breast, bottle, and fed-is-best · Crying: the period of PURPLE crying and staying calm · Diapers, bathing, and cord care · Newborn sleep: short, strange, and normal
Unit II — Development, Month by Month
Milestones as ranges, not deadlines · Tummy time, babbling, and serve-and-return · When to mention something to the pediatrician
Unit III — Safety
Safe sleep: bare crib, back, and room-sharing · Car seats: installation and the common mistakes · Babyproofing before the crawling starts
Unit IV — The Adults
Sleep strategy for two depleted people · Postpartum mood: baby blues versus depression · Dividing labor and accepting help
How small children think, discipline that teaches instead of punishes, and the daily routines that carry a family.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~12 hours
Unit I — How Small Children Think
Executive function: why a four-year-old cannot just stop · Big feelings in small bodies: co-regulation · Play as the work of childhood
Unit II — Discipline That Teaches
Limits stated once, kindly, and held · Natural and logical consequences · Tantrums: riding them out without rewarding them · Repair after you lose your own temper
Unit III — The Daily Machine
Routines: mornings, meals, and bedtime · Reading aloud every day, and why it compounds · Screens: evidence-based limits without warfare · Chores, allowance, and growing competence
The adolescent brain, the negotiation over autonomy, and staying connected through the door-slamming years.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~10 hours
Unit I — The Adolescent Brain
Reward now, judgment later: the maturation gap · Sleep shift: why they truly cannot wake up · Identity work and why peers suddenly outrank you
Unit II — Autonomy and Rules
Negotiables and non-negotiables, stated in advance · Consequences that teach without humiliating · Phones, driving, and dating: scaffolded freedom
Unit III — Staying Connected
Side-by-side conversations: cars, kitchens, and walks · Listening without immediately fixing · Warning signs that outrank privacy · Launching: the last two years at home
Listening people can feel, conflict patterns worth naming, and the repair attempts that keep close bonds close.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~10 hours
Unit I — Listening
Listening to understand versus listening to reload · Reflecting back: cheap words, large effect · Questions that open and questions that corner
Unit II — Conflict Patterns
Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling: naming the four · Flooding: recognizing it and calling the pause · Complaint versus criticism: the same grievance, said two ways
Unit III — Repair
Repair attempts and why accepting them matters more than making them · A real apology: no 'if', no 'but' · Boundaries stated as information, not ultimatum · Scripting the hard conversation before you have it