Thinking Wisely Blog

Eight Years of Lindsey’s Posts, including The Tools.

Tool #18: The Ice Cream Scoop of Character and Context

The Ice Cream Scoop of Character and Context doesn’t require us to excuse anyone’s behaviour or pretend we’re not annoyed. It just helps us portion out responsibility more accurately between person and situation.

Tool #17: The Canal Lock of Emotional Regulation

Let’s embrace the fact that all of your happiest moments came eventually because you sailed onto the Lock of Emotional Regulation rather than daming yourself up on the Pond of Pain.

Tool # 16: The Coffee Table of Dialogue

Some conversations make us a little brighter, a little more alive, a little more human.

Tool #15: The Kindergarten of Curiosity

When my son started kindergarten, he was electric with excitement. He spotted a friend from daycare the moment he walked in, and the two of them lit each other up like only five-year-olds can. For his mom and me, it was a beautiful moment. We loved the idea of James…

Tool #13 Grocery Store Divider of Discernment.

Imagine the following scenario: Your neighbour is taking out the garbage. You wave at your neighbour. He doesn’t wave back. Now because you’ve had a hard day, this doesn’t sit right. And in your imagination suddenly he becomes cold, rude, standoffish, or secretly…

TOOL #14: THE CARPOOL KARAOKE OF DISRUPTION

I pick James up from school and we ease into our usual after-school drift. Backpack and trumpet thump into the back seat, he gets in the passenger seat with that end-of-day heaviness, and I point the car toward the pool. I try the standard openers. “How was your…

Fears of a First Time Coach, Revisited

Note: This post was written way, way back in 2018. I’m happy to say my son still plays baseball and loves it. Fears Have a Back Story On the afternoon of my debut as an U7 baseball coach, I caught myself wishing for rain. Not a thunderstorm—just enough drizzle to make…