Susan Badeau

Hide it Under a Bushel: This Little Light of Mine, Part II

In my last blog post (http://bit.ly/10zsYIh ), I noted that some of us might be reluctant to let our little lights shine out of false humility, pride, fear or laziness. We worry our light is too small to make any difference at all, so instead of letting it shine, we hide it under the proverbial bushel, waiting for it to grow bigger and better, but where i...

"There are two things we should give our children: one is roots and the other is wings." (Hodding Carter, Jr, borrowed from the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher.)

I walk each morning seeking images of beauty to photograph and reflect on for the day. Many of my photographs are of healthy flowers, budding new life and vibrant greenery. But one...

Its Mother’s Day weekend and I am feeling overwhelmed and somewhat awed by tidal waves of complex emotions rolling in over and around me as I contemplate the many hues and fragrances in my “Mother’s Day Bouquet”. It is filled with blossoms that reflect both joy and pain, laughter and tears, new delights and fond memories. I’ll describe the flowers in my bouquet one by one.

I remember when my children were small reading stories like Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” and playing games at bedtime to shoo the monsters away. What child isn’t afraid of monsters under the bed at some point in their childhood, and what parent hasn’t sought to keep their child safe from monsters real and imagin...

I love doors. Whenever I travel, I take photos of doors, windows and gates. Just this morning, out for my daily walk, I took another photo of a lovely gate in my neighborhood.

What does a door say to me? Doors are so rich with meaning, emotion, and possibilities.

A door says, "welcome". A cheery door, an open door, a door sur...

Am I smarter than a 2nd grader? I’m not always sure. In fact, in the past couple of weeks my 2nd-grader granddaughters Chloe and Tatianna have both kept me on my toes with some of the information they shared from their science and social studies classes at school.

My senior year in college, I couldn’t decide what I was going to do upon graduation, so I joined many of my friends in taking both the MCAT and LSAT tests. I scored really well on both. So well,...

“Don't Know Much About History”

While this is the opening lyric of a popular Sam Cooke song in the 1950’s, today it is also descriptive of the sad truth that American school children know very little of our own nation’s history. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, our children are less proficient in U.S. History than in any other subject. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/education/15history.html?_r=0 )

Hi there, welcome back and Happy Monday. I am so glad you are sticking with me for this 3-part series on bridges, trauma, healing and hope.

If you haven’t read Parts I, and II, please do so here http://tinyurl.com/a9eenra and http://tinyurl.com/aey3wey and be sure to add your comments to the brainstorming session. While you are at it, be sure to read about trauma reminders here: Part I http://tinyurl.com/awo7f5e and Part II http://tinyurl.com/ananerw .

Flying into Minneapolis as I did this afternoon always reminds me of the horrific incident that inspired the bridge analogy I often use to help audiences in my Trauma training workshops understand the impact of trauma on children, and the real reasons to believe there is always hope for healing.

It was Aug 2, 2007 when an I-35 West Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed. For thousands of Minnesotans, this tragedy rocked their world in a very ...

Tell me a Story . . .

From the time our children were small, they loved story time. Our son Jose, adopted from El Salvador, learned English primarily through the reading, and re-reading of children’s storybooks. We read the entire Narnia series aloud, a chapter at a time, and have many other wonderful family memories of snuggling together on the couch sharing in a good book.