Whenever I’m going to a birthday party with my kids, I always greet the parents with a “happy birthday” or “Mazal Tov”. I usually get back a blank or confused stares, and even my wife think it’s a strange thing to say.

I don’t know where I picked up this habit. In my mind, a child’s birthday is celebration of the parents as much as of the child and in some way maybe even more so. The parents are the ones who decided to bring the child into the world. It’s their milestone and achievement.

My sister is visiting us from Israel and we realized she has the same habit. She always calls our mom whenever one of our brothers or sisters has a birthday. This discussion with my sister made me want to blog about it (Thanks “Sisi”).

So next time you are invited to a birthday party, don’t forget to greet the parents. They deserve it.

What do you think? Do you agree?

Back to school season is upon us, and with it comes a flurry of activity - and healthy dose of worry, too. Is my child going to make friends? Will he like his teacher? Are his backpack, his clothes, or his haircut going to signal “nerd” or normal?

For all the overstressed moms and worried dads out there, I have a cure. And it involves taking a minute to stop thinking about your child’s lunchbox, desk partner, and hairdo.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and picture this: kids around the world with no Jonas Brothers backpacks, no Miley Cyrus erasers, and no MP3 players. No pens or pencils. No teacher. No school. (more…)