The Other Side of the Parent-Teacher Conference
A teacher on the quiet fears we bring to the table, and what helps us listen.
Essays · 文章
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Writing about education, parenting, personal growth, and life between cultures—in Chinese and English. All 42 essays now live here.
42 essays · 28 in English · 14 in Chinese
EducationParentingPersonal growthLife between cultures
In English
English Essays
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“Yoga Is So Boring!”
My first graders protested our new movement break. Four weeks later, one child pressed a hand to their chest.
The “Bad Mother” in My Dreams
Two dreams—one about walking away, the other about hurting my children—made me rethink exhaustion, guilt, and what it means for a mother to love herself.
They’ll Grow Up. Today Is Still Hard.
On potty training, letting go, and the hard part of waiting for a child to be ready.
Is Gentle Parenting’s Problem Really That It’s Too Gentle?
The hardest part of gentle parenting isn’t being gentle. It’s whether we can tolerate a little temporary disharmony in the relationship.
Three, Two, One
On getting wet, looking silly, and remembering how to step back into the fun.
The Bite of Chicken She Couldn’t Swallow
On picky eating, impossible choices, and the imperfect courage of a five-year-old
When Everyone Keeps Telling My Daughter She’s Pretty
I don’t mind that she enjoys the compliments. I just don’t want “pretty” to become the only way she learns to see herself.
Where the Body Has Learned to Live
On returning home, living between East Asian and American cultures, and the distance between the body and the heart
The Quiet Freedom of Discipline
What if self-discipline is not self-punishment, but a form of tenderness toward the future self?
When Love Stops Asking for a Verdict
What one unresolved friendship taught me about the difference between love and agreement in marriage.
A Body, Remembered
On writing, hot yoga, and the strange relief of returning to the body.
At 5:30 a.m., Love Interrupts
On the tiny interruptions of early parenthood, and the ache of knowing they won’t last forever.
Fourteen Years Late, I Came Home to Writing
Some loves do not disappear. They wait beneath the dust of living.
The Day My Students Argued With AI
A math lesson about counting to 120 became a lesson in judgment, fairness, and learning to question the machine.
There is a crack in everything, and that’s where the children’s light gets in
Reflections on the power struggles of childhood and why the most healing moments happen when we stop trying to be perfect.
The Neuroscience of Parenting: Why We Must Become Our Child’s “Filter”
Decoding the "Sponge Mode" of the Early Childhood Brain: Why Focus Must Be Co-Constructed
When Teachers Learn to Let Go, Children Begin to Take Real Responsibility
One practice of letting go led me to rethink agency, responsibility, and the way real education unfolds.
The Night I Stopped Telling My Daughter “There’s Nothing to Be Afraid Of”
Why young children cannot simply “think their way out” of fear—and what helps instead
The Longer I Parent, the More Often I Apologize to My Children
Learning to See a Child’s Small Steps in an Adult World
What if “Misbehavior” Is Really a Mismatch
In the age of digital anxiety, I’m rethinking what boys and girls really need from school—and what it means to be a teacher who tends, rather than trims.
The Fairy’s Frame of Reference
How living between two beauty cultures changed the way I saw my face, my body, and myself.
Parent with Awe
A lesson from Hunt, Gather, Parent: using wonder—grass in a sidewalk crack, ants, starlight—to help kids (and us) step out of emotional spirals.
Rebuilding a Circle of Love
From survival mode to something softer: how I’m learning to reach out, trade help, and stop raising kids in isolation.
What AI Is Teaching Me About Teaching
From first-grade math feedback to kindergarten AI literacy, one teacher’s hopeful reflections
We Have Counted Enough Bears
A math experiment about Risk-Taking and Attitude
My Teacher Apology Journey
The longer I teach, the more often I apologize to my students.
In Chinese
中文文章
开了这么多年家长会，坐到另一边，我还是紧张了
一位老师写下家长会里那些不易说出口的担忧，以及让我们更愿意倾听的时刻。
“瑜伽太无聊了！”
第一天孩子们齐声抗议；几周后，有个孩子摸着胸口说：“变慢了。”
梦里的“坏妈妈”
两个关于逃离与伤害的梦，让我重新理解了疲惫、内疚，以及一个母亲怎样爱自己。
孩子总会长大，可今天还是很难
一位妈妈关于如厕训练、等待与无力感的真实记录
温柔育儿的问题，真的是太温柔吗？
温柔育儿真正难的，不是温柔，而是我们能不能承受关系暂时不和谐。
那天，我的学生和 AI 吵了起来
一堂关于数到 120 的数学课，变成了一堂关于判断力、公平感，以及如何质疑机器的课。
万物皆有裂痕，那是孩子照进来的光
放下对完美的执念：在那些与孩子博弈的缝隙里，藏着最治愈的力量。
育儿视角的脑科学：为何我们要为孩子补齐那层“滤网”？
解密幼儿大脑的“海绵模式”：为什么专注力需要我们共同构建？
从“全盘接收的海绵”到“挑剔的老管家”：重塑成年的思维版图
你不是不够好，只是大脑在重播旧剧本：利用 RAS 科学原理，解雇你内心的“老管家”。
当老师学会放手，孩子才开始真正承担责任
一次关于“放手”的实践，让我重新理解了自主、责任，以及教育真正发生的方式。
当怪兽敲门时：为什么“别怕”是应对恐惧最无效的策略？
为什么年幼的孩子无法仅靠“讲道理”战胜恐惧——以及真正有效的方法是什么
为人父母时间越长，跟孩子道歉越频繁
在大人的世界里，看见孩子的小步追赶。
有些所谓的“行为问题”，其实只是孩子与学校之间的不匹配
在数字焦虑越来越普遍的今天，我越来越常思考：学校真正该提供给孩子的，究竟是什么？而一位老师，是否可以少一点“修剪”，多一点“培育”？
仙女的坐标系
当我游走于两种审美文化之间，我看待自己的脸、身体与自我的方式也悄然改变了。
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