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Choice gets a bad name in early childhood. Adults scold kids about the "choices" they make on a daily basis: "That was not a good choice" (when she hits her brother). Or perhaps we interrogate: "Was that a good choice or a bad choice?" when kids behave in a way we don't like. "Let's see you make a better choice now."

The book is here! I'm on the radio today celebrating the release of It's OK to Go Up the Slide, and everywhere I go - from Denver to Vancouver to Boston - I'm hearing people share the stress points in their lives with kids. Technology. Homework. Strangers. News disasters. Gender roles.

I was in California last week, the home state of Bev Bos, legendary early childhood advocate and mentor to thousands. She died the week before I spoke on Feb. 4, and it was fitting that I should be addressing a collection of cooperative preschools.

A box arrived on my doorstep from Penguin Random House this week. I thought it was THE BOOK. Instead it was a batch of lovely postcards from the publisher, but this is a good sign.  It means we're getting close - only 6 weeks to go!

Karate. Ballet. Soccer. Swimming. Hockey. Art lessons. Music lessons. Theater class. Children's choir.  The number of enrichment classes out there for children is mind-blowing. Chances are, if you have kids, you've signed your child up for one of these fun-filled classes. Or maybe three or four.

As our family moves through public school, I've heard six years' worth of teachers explain why kids don't write fiction in their class. "Frankly, kids aren't very good at fiction. They only write about explosions, aliens and robots," one teacher told me.

This morning I watched a mother hold her six-month-old baby. They were watching a screen together and the mother was singing along a counting song. "Twenty-two, twenty-three..."

It's here! So excited, wanted to share with you this beautiful cover for my new book It's OK to Go Up the Slide. We still have to wait for the book - coming in spring - but thought you'd like to take a behind-the-scenes look at a book being born.

The new school year probably brought excitement. Now it probably brings...homework. If your children are in elementary school, homework has very little place in it. Research shows (analysis of more approx. 180 peer-reviewed studies) that homework assignments for this age is pointless, and even harmful.

OK, I don't have tots anymore. My youngest is seven, and that's a wonderful age to play with fire. Yes, striking the match, building the fire, poking it and learning its power. Some days in our campsite or backyard he spent hours playing with fire.