“Steve, do you really think that peanut M&Ms are an ideal breakfast?” That is the question that my wife asked me as I left the house last week for an early morning meeting—with a handful of peanut M&Ms. While I understood the nature of her question, my immediate response, which I did not express openly, was, “Yes, I do!”

Honestly, I think peanut M&Ms are a perfect treat any time of the day or night. Of course, my wife’s query was not so much about the M&Ms, which I can’t with a clear conscience recommend for everyone in the morning, but about my health and sense of nutrition. While I love M&Ms and many other sweet treats, I go much of the year maintaining control of my consumption of them; then, each winter I lose it and end up consuming more than my share.

There is a connection between the changing temperature and the lower level of energy that many of us have in the winter months and our predisposition to consume more sugars. As I get tired, I eat more sweets. While I love them and they provide a brief energy rush, the long-term effect is not so great. As we head into the spring of each year, I find myself looking to lose the eight to ten pounds that I gain over the winter, even though I have maintained a reasonable workout effort.

When I was in Boston at the beginning of the month for the National Association of Independent Schools Conference, I found that many of my colleagues suffer with the same concern. There we were early each morning, working out in the fitness room of the hotel in an effort to compensate for what we would be consuming throughout the day. While we all admitted that it’s important to maintain a good nutritional approach to our diets, it is easier said than done. In a society that focuses so much on food and relies on sugar for quick energy fixes, maintaining a balanced diet (which does not mean consuming equal amounts of M&Ms and Swedish Fish—another of my favorites) becomes harder and harder as we get older and our metabolism slows down. This speaks to our need not just to keep our diet balanced, but to keep our lives balanced, as well.

At the conference in Boston I heard numerous wonderful presentations about the importance of integrating ethics and character development into the daily curriculum and about the interdisciplinary nature of learning. We must motivate our children to think critically, not only in academics, but across their lives. With our hiring of Usha Balamore as our Assistant Head of Lower School and Director of Character Development and the ongoing discussions about interdisciplinary courses and the introduction of more of them, I could not feel better about our direction or goals. These conversations and initiatives must continue if we are to meet the ongoing needs of our students.

In looking over the list of Academy Award winners, I found it interesting that Crash won the Award for Best Picture. Although I had not seen any of the other movies that were nominated for best picture, I found Crash to be an incredibly compelling movie on race in this country. When I wrote about it in my August Head’s Letter, I noted that it “speaks to the assumptions that we all make and captures the impact of bigotries, racism, and stereotyping that are endemic to our society.” Similarly, I was pleased that March of the Penguins was chosen, as I had recommended it as a wonderful family movie.

While I have no idea what the criteria are for a movie to win an Academy Award, both of these delivered messages that go beyond the moment and are worth thinking about. Eight Below is another wonderful family movie that I wholeheartedly recommend. It speaks to the intense relationships developed between people and their pets, and dogs’ ability to work together and survive through adversity. This is a lesson that we as people need to know.

On another note, my hat is off to all of those people who are caring for infants. It takes lots of energy and attention and is potentially overwhelming. Recently, we got a little puppy. Taking it in and out at all times during the day and night and trying to train it has reminded me of all the hard work that goes into caring for an infant. Although a dog reaches its potential much sooner, it also learns much more quickly and is more capable than an infant at an earlier time. When our dog arrived he could barely walk and certainly knew nothing about stairs. In a few weeks he has found his way into and out of every room in the house, regardless of the threshold or type of flooring. We now have a gate up to keep him contained; otherwise, he would be into everything. It is particularly enjoyable to see our three children sharing responsibility for feeding him and walking him. They are quite possessive of him and treat him as though he is their younger brother. In fact, they may be treating him even better than they would a brother because they really were involved in the decision to get him. With that said, I am grateful that he is a dog and not a child. While I absolutely adore infants, I am not sure that I would have the energy or ability to handle one so young. If we had one, I am sure that I would be eating even more M&Ms!

Here’s hoping that spring break is fabulous for everyone.

Warmest regards,

Steven S. Piltch
Head of School