Hey Everyone, I'm checking in late, but what an amazing conversation. I've been thinking so much lately about free play, and playfulness, and how so much of parenting conversation has been about anxiety. Thanks Ellen, for bringing us to such big and positive and forward-looking issues about kids and character.

We're talking with Ellen Galinsky about her brand new, already bestselling book "Mind in the Making" (it's #1 on Amazon's parenting list) about the seven most important "life skills" for children growing up today. Ellen wants our kids to learn for grades and learn for life. To communicate effectively, work well with diverse groups of people, think outside the box, and be ongoing learners. And to have all that, they need these seven skill: Focus and Self Control; Perspective Taking; Communicating; Making Connections; Critical Thinking; Taking On Challenges; Self-Directed, Engaged Learning. "It may well be the next iconic parenting manual, up there with Spock and Leach and Brazelton, one that parents turn to for reassurance that all is more or less okay, reminders of how to make it better and glimpses of what’s to come." - Lisa Belkin, The New York Times, April 29, 2010 Join the conversation!