How do you prepare/handle a three-year-old for mass gift opening--while teaching them to be thankful. For example, the rip open a bag/gift to find the cutest outfit. They, however, throw it to the side. In my ideal world they would finish unwrapping the gift and say thank you. The problem you cite is common and not [...]
Like most children, I loved Halloween in spite of the fact that my mother always made me wear a sweater that ruined my costume and wouldn’t let me carry a pillow-case as a sack like all the cool kids, because she thought it looked greedy. As an adult, Halloween confounds me – costumed children going [...]
Each Monday, I respond to questions at www.happyhourmom.com. Log-on to read my replies to some common parenting challenges. Feel free to ask questions through Happy Hour Mom, too, or send your questions to me at carolyn@engagetoday.com and I will reply here.Happy parenting!
We all like a surprise every now and then, and we are all sometimes forced to deal with a disruption, but generally it’s nice to know what to expect each day. Adults have the ability to plan and infer, children, mostly, have to go along for the ride. If you want a smoother trip, you [...]
As I listened to Rosalind Wiseman this morning on the Today Show, I felt grateful for her wisdom, and sadness that she was not around when I was a kid. Her book, Queen Bees and Wannabees validated the pain of my youth and the updated version of her book will help you help your daughter [...]
When childhood choices meet natural consequences wonderful lessons can be taught with no parental imposition. The only requirement is that parents allow for those consequences to take place; The kindergartner who refuses the sweater must be allowed to be cold at school, the 4th grader who skips practice all week isn’t allowed to play in [...]
I am a believer in the teaching power of natural consequences. I know that after an evening spent shivering at a ballgame, I take a sweater to the next event . If I forget something I need at work and suffer the frustration of being ill prepared, I take immediate steps to improve my organizational [...]
Everyone with children knows, kids cry. A lot. It can’t be avoided. It’s developmental. Before they can talk they cry, and after they have words they cry. They cry when they are sad, frustrated, angry, and tired. Sometimes their crying escalates to full-blown, lay on the floor, red-in-the-face tantrums. Kids are rarely inhibited by onlookers [...]
If you have a child of at least three, you have likely experienced a morning when you greeted a little one, once smiling and serene, who had suddenly become whiny and willful. You likely checked for fever, or budding teeth, and then after several days of challenging behavior, decided that something had gone terribly wrong [...]
If you have already read “Know Your Because,” you may benefit further from some real life examples of how to put it into practice.When addressing differences with adults consider this: Imagine a grandparent’s questioning of your decision to breastfeed. Explain by calmly stating, “I have decided to breastfeed because my research and my pediatrician feel [...]