One of the parents I work with calls me to ask for pixie dust when she is facing a challenge with her kids. This mom maintains that every time we speak her kids behavior improves before she implements any of the recommended approaches. I love that she thinks I am magical. Trouble is it’s not [...]
The story of the $50,000 hockey shot interests me. If you haven’t heard about it, here it is in a nutshell. Eleven-year-old twin brothers attend a charity hockey event with their dad. At halftime, one of the brother’s names is called to attempt a near impossible hockey shot (three inch puck, 3 ½ inch goal [...]
Many parents envision bullies as kids who lurk around corners and grab children’s lunch money, jeer them in the cafeteria or embarrass them online. We’ve heard the tragic story of Phoebe Prince, and others like her, who took their own lives in the face of extreme harassment. Parents, teachers, and administrators need to get involved [...]
My friend Audrey and I had babies four months apart. Our first-borns are now twenty-three. Audrey went on to have a second and third born. That choice was made naively, having never previously taught a child to drive. Fortunately, I was blessed with infertility so I avoided a second-go-round with driver’s training. Audrey’s second-born turned [...]
Today, the death of Osama Bin Laden dominates our news outlets. Isolating children from the conversation is almost impossible. Avoiding your children’s questions will be equally as difficult.Here are some thoughts on talking to young children and provide a basis for conversation with older children.“Osama Bin Laden was a man who hurt people that didn’t [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
It will be only moments into parenthood or pregnancy, for that matter, when you will be faced with an interminable string of questions from friends and family (and sometimes even strangers) about your earliest parenting decisions; birthing, naming, feeding, sleeping. Just when you think you’ve answered them all a whole new crop will come along. [...]
I am a woman who makes good on her commitments to others. I keep my appointments. I am timely. I reliably write a weekly blog post for www.happyhourmom.com. However, when it comes to keeping commitments to myself, I cannot be counted on. That is why my eating habits are poor, my exercise regime is non-existent, [...]