Getting Rid of the Shoulds
Let’s make a pact to remove this word from our vocabularies. Shoulds make you feel like a failure and get in the way of you appreciating what you actually do.
Let’s make a pact to remove this word from our vocabularies. Shoulds make you feel like a failure and get in the way of you appreciating what you actually do.
Wonder, the novel about a boy with severe craniofacial deformities who starts middle school, by R.J. Palacio is a must-read for children and their parents.
One of the hardest lessons for my teens is that, sometimes, there are some things more important than being right.
It is the time of year when you begin to hear complaints from the kids about their teachers. “My teacher hates me!” Do you step in or let them work it out?
Depression, like any other medical condition, can impact your ability to parent the way you want to. You and your kids can get through it, I promise.
I have done some of these things. Some I have done more often than others. Haven’t we all? Because we are human and flawed and sometimes want to take the easy way out of a situation. Or because we really don’t want to make our children upset. Or because we are just weary.
To me it isn’t even a question.We aren’t getting another dog. It is not going to happen. Nope. Never. Not getting a second dog. No thank you.
After spending time with my friends’ needy, clingy children, I am having second thoughts about parenthood. Will I really feel that differently about my own baby?
Regardless of where a child’s learning occurs, it is my experience that most parents agree about the importance of taking an active role in their child’s education.
How do you determine the best age to let a child pierce his or her ears.
After being a part of the adoption process firsthand, I now understand that whether we gain the parents we have through biology or biography, the end result can be the same- a happy family.
When I introduce myself from here on out, I am supposed to say, “Hi, my name is ______________, and I’m an alcoholic.” That’s the first step, according to the brochure some nice woman handed me as I entered my first AA meeting day before yesterday.
5 tips for parents on being more present and less distracted when spending time with your children.
There’s a no-man’s land, I think, in those big-tween/young-teen years, when it comes to summer break. Here’s my current Summer Manifesto for this summer. What’s yours?
Motherhood is full of opportunities to learn important, and not so important, lessons. You might as well laugh through them all.
Can a “cooperative kid” be made of a troubled teen? With a lot of parental changes (and tongue-biting), signs point to yes.
A couple of life lessons I have learned and want to pass on to my 13-year-old daughter, Cal, before she enters high school about age and frenemies.
I like to do less and wouldn’t we all like to enjoy our lives more? But what exactly do the authors mean by minimalist parenting, was a question that I wondered. Do they advocate living like Tibetan monks? Eschewing possessions and leaving our children to play with sticks? Does it mean letting your kids run wild with minimal parental interference? Is it hands off parenting?
Turns out it was none of those things.
I believe that most of our children’s character is not something that is taught but that they learn how to react and interact in the world by watching us.
My nine year old daughter is a perfectionist.
This past six week marking period she got her first ever B. She stomped up to her room and slammed the door. It hadn’t occurred to me before this that perhaps being a perfectionist had a negative side.