Parenting
Playground Thunderdome
What’s the best way to react to toddler fights and aggression on the playground…especially if the offender isn’t your child?
Parenting
Let’s Talk Underage Drinking (Mom vs. College Student)
I invited my 20-year-old to sound off with me on the issue of drinking before reaching legal age. This was a hard, but good, talk.
Big Kid
When the Parenting Formula Fails to Solve For X
We talk about cranky babies and unwieldy toddlers; why don’t we talk more about struggling teens? We fear judgment, but that’s just got to stop.
Big Kid
Raising Kids, Growing Veggies: It’s All (Kinda) the Same
Is gardening really a decent metaphor for raising children? I think it is, in many ways. “You reap what you sow” is only kind of true… and that’s okay.
Parenting
How To Find One-on-One Time with Your Kids
Yes, we know it’s important to spend one-on-one time with our kids, but how the heck do we really do that?
Parenting
The Biggest Challenge of Having a Large Family
There are challenges that come with a big family. Constant comments from strangers and lots of mouths to feed. But there is one challenge I find the hardest.
Big Kid
Harassment vs. Helicoptering
A reader asks if she should stop in when her middle schooler is being harassed, or if it’s too much. I have soap box for this one.
Health & Safety
It’s a Miracle Any Of Them Live To Adulthood
We’ve all missed an illness or worse-than-we-realized injury in our little kids, but does it stop happening when they get older? Not exactly. At least we’re not alone.
Relationships
Full-Time Grandma Is a Full-Time Problem
A step-dad turns to us looking for help on a tricky situation with his partner’s mother and how she is influencing her grandchild, and not in a good way.
Big Kid
Snow Days Just Ain’t What They Used To Be
I have fond memories of snow days in upstate New York, but the rare, “modern” snow day in the south just isn’t as magical as what I remember.
Big Kid
Difficult Parenting Situations Turned… Cooperative?
Can a “cooperative kid” be made of a troubled teen? With a lot of parental changes (and tongue-biting), signs point to yes.
Big Kid
When Your Child Is A Perfectionist
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.
Young Child
Lance Armstrong and the Legacy of Lying
How can we make our children realize that lying and cheating are wrong when they see people whom they admire lie and cheat?
Young Child
Alpha Mom Parenting Book Club: The Five Love Languages Of Children
When I read “The Five Love Languages of Children” years ago it truly revolutionized the way I parented my children. I remember there were several moments while reading when a light bulb would go off and I wanted to smack myself on the forehead for missing what seemed, in retrospect, so obvious. Rereading the book this time I was struck by how much I had forgotten.
Young Child
It Takes a Village, If We Allow It
I want a village. These are the people I want in my village. People who think it is a moral obligation to look out for each other’s kids.
Young Child
Top Parenting Mistakes Made With the Best Intentions
We look at other parents say, I will never be like that! We are full of self righteous indignation and feel confident in our superior parenting skills! Then it happens. One day you recognize yourself in some other parent and it isn’t a good thing.
Parenting
Claiming Small Victories
Sometimes parenting feels extra challenging. Train yourself to find the win in every day situations. Even in the less obvious ones.