This is the second installment of this series on how to deal with the demand of electronic media in our kids’ lives. Part 1 acted as an introductory post based on the question: how are we as parents supposed to guide our children in an aspect of their lives that didn’t exist when we were children ourselves?…
Category: kids
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 1)
I’m going to be completely honest here: I used the word “circumnavigating” purely because I think it’s a cool word. But I do think it fits pretty well with what I’d like to discuss today, so that worked out well. Another open confession: Jessica and I were not prepared to deal with the omnipresence of…
Determining Age-Appropriate Experiences for Our Children
At what point should parents allow their children to get places on their own? What is the perfect age for kids to go to the local playground without supervision and play for a while? Or just go on a bike ride around the block? These are difficult questions, especially in an age when it feels…
Sexual Abuse, Body Image, and The Healing Power of Dance
by Ophélia Martin-Weber You can learn more about Ophélia’s future in dance and support her by going here. Ballet requires dedication, strength, confidence, bravery, endurance, grace, hope, joy, passion, concentration, memory, self-esteem, flexibility, knowing who you are, critical analysis, adaptability, ability to learn quickly, pain tolerance, and eventually, really ugly feet. Sometimes, when I…
Wonderful, Messy, Children
In the last few days, my children (all girls, in case you’re just tuning in), have: – created saw dust paths throughout our entire yard, calling it snow, which came from cutting up our fallen tree, and there is now “snow” all over the inside of our house. – made it “snow” on their 2…
Welcoming the Whole Child
When parents welcome a baby into their lives, it can take them a long, long time to recognize that they haven’t just welcomed a cute little bundle of needs and smiles into their lives; they have allowed a whole other person to be a part of their daily lives. It is so easy to…
Flexible Parenting
Flexibility may be one of the most important qualities for a parent to learn. Flexibility with when they get to places, for instance. Last weekend gave me the perfect opportunity to work on this skill with my children. I recently wrote about going to a birthday party with SquiggleBug (7) and Smunchie (5) and how…
Sound Relationship Advice – Father To Young Son
Yesterday, I took SquiggleBug (7) and Smunchie (5) to a friend’s birthday party. While another dad and I were struggling through our first tentative and awkward interactions, he abruptly called out to his son, as parents rudely but appropriately do when they spot their child doing something they probably shouldn’t. His son bounded over, brandishing…
Children Must Break Their Parents
Every parent faces the reality that their children have a will of their own, which I think most would agree is a good thing in and of itself. But parents also face huge external pressure to control their children; the way your child behaves is after all a direct reflection of how good a parent…
A Conversation With My Younger Self
“Thank you for your concern. My name is Jeremy, by the way.” he said as he extended his hand. “That’s interesting.” I said as I shook his hand. “My name is Jeremy too.” We exchanged a friendly smile and parted ways. As I walked away, my mind was whirling with questions: Did our conversation…