There is nothing quite as irritating as the sound of a child whining. Except maybe the whistling whine of a dog. Or nails on a chalkboard. Or the drip drip dripping of a leaky faucet. Or someone messing with crinkly wrappers when you’re trying to enjoy a movie. Okay, so I may have a personal…
Category: parenting
My Perfect Stepford Family, or Why I Don’t Control My Children
“You can’t touch my body without permission! It’s my body!” “You can’t tell me what to do!” “You’re not in charge of me!” Great. We have deliberately and diligently taught our children that they are in charge of their bodies, and responsible for their actions and reactions. Now they think that they are therefore in…
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 4)
This is the fourth and final 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…
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 3)
This is the third 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? Part…
Circumnavigating the Media Black Hole as Parents (part 2)
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?…
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…
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…
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…