Parenting Possibilities: A Sibling’s Love
Apr
29
2013
A Sibling’s Love One day I quietly watched my children playing with each other and realized for the first time that they have their own unique form of communication. They have an instinctual knowledge of each other I had not previously been aware of. It is an understanding only a sibling can have, almost as [continue reading]
Hindsight Parenting: 999,999 Ways to Be a Good Enough Mother
Apr
16
2013
There is no way to be a perfect mother. “There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one.” This quote by Jill Churchill has followed me around lately. I have seen it on TV, in print, on Pinterest, posted on Facebook and on Twitter. It has [continue reading]
Parenting Possibilities: We Are All Meant to Shine
Mar
25
2013
Getting Out of Our Own Way In her recent interview in Time Magazine’s March edition and in her TED.com talk which received over 2 million views, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s powerhouse Chief Operating Officer speaks to why women still have not achieved equality in the workforce. She acknowledges that very real barriers still exist like sexism, [continue reading]
Just My Type: Putting Up a Fight
Mar
18
2013
Putting up a Fight Having a marital spat in the middle of a chain department store is not my idea of fun. Yet there my husband and I were, 7-year-old Noelle in tow, marching through the store, hissing at each other in a not-so-very-nice fashion. – It’s just one more way that diabetes brings out [continue reading]
Encouraging Responsibility in Kids
Mar
11
2013
Making Responsibility Fun Did you know that in Japan, most schools don’t employ janitors? It’s true! Rather than have someone clean up after them, students and teachers take 15 minutes to scrub the school themselves each day. The practice is called “souji,” and educators say it helps kids learn about responsibility. By thinking of responsibility as [continue reading]
Hindsight Parenting: The Strength of Children
Mar
5
2013
Have Faith in Your Children Strength I was a big ol’ chicken this week. I mean a shakin-in-my-boots-anxiety-ridden-big-ol’-BAWK-BAWK-chicken. Last column and the column before that, I had hinted that there were things going on at my daughter Ila’s current daycare/preschool that weren’t all that wonderful. Between the mean girl attitude, and the teachers’ lack of [continue reading]
Parenting Possibilities: Find Your Way to Say I Love You
Feb
25
2013
Saying I Love You I have been reading a lot about Justice Sonia Sotomayor lately now that her book is out. Her story is inspiring and yet also sad. Her father died when she was in fourth grade due to heart problems related to alcoholism. When he was alive, Sonia endured a childhood of watching [continue reading]
Q&A: Email for Kids
Feb
24
2013
QUESTION AND ANSWERS One of our readers is looking to set up an email account for their tween. — “Are there any recommendations from other parents on how to set up a monitored email account for a grade school child (10yo), in particular has anyone ever used KidsEmail.org? Gmail requires kids to be 13yo+ and [continue reading]
Let’s Play: Guerilla Play
Feb
20
2013
Play it Forward This month we need to spread the play. It’s cold out. People are looking for signs of spring. I think families can brighten a little corner of our world with kindness and have great fun doing it. Many people are helping neighbors near and far. Knitters have made blanket squares for victims [continue reading]
Hindsight Parenting: What is the Antidote to Meanness?
Feb
19
2013
Mean Girls, At Age 3 “Go home, Ila!” Those three words, said by a three year old no less to my sweet-natured, well behaved, lovely, and special daughter (all right, all right I may be a tad biased…) made me squeeze the life out of my steering wheel from rage as it was relayed to [continue reading]