Be the Person You Want Your Child to Be
(Posted for the second time…that;s how important this one is!) “You will not believe this story,” began the email from a client who had just returned from family services for the Jewish New Year. She...
View ArticleThe Habit of Giving
There isn’t a school around that doesn’t step up the giving spirit as Thanksgiving and the winter holidays approach. Mini vans are jammed with cans of corn and candied yams to replenish the city’s...
View ArticleWhy You Should Watch the Olympics with Your Kids: Olympic Lessons
Olympic fever is starting to rise, and here is the good news: There are enough benefits to watching the Olympics as a family that you can throw your standard TV rules out the window. Beyond sheer...
View ArticleThe Odd Life of Parents Who Laugh at Their Children
The viral video of the two boys emoting after seeing The Odd Life of Timothy Green made my blood boil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aFV1r45sAQ In the video two boys, perhaps 7 and 9 years old, are...
View ArticleYou Are Who You Are When No One is Looking
The mother unwrapped the straw, poked it into the little box, and handed the drink to her toddler as they walked out of the grocery store. The sliver of straw paper slipped from the mother’s hand. I...
View ArticleHow Will Your Kids Remember You?
I’ve just returned from a funeral. A friend’s husband, father of five, died way before his time was up. And it was a five Kleenex affair. My mirror neurons, the ones that make you match the emotions...
View ArticleCircle the Wagons. How children learn to express empathy.
Current research on the topic of empathy in children points to likelihood that infants as young as 6 months have the ability to demonstrate empathy. Whether or how empathy develops as the child grows...
View ArticleKnowing Your Child
It isn’t usually until the fall that I begin to hear chatter about parents wanting their kids to find their passion, who are eager to enroll their kids in specialized, extra curricular classes. I...
View ArticleGrandparents and Gift Giving: An Unspoken December Dilemma
There is a dilemma that accompanies the winter holiday season that is rarely discussed out loud. It certainly is a topic that is dominating my parenting groups this month. That is, how do parents deal...
View ArticleEmpathy is a Two Way Street
Cultivating empathy is a hot topic in the parenting world. Current research has demonstrated that children under a year not only have the capacity for empathy but actually exhibit empathy. (Regarding...
View ArticleRedirecting the Holiday Gimmes
Sugar Plum fairies and fa la la la la are not the only things that come with the winter holidays. So does a parent’s worst fear that she has raised the spoiled child she swore she would never have. At...
View ArticlePoliticians Behaving Badly: Talking to Kids About the Election
Kids of all ages are getting a whiff of election politics at its worst. It’s unavoidable. I’ll bet you think I am going to say, “Shelter them! Turn off the radio, TV, computer.” Not this time. This...
View ArticleDo As I Do, Not As I Say!
“I’m going to punish you” admonished the 4 year old “mommy” to her 4 year old “daughter,” both children at play in the “Housekeeping Center” of their preschool classroom. That is my favorite place to...
View ArticleTalking to Kids about Racism, Law Enforcement, and Violence (in light of the...
How I wish I weren’t writing this particular blog…again. How I wish you didn’t need this blog…again. How I wish I actually had an explanation for this madness. I don’t. There is no explanation. So how...
View ArticleGratitude Beyond Thanksgiving
Each year as Thanksgiving approaches, there is an mighty uptick in the gratitude discussions at school. Gratitude awareness fills the mommy blogsphere. And parents begin to think about the need for...
View ArticleWhose Decision is it?
Self-Reliance is a hot topic in the world of parenting these days. My Self-Reliance seminars fill right up, standing room only. Actually cultivating self-reliance and its myriad component parts is...
View ArticleMy Child is a Hoarder!
“Daisy is a hoarder!” my daughter exclaimed in horror (and frustration). If I didn’t know about kids and their typical development, I might agree with her. For Daisy, the world is filled with...
View ArticleThe College Admissions Scandal: This is about parenting
Yesterday the web exploded with the news of the college admissions scandal. Water cooler gossip overflowed with shock and, for most, disgust. This revelation, honestly, is not a surprise to me. I am...
View ArticleSummer’s Here–Let Your Child Be Bored
They made a Book Store. That was the answer to my question, “What are your kids up do these days?” ‘Wait…what?” I asked. My client’s 12 and 9 year old kids were out of school with no plans for the...
View Article“It’s the Palisades”…Not!
On Friday night after another great dinner at our local pizza place with two of my grandgirls, we went for our requisite fro yo. It’s what we do on sleepovers at “BeeBee and Big D’s” house: pizza and...
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