When you’re a parent and dealing with a little person who’s getting older every day and whose brain isn’t as malleable as he was when he was a baby, it can be very difficult to find ways to teach right and wrong. What works for one of your offspring may not work for the other, and that’s definitely been the case in this house. D has always had a sense of not wanting to make mistakes, ever. Of course, nobody is perfect, and it was only natural that he made some poor choices on his path to becoming the fine young man he is today. For example, there was the…
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Should I Get A Dog For My Kids, Even Though I Don’t Want One?
No, not me: I already have a dog. See? A friend of mine, however, does not. She recently posed that question on Facebook. It happens to be a subject about which I am extremely passionate. The short answer? NO, you shouldn’t. The longer answer? Ugh, where shall I begin? This friend listed two main reasons for not wanting a dog: her child’s allergies (which can be overcome by getting a hypo-allergenic dog) and her knowing that she would be the one cleaning up the messes (which cannot be overcome for a while, if the kids are younger, and sometimes not at all). In my opinion, her second concern is the…
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Traveling the Space-Time Continuum
Most people have had the experience of coming across an item, a song, a food, or something else that, in a split-second, whisks them back to another day. (Who said that time travel is impossible? I beg to differ!) For example, if you were to serve me pigs in blankets, or even mention them, my mind would go back to my fourth birthday party, during which my mom served them, and one of my guests got sick (i.e. tossed her cookies) all over her part of the table. I can’t help it; it’s where I go. Every time I hear the Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up”, I think about…
- I've Got Mad Skillz, Jim Has Mad Skillz, My Dad Has Mad Skillz, My Kids Have Mad Skillz, My Mom Has Mad Skillz, Reflections on Parenting, We Are An Awesome Couple
Parenting Secrets From Behind the Tiara
I wrote this post a couple of years ago, for a friend who needed a guest post on her blog. She has since shut down her site, so I thought I’d post it here! My husband Jim and I are successful parents. Really. If we were in Oprah’s magazine, our mad parenting skillz would be featured on her “What I Know For Sure” page. Of course we are not the only successful parents in the world, but we’re the only ones that matter…to our kids. I am happy to report that our boys are fine, upstanding young men–and it’s not only because we think so: that’s the general consensus from…
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Amazing Moments in Parenthood
Whenever I speak with the parents of really young kids, they almost always comment on “how lucky” I am that I don’t have to change diapers anymore or do any number of assorted tasks related to having really little ones. In an attempt to be encouraging, I say things like, “Don’t worry, your kids will gradually become more and more self-sufficient as they grow. In fact, once they can make their own breakfast in the morning, you’re on your way!” (That’s when whomever I’m talking to usually sighs as their eyes glaze over at the happy thought of what I said.) It was a huge milestone in this house, when…