Spring is the time of year when high school juniors are learning about different colleges and high school seniors are receiving their acceptance letters. Yes, and a great many high school seniors will receive those other kinds of letters as well: You’ve been waitlisted, or even worse, the rejection letter….
Childhood years are the best times to learn. Somehow, a person’s comprehension is at its peak during childhood. Parents should take advantage of these learning years to ingrain the values of life in their children. If you’re a parent, teach them positive habits so that they will know and see…
Parenting can be a fun and exciting journey for anyone that wants to have kids. Along the path, they discover the bumps and bruises that parenting is all about. One of the first things a parent thinks about when having a baby is making sure that it is protected. Baby…
Sex, drugs and alcohol — these are subjects you’ll want to talk about with your children before there is a problem. As a family, you can establish boundaries and consequences and come to a common understanding of what is acceptable. Sex: According to Advocates for Youth, statistics indicate that children…
Do you know the difference between discipline and punishment with their Latin roots? Punishment implies inflicting pain, while discipline means to teach. Parents who use punishment are missing important opportunities to teach their children better behaviors and help them self-discipline. Children can actually be taught responsible behaviors to help them…
When it comes to our children’s happiness, less is more. That’s the surprising perspective of one Chicago psychologist concerned about the rising rates of youth depression and anxiety. “Millions of well-intentioned parents have made life harder for their children by shielding the kids from every kind of unhappiness,” according to…
Every parent has been there. Your usually angelic (or at least moderately well behaved) child is suddenly intractable, full of rage, or even engaged in a full-blown temper tantrum. Worse, your usual discipline measures don’t even make a dent in the attitude or anger. What to do? First of all…
Shortly after having my first baby, I decided I was going to be the perfect parent. I immediately began to keep an intelligent library of child-rearing books on my nightstand and would replenish the stock as each book was absorbed into my sub-consciousness and checked off the “read” list. My…
Once your child begins walking, he will become more and more independent. Toddlers and preschoolers want to try to do a number of things on their own and parents have a tremendous opportunity to instill good, healthy habits as they teach self-care skills during this stage of development. Your child…
Being a parent can be chaotic enough, but having a spouse who’s reluctant to help with the kids and chores can really up the stress meter. Dividing chores and responsibilities is one of the challenges of living with a partner, and not surprisingly, it’s one of the things couples bicker…