My day today totally sucked. I worked hard all day but didn’t accomplish much of anything. I felt sad and grumpy for most of the day and I missed my daughter even though she was within ear shot all day long. I need a do over. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just rewind…
I’ve had a few parents asking me about how to transform sibling rivalry so today I want to share an idea of something very specific and powerful that you can do to go from tension, fighting, and frustration to peace, love and happiness between siblings. The bad news is it’s completely up to you to set…
Here’s a great game you can play virtually anytime you’re home and busy with a task. Your kids will love it and feel connected to you, even as you continue to cook dinner. What other ways could you play this game? Can you see how it can help kids learn colors, shapes, locations of things…
What do you think of when you hear the word “discipline”? When most people think about parenting and discipline they probably think of punitive discipline like time out, yelling, spanking, or taking away privileges. I don’t want my daughter to be afraid of me or of the punishment I might hand down. So I’ve chosen…
I get a lot of questions from concerned parents about rough housing, wrestling, and other physical play. Dads want to know if it’s OK to wrestle with their kids, and moms are concerned that somebody will inevitably get hurt. Often it seems that physical play of this sort does end with the younger or smaller…
Have you ever noticed that when a child cries, often the first things out of our mouths are things like, “You’re OK” (minimizing their experience) or “Oh no! Don’t cry!” (asking them to deny their experience) or even, “What’s wrong?!” (asking them to think about and describe the upsetting event). None of these acknowledge the…
As I listen to my daughter playing in her baby pool for the first time, with her Grammy watching over her, I feel so grateful for every experience we get have together. And I can finally understand some parents’ almost pathological need to protect their children. There are all sorts of dangers both seen and…
Attunement: it’s a word that gets thrown around a lot in the world of parenting and psychology, but what does attunement really mean? Attunement is an innate ability that almost all humans have to internally and externally match the experience of another person with whom they’re connecting. When we see someone crying, we easily and…
Whenever the same idea comes up again and again in my life, I try my best to pay attention. For me, the fact that I’ve heard the same thing said in different ways a bunch of times, especially over a short period of time, means that there’s something special I need to pay attention to. …
Every year here in Bend, OR we have “The week of the young child.” It’s a week of activities centered around child development in the first five years of life. Last night I went to a really great free event with several speakers who shared their passions about supporting child development. We heard a lot…