Sugar and spice may be nice, but these days, girls need to be made of hardier stuff to get through tween-hood and adolescence. But building a girl’s self-esteem into that of a confident young woman begins in the nursery. Congratulate your little girl on the things she does, not how…
Which way do you swing when your child behaves? What’s best – spanking or time outs? Before you even get to the point where discipline is needed, experts say that kids need clear-cut boundaries so that you can head off discipline problems before they even happen. Certainly, those boundaries need…
Ah, the lazy days of summer. Unlike the rest of the year, the rules change come summertime, especially when it comes to meals. If you haven’t already, it’s time to put those canned soups and raviolis and on the backburner in favor of some lighter fare. Take a vacation from…
Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house these days tends to be a longer haul for families who have to fly to see relatives. So what’s a family to do when the inevitable happens on one of those trips? Being stranded in an airport during an extra-long…
Moving to another home is always stressful, regardless of whether or not you have children. The transition can be tough on the whole family, and kids might take a move pretty hard, depending on their age. The decision to make a move might not be an option, depending on your…
As much as we want to teach kids to be colorblind and oblivious to other people’s differences, kids are wired to notice when people don’t look, act or live the same way they do. Even babies can recognize physical differences in people when they’re shown pictures. But what they’re not…
For a lot of babies, pacifiers can soothe and help fussy babies float off to dreamland, without the help of a sometimes-exhausted mom. But when kids start to depend on pacis — or binkies — to fall asleep or for comfort, often up to the age of 4, then it’s…
If only children came with an “off” switch… Getting children to wind down can often be a daunting task. Many children are like the Energizer bunny — they keep going and going and going. Wouldn’t you like for your child to be able to embrace inner peace and gain a…
Whoever said parenting is easy never had children. Like anything else in life, expertise comes with experience, and raising kids is no different. Proper parenting takes practice, and our skills develop with time. Of course, there are steps you can take to improve your technique. The first step is to…
Do your kids know the value of a dollar? In an age when parents whip out the plastic to pay for things, or the ATM seemingly spits money into your lap with no repercussions, it’s hard to teach kids about managing money. But in today’s economic times, it’s important, and…