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…
Sneaking fruits and vegetables into other types of food can be an easy and rewarding process. If you are sick of arguing over one helping of peas at dinner just do what the savvy moms do, sneak it into other dishes! Read on for healthy recipes that benefit from a…
Child discipline and logical consequences demand you learn to think before you act. You take the time you need. You get your feelings under control. You come up with a simple plan. You execute that plan. When kids are careless, rage can explode and it can feel great. Later shame…
When it comes to patience, do you feel like you’re always running on empty? When York University conducted a study in 1999, respondents listed patience as the most important parenting skill. Of course, patience is fleeting. Even if you have it, it’s easy to lose once you’re under the pressure…
While you don’t want to be a high-strung parent who is paranoid of danger lurking behind every corner, it is critical to your child’s safety and well-being that you educate yourself about your house’s danger zones. It’s a good idea to go through your home every few months and evaluate…
There’s plenty to do inside on rainy summer days, and if you have a child who’s not a big reader, then there’s no time like summer to get him interested in books. They’re great to take along on road trips and airplanes, too, and it does today’s kids good to…
You may have heard of the uproar caused when one New York mom and blogger allowed her 9-year-old son to ride the subway alone in 2008. Lenore Skenazy armed her son with maps and subway routes and sent him on a short trip to prove that so-called “helicopter parents” are…
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…
Sometimes it seems that babies cry for absolutely no reason. You’ve fed, burped, changed and clothed the baby properly. You’ve ruled out illness. And if you have to play that Barney song one more time to get the baby to calm down, then you’re the one who’ll be crying. What…
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and while most parents don’t abuse their children, there are risk factors that lead some to do so. Learn to recognize those signs in your friends and family to prevent it. First, be sure to report your suspicions if there are obvious signs…