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…
Separation is a challenging time for many parents because it is an adjustment to a new way of life. There are both positive and negative factors to separation and the corresponding changes, but one of the issues that can arise is the differences that parents may have in the ways…
Young, wild, and free … isn’t that what it’s supposed to feel like to be a teenager? While it’s normal for teens to push and discover their limits, it’s also dangerous. Due in large part to the fact that parenting decisions are only as sound as the information on which…
Watching a young girl hit, kick, and call her mother names I never imagined a 6 year old knew, engaged in an (ultimately successful) attempt to get dessert led to an enlightening luncheon conversation with a few friends last week. As parents ourselves, we had all dealt with incidents like…
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….
Colic is basically uncontrollable crying in a healthy baby. It can come as early as two weeks and last as long as three months. Typically they will cry for hours at a time and may do this a few times a week. If your baby is crying like this and…
Everyone benefits from a good night’s sleep. Children also need to learn how to unwind at the end of the day with an uninterrupted period of restorative sleep. For some children, this comes easily. For others, it may mean a night of counting sheep and difficult morning rises. Break the…
In order for us to get restful sleep, we need to be relaxed. In order to relax, a number of things have to happen. First of all, we need to feel safe and secure. Obviously, if there is tension in the house – abuse, parents rowing, problems with finances or…
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…
When your teenager starts to get out of hand you have to ask yourself some hard questions. The first step is to honestly evaluate how you think you’re doing when communicating with your teen. Do you feel you are sharing valuable information and time? Or do you feel there is…