Sigh, See, and Start Parenting Mindfully.
Despite hours of waiting at lines at Disney World, there is no way around it: Disney is one of my favorite family trips. That’s because Disney is just different. The grounds are clean, and so is the language people use. There are very few people pushing, you are surrounded by people who are generally reasonably happy and enjoying time with family.
Continue reading “The Dread of Waiting in Lines at Disney”We drove an hour from our hotel to get to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Our younger son had spontaneously come up with what must be this generation’s version of “Are we there yet?” He kept asking “How many miles left?” He was keeping count and insisted I check the GPS to give him an accurate number. It was both cute and irritating.
Continue reading “Mission NASA: Family Vacation”Trick-or-treat! It’s a few days after Halloween and your adorable fairy-princess-witch-super-Star Wars-ninja just collected a pillow case full of Halloween candy. You know how bad all that sugar is. What is a responsible parent to do?
Continue reading “Never Fear, the Switch Witch is Here”Where we grew up, there were still lots of older homes with no central air conditioning. The summers were hot and humid. There were a few activities you could sign up for at the middle school, but they weren’t all day camps. There were morning swimming lessons in the freezing cold community pool, but after that there was not much to do. The kids that were around did tend to spend a lot of time inside using their Nintendo’s. We already knew our mom was a little different from the other moms. She made us eat whole-grain bread and natural peanut butter, and our snacks were pieces of cheese and fruit. We didn’t get free access to hostess cakes like our friends did. Our TV time was limited, and we had never owned a Nintendo.
Continue reading “The Summer of No TV”“The seagulls sure are beautiful, Mom,” said one of my kids on our first evening at the beach in Florida. “Yeah, they are pretty cool,” said the other. “It’s like Finding Nemo!” The two of them started chirping: “Mine Mine Mine Mine.”
Continue reading “Swooping Seagulls”I always loved my father’s stories about his glory days as a runner. He was tall and lanky, an ideal build for a distance runner. He ran in high school, and he was later recruited as a runner in college. That scholarship was his path to an engineering degree at a good school. He used to love to tell stories about his races. His favorite races were the ones he nearly lost, when he came from behind and sprinted past the leader for the win. For my Dad it was always the joy of the contest.I was just the worst runner. Just terrible.
Continue reading “4 Lessons from a Truly Terrible Cross Country Runner”We live in a culture of constant criticism, haunted by the idea that one mistake can alter our childs destiny forever. This “Shouldstorm” makes us anxious parents who raise anxious kids.
We live in a culture of constant criticism, haunted by the idea that one mistake can alter our childs destiny forever. This “Shouldstorm” makes us anxious parents who raise anxious kids.
What is the opposite of criticism? Is it praise? I doubt this. Praise is about building someone up and can be superficial. Criticism is about identifying problems that need fixing, at least in the eye of the beholder.
What is the opposite of criticism? Is it praise? I doubt this. Praise is about building someone up and can be superficial. Criticism is about identifying problems that need fixing, at least in the eye of the beholder.
The Opposite of Criticism
What defines a good parent? How do I know if I’m doing a good job as a parent? Here’s a little secret: a lot of the time you don’t. But over the years in pediatric practice I have become convinced that a good parent is a parent who is engaged with their child as a loving leader. And sometimes leaders decide which rules to follow, and which rules to break.
What defines a good parent? How do I know if I’m doing a good job as a parent? Here’s a little secret: a lot of the time you don’t. But over the years in pediatric practice I have become convinced that a good parent is a parent who is engaged with their child as a loving leader. Sometimes leaders decide which rules to follow, and which rules to break.
Doing the Wrong Thing to Get Our Parenting Right
