Being Neighborly
Keeping your child safe, (also the name of a seminar I offer), is every parent’s top priority. And each time the internet explodes with news of another abuse to a child, parents are shaken to the core....
View ArticleKnowing Your Child
It isn’t usually until the fall that I begin to hear chatter about parents wanting their kids to find their passion, who are eager to enroll their kids in specialized, extra curricular classes. I...
View Article“I Don’t Want To Go To School!”
Now that the school year has begun, it won’t be long before one morning you’ll awaken to the declaration, “I don’t want to go to school.” It’s a cry, actually more of a plea, which every parent is...
View ArticleAll Kinds of Feelings: A Child’s Emotional Literacy
In the video, Emotional Baby is Moved to Tears by Mom’s Singing,...
View ArticleGrandparents and Gift Giving: An Unspoken December Dilemma
There is a dilemma that accompanies the winter holiday season that is rarely discussed out loud. It certainly is a topic that is dominating my parenting groups this month. That is, how do parents deal...
View Article5 Tips for Powering Up Your Parenting in the New Year
As the big hand creeps its way toward midnight, most people give at least a fleeting thought to New Year resolutions. Those usually have to do with eating or exercise or a nagging behavior ripe for...
View ArticleEmpathy is a Two Way Street
Cultivating empathy is a hot topic in the parenting world. Current research has demonstrated that children under a year not only have the capacity for empathy but actually exhibit empathy. (Regarding...
View ArticleThe Problem with “It’s Not Fair.”
“It’s not fair!” Can’t you just hear the whiney tone that delivers that exclamation? I’ve yet to meet a parent whose child hasn’t at some point or other protested “That’s not faaaiiiiiirrrr?”...
View ArticleThe After-Burn of Starting School
Summer time, and the livin’ is [was] easy, as the song goes. And there it went! There can be a whole lot more to starting school than starting school. Whether a child is beginning preschool, third...
View ArticleBack-to-School Blues
“I’m a wreck!” was the reply from my client, mother of two elementary school age kids, when I asked her how things were going. Her children had started back to school the week before. And, truth be...
View ArticleIt’s Just A Sip
(First published in 2010) The journey of raising a teen is fraught with challenges. Not only is his natural development tricky, but a teen’s world is filled with societal influences of all kinds,...
View ArticleUnplugging
Mindfulness is the rage in Los Angeles. Mindful eating, mindful interactions, mindful relationships, mindful communication, mindful parenting. There is mindfulness for kids: Teaching kids to become...
View ArticleBeyond the Birds and the Bees
It is always with great relief that moms and dads report back that explaining the birds and the bees to their elementary school age child wasn’t that bad. And despite their six year old’s exclamation...
View ArticleKeeping Your Kids’ Brains Active in the Summer
When kids think about summer vacation, it’s all about no school, no homework, no have-to’s, and these days, lots of tech time, When parents think about summer it’s often, “What can I do to keep their...
View ArticleGet Ready for the New School Year!
It’s mid-August… that means summer vacation is creeping to an end, depending upon your child’s first day of school. For some it even starts next week. Summer time and the livin’ was easy! Just thinking...
View ArticleTalking to Your Child About the Paris Attacks
Sadly and not surprisingly, I have received a rash of emails from parents wondering how to explain to their children the heinous, violent terrorism that happened in Paris. These were parents of...
View ArticleTalking to Your Children About the LASUSD School Closure
Boy, do I ever dislike having to write this, the safety threat which caused the Los Angeles Unified School District wide school closure today, December 15, 2015 But to help you and all our children,...
View ArticleNo More Tattling!
In case you didn’t know, tattling should be illegal in your family. Many parents don’t realize that. When parents come to me for help with their kids’ fighting, I always ask is if their kids are...
View ArticlePoliticians Behaving Badly: Talking to Kids About the Election
Kids of all ages are getting a whiff of election politics at its worst. It’s unavoidable. I’ll bet you think I am going to say, “Shelter them! Turn off the radio, TV, computer.” Not this time. This...
View ArticleDo As I Do, Not As I Say!
“I’m going to punish you” admonished the 4 year old “mommy” to her 4 year old “daughter,” both children at play in the “Housekeeping Center” of their preschool classroom. That is my favorite place to...
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