Whether you have kids or don’t, you've likely seen a child throw a fit in a checkout line at a grocery or heard the wails and cries coming from the toy aisle. What happened? Some kid didn’t get what he or she wanted and resorted to a full-out assault on his or her parents complete with tears, screaming or my personal favorite—the wet noodle collapsed on the floor. Or, maybe your kid just likes to throw the temper tantrums at home. I still remember going absolutely nuts on my mom when she wouldn’t let me wear my favorite pair of pink jeans because they were in the dirty laundry. And, no, that …
If you or your child has played any kind of sport or other activity, then you know just how much of a commitment that can be. Whether it’s football or forensics, the schedule can be grueling for everyone, but especially kids themselves, who can often reach the point of exhaustion or frustration and proclaim “I hate soccer! I want to quit!” As parents, I think we should try to teach our kids about commitment and follow through, to finish something you start. But when should you consider allowing a child to quit? Sometimes it’s best to push a child to keep going, while other times walking away …
Nearly every night, I fall into bed exhausted yet unsatisfied, feeling I have neglected some aspect of my life in some way. Ignored a looming deadline for a day care issue, cut back on time with the kids for work or, without fail, neglected the ever-growing laundry pile at the bottom of the basement stairs. And then there’s the house. Oh, the house. Forgotten cat puke curing in the dining room corner, a thin layer of grim collecting behind the flour and sugar canisters and bits of Goldfish crackers growing hair under the couch. There’s never enough time, and I feel more like a super-mess than…
Every time I hear it, I cringe, and my heart sinks and skips a beat. “Don’t be such a retard.” “That’s so retarded.” The “R-word.” My friends and I said it all the time growing up, and it slipped out of my mouth from time to time as an adult. Never gave it a second thought. Then, two years ago, my son Miles was born. We didn’t know before Miles was born that he had Down syndrome. The ultrasounds all came back negative, and I was only 32. Not terribly old. Certainly not someone who would have a child with special needs. That was something that happened to other people. But the minute I saw …
My daughter, Nora, is only 5. But lately, I feel like I’m parenting a 15-year-old. Things like “No, I don’t want to, you do it,” “You can’t make me” and even “Mom, stop talking and just leave me ALONE!” are coming out of her mouth, and she’s stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door more than a few times after having it out over what she’s wearing or eating. I thought I still had a few more years of snuggling and reading books in bed, painting each other’s nails and gardening together. So what gives? The fact that I’m a single parent made this even harder for me. Am I not doing …
Just when I thought girls clothes couldn’t get any worse, J.C. Penney unveiled this ditty in the past week. A long-sleeved white shirt, sold in sizes 7-16, that declared in bold, multi-colored letters “I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me.” The irony? It was grouped online with shirts by the brand Self Esteem. Yes, really. The shirt was on sale for $9.99 (down from the original $16.99) so I’m hoping maybe parents were smart enough not to buy into this demeaning message that associates being intelligent with being a boy and being pretty with being a girl. Complaints…
By now, most parents are familiar with Anchorage resident Jessica Beagley, aka “hot sauce mom.” The 36-year-old mother of six was found guilty Aug. 23 of misdemeanor child abuse after the “Dr. Phil” show aired a video of her punishing her 7-year-old adopted son for lying by putting hot sauce in his mouth and forcing him into a cold shower. Outraged parents flooded the Anchorage Police Department with calls after the clip aired last October, and the case sparked heated discussions on parenting blogs and message boards. Was this child abuse? Or an acceptable discipline tool blown out of …
I’m sure many of us have fond memories of dinner (or supper) time growing up. Living on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, mealtimes in my family were always three things -- big (and full of meat and potatoes), home-cooked and always, ALWAYS eaten at the dinner table. No exceptions. Mealtime served two purposes -- to ready and replenish ourselves for a full day of hard work but, more importantly, to share and reconnect as a family. Talk about our day at school or what went wrong on the farm, which calves needed to be moved or dehorned and what was going on at church or in 4-H that week. These days, …
As a 2-year-old, my son Miles is impulsive and is easily frustrated when he can’t do something or express what he wants or needs. This is compounded by the fact that Miles has Down syndrome, meaning he’s delayed in his speech and gross motor skills and will be even older before he can tell me what he’s pointing at or whether he wants more milk or water. Lately, he’s been hitting and pinching us (and other kids) when he gets mad or frustrated. I was mortified when he hauled off and slugged another little boy as I picked him up from day care, running over and grabbing his hands and saying “…
It’s natural for children to have fears about starting school -- especially that first year of kindergarten. My 5-year-old daughter, Nora, talks a good game (“I love school,” “I’m so excited”) but tearfully admitted the other night she’s scared she won’t like her new school next month and will miss her pre-K teacher and day care friends. In her words, “What if I don’t have any new friends?” It took me a bit by surprise. She’s definitely prepared academically for school, scoring off the charts in reading and vocab skills, but I hadn’t thought much about the social aspect. She’s been in day …
