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Strollerderby
Would you spank this child?
Do you ever really want to spank your kids? Whether you do or not, the impulse to simply smack the little angels can be strong sometimes.
Of course, no responsible parent hits a child in anger. Even parents who use spanking as a discipline tool are clear that the parent doing the spanking needs to be calm and collected when doling out the punishment.
But as essayist Krista Pfeiffer says in her essay for Babble, sometimes the temptation to spank a child can be extremely strong. Spanking seems like such a quick, simple way out of some gnarly discipline problems.
Do you text with your kids?
It is really no secret that Sarah Palin is all over the news, as well as your television no matter how many people want her to drop off the face of the earth, or simply out of the media eye.
Recently the heat has been turned up incredibly with the release of her latest book, and her reality television show featured on TLC. As anyone with common sense knows, reality television shows do not always accurately depict a person, or what takes place in their everyday lives. But as such a high profile person, I am sure Palin had heavy involvement in the editing of her show.
That all being said, the Huffington post took some shots at her parenting skills this week. Essentially blaming the mama grizzly for the shortcomings of her children, especially daughter and nationally known teen mother Bristol.
Joan E. Dowling of the Huffington Post takes a couple digs at Palin’s parenting skills, or lack there of in her recent article called Assessing Palin’s Parenting Skills. The biggest issue that I could see after reading the article, as well as watching her reality television show was the methods of parenting and discipline, and the way her children react to her requests, and rules. Or should I say, don’t react at all. Continue reading »
Just who is in charge, here?
Who calls the shots in your family, the parents or the kids? Do they get to decide on small things, like what to have for dinner or where to go out to eat? What about lifestyle decisions, or things that impact their health, such as what they eat and when they go to bed? Do your kids get to give their input on expensive things, like vacations or, in the case of Wall Street Journal contributor Jeff P. Opdyke what kind of braces the two of them should get?
It’s an interesting question for this generation of parents. Many of us remember wishing we could give our input on various family decisions big and small. And in this age of wanting children to share their feelings and be open with us, it would be counter-productive to pick and choose when they get to express their opinions, right? Continue reading »
Yesterday I was with a group of mom friends–all 7 of us have 2-year-olds, and we routinely pack into one person’s living room. A skirmish broke out over a Buzz Lightyear (which my son calls “helicopter man”). He didn’t want to share it and, with his little buddy closing in on him, he threw it into a “safe zone” on my lap. Next came yelling, some very sad faces, and us parents trying to prompt our kids to say the right things.
My expectations were so unrealistic. We think our kids should share their toys–the objects they’re enamored with in that moment–but why would they want to do that? It’s like if I came up to you and said, “okay, you can play with that iPad for two minutes. Then it’s my turn.”
The topic of this week’s Science of Kids column is conflict resolution–tips for how to handle it, and what to say when things heat up between kids. As they grow, the conflicts get more emotional and touchy. The older our children get, the more thinking and problem solving we have to do. The thing is, I don’t believe the goal is for our kids to just be the nice guy.
It used to be that when a kid acted up or got into trouble, grounding was the discipline of choice. This usually involved being forced to stay home and miss out on social activities for a certain period of time. Denying a kid the social interaction he craves is a time-tested method of discipline that is as effective today as it was when our own parents were children.
Or is it? In this day of cell phones and Internet, forcing a kid to stay home does very little to limit his social interaction. Sure, being under house arrest isn’t exactly fun. But for a teen with a cell phone and Internet connection, the pain of being forced to stay home and “think about what you’ve done” is lessened by the ability to digitally connect with friends. Continue reading »
Remember the dad who, after learning his son was doing drugs, punished him by forcing him to wear a large sign reading “I abused & sold drugs” while standing in front of his middle school? Or the parents of a 14-year-old boy who made their son wear a sign declaring himself a shoplifter and a follower after he stole headphones from a department store despite having the money to pay for them?
I’ve always wondered how that worked out for them. Do kids really learn a valuable lesson from this type of punishment? Or does such public humiliation just make them angry and even more rebellious? There’s a dad in Texas who is about to find out. Continue reading »
Toddlers are amoral, antisocial monsters. You know it. I know it. Every parent on the playground knows it.
That doesn’t stop the feeling of crushing shame when your little angel tromps through another kid’s masterpiece sand castle, grabs his shovel and beans him on the head with it. It’s even worse when the victim’s parent gives you The Look.
You know that look. The one that says, “This is all your fault. What kind of parent are you? I’m sure I’ll be seeing your mug shot on the evening news any day now, you delinquent.”
McSweeney’s has a hilarious take on how to navigate these moments in their current issue, with an essay titled, “Our Daughter Isn’t a Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn’t Read Atlas Shrugged.”
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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