Pledge to be a Better Parent

While having breakfast with friends at a restaurant one Saturday morning, I noticed a thirty-something father sharing a meal with his son, about three years old. As he waited for his food, the boy became restless and moved around on his side of the booth. Then he slid under the table and sat on the floor. This action seemed to embarrass his father who kept demanding, "Get up. Don't do that. Get up now." When the boy didn't respond to these orders, the father started kicking him to urge him to come out from under the table. The father's large foot struck his son squarely at the base of the spine with considerable force.

Teaching With the Masters

Two-year-old Junie sticks both fingers in her ears and closes her eyes. Then she makes noises with her tongue. Devon, a three-year-old, steps into a puddle and watches mud ooze over his white tennis shoes. Then he jumps. Mud splashes onto his clothes and face. Immature? Yes. However, as these children explore their world they soak up information at an unbelievable rate. Did you know that a child's brain has two times the neural circuits of an adult's brain? Junie discovers new sounds with her experiment, and Devon learns how mud feels, moves, and changes the color of surfaces. This is exploration. This is creative learning.

A Fathers New Year

It is a time in our history when it’s increasingly difficult to feel optimistic about the state of the world. And it’s a time of the year when we are flooded by the memories of the years past, and by the hope of a better year to come.

There is no better time than now to reflect on our life. And there is no better time to examine the state of our important relationships.

For when all of us turn around someday and look back at our lives, we will treasure most the memories and bonds we have with our loved ones. As Mencius stated, those who don’t lose their child’s heart have achieved one of life’s greatest callings, that of bonding with their children.

Homeopathic Remedies

Q: Is there a home remedy for coughs so I can avoid the chemicals and alcohol found in over-the-counter cough syrups?

A: Here are two of my favorites (excerpted from my book, Gentle Healing for Baby and Child...A Parent's Guide (Simon & Schuster). The first is prepared and consumed right away, while the second may be prepared and stored in your refrigerator all winter long!

Bedtime Resistance Remedy

If you haven't been frazzled by a preschooler who resists going to bed, you're probably not a parent. My younger daughter, Laura, was the Queen of Stall. I defined bedtime as being in bed - with both legs - and lights out. Laura defined it as time to begin getting ready for going to bed. And while getting ready she'd suddenly get an attack of janitoritis and clean her room, neatly fold clothes that had lain under the bed for days, or organize her stuffed animals. Once in bed, she'd jump up with, "I want a drink," or "I forgot to brush my teeth," or the most famous, "I got a kingernail," (fingernail) which one of us would have to clip before she could relax into slumber. My husband or I would holler, "Go to bed!" a dozen times every night.

When Breastfeeding Babies Go on Strike

He lay on my belly, wet and squirming. My just-born baby snorted and lay quietly. Then he started to scoot up my belly. His mouth was open and his head bobbed back and forth. He was not thinking, he was doing. My baby was looking for my breast. For the first time in his life, he was hungry.

I had never nursed before and neither had he. It is a natural process but most of us need a little help the first time. With a healthy, alert baby and a motivated mom, breastfeeding is usually very successful. But what do you do if your baby decides to stop nursing? What if your baby goes on strike?

Coaching Families Through New Year’s Loneliness

In the New Year, many celebrate new beginnings or a new resolve for self-improvement. For others, it is a time of loneliness, sadness, and grief.  The overwhelming feeling of loneliness is not just about adults, children experience it also.

A friend of mine who has adopted four children told me how difficult this time of the year is for her four adopted children.  Their minds wander to their biological parents, and why they gave them up for adoption.