June 23rd, 2011 by admin
Children and Mistakesby Alina Tugend,
Author of Better By Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong
It’s crucial that we, as parents, allow our children to make mistakes and fail and figure out how to recover from them. We can’t rush in and fix every problem, whether it be forgotten homework, an awkward social encounter or not getting a part in the school play.
We know from research that building children’s self-esteem and self-worth is much less about praise and gold stars and trophies for everyone and much more about creating resilience. Children who know how to screw up and fail and try again.
“While we do not want our children to face ongoing failure, to attempt to overprotect them and rush in whenever we fear they might fail at a task robs them of an important lesson, namely that mistakes are experiences from which to learn,” writes Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein in their book Nurturing Resilience in Our Children. “It also communicates another subtle or perhaps not-so-subtle message to a child: We don’t think you are strong enough to deal with obstacles and mistakes.” Read the rest of this entry »
January 25th, 2010 by admin
by Annye Rothenberg, Ph.D., Child/Parent Psychologist
As parents, we want our children to be accustomed to healthy eating from the earliest possible age so good nutrition will be a lifelong habit.
Young children are ready to begin to learn about nutrition (“healthy food” vs. “treat food”) and about food plans (why meals need to include each food group). These nutrition lessons will need to be repeated many times, in more detail, as your children get older and want to understand more about why. Read the rest of this entry »
August 10th, 2009 by admin
By Caroline Taggart,
Author of I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School
Back to school can be stressful for kids and parents alike, so here are Ten Helpful Hints for busy moms (and dads). The aim is to make the whole thing a bit more fun and perhaps teach the kids something at the same time. Some of this program needs to run through the vacation, so set a good example — don’t leave everything till the night before school starts! Read the rest of this entry »
May 8th, 2009 by admin
By Michael DeJong,
Author of Clean Body:The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself
“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.”
–Phyllis Diller
Don’t blow your nose. Just use your sleeve.”
“Is that shirt dirty? Ehhh . . . whatever.”
“Yeah, I ditched school too.”
“Sure . . . lets keep the dog.”
“Curfew — Schmurfew.”
. . . not exactly what you’d expect mothers to say. But if they did — the world wouldn’t be nearly the same place. Read the rest of this entry »
April 20th, 2009 by admin
The first six weeks are all about rest and recovery for both you and your baby. Your job is to feed yourself and your newborn and to allow both of you to get to know each other’s rhythms. The key words are “rest” and “more rest.” Enjoy this special time when you can shut out the world and get to know your new family member. Read the rest of this entry »
