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 »
July 2nd, 2008 by admin
©Lisa Barker
I’m waiting for one of the kids to ask me what reptile dysfunction is. There’s no escaping the ads on television. I imagine how the talk will go so that I’m prepared:
“What er-reptile dysfunction, Momma?” Read the rest of this entry »
June 6th, 2008 by admin
©Lisa Barker
My youngest has been playing school with his older siblings and now he feels ready to start kindergarten.
“Whoa! You need to be five first.”
“But I’m ten.”
“Not quite.”
He recites his ABCs and counts to 100. He spells his first name and sometimes his last name. He likes rhyming and opposites. When I cook dinner and he plays school with me, I better do it right. Read the rest of this entry »
May 4th, 2008 by admin
The Great And Naked Houdini & His Assistant
© Lisa Barker
I followed the trail of clothing down the hall. Somehow, my one-year old son had freed himself from these repressive articles.
There were the pink jammy bottoms (hey, he’s MY son and he’s secure in his masculinity so he can endure this hand-me-down), then the t-shirt…and the diaper?
Nope. Hadn’t gotten to that yet. Read the rest of this entry »
March 31st, 2008 by admin
Not The Birds And Bees!
©Lisa Barker
My son was fidgeting and pulling at the fly of his pants. He’s four-years old and, although he’s potty trained, I don’t want to take any chances.
“Do you have to go to the bathroom?”
“No, I’m just playing with my pieces.”
“That’s not your ‘pieces’ that’s your (insert proper name of body part that may not be suitable for a family newspaper).” Read the rest of this entry »
