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 20th, 2007 by admin

My childhood should have taught me lessons for my own parenthood, but it didn’t because parenting can be learned only by people who have no children. ~Bill Cosby~

Don’t try to make children grow up to be like you, or they may do it. ~Russell Baker~

I’ve noticed that one thing about parents is that no matter what stage your child is in, the parents who have older children always tell you the next stage is worse. ~Dave Barry~

July 7th, 2007 by admin

Parenthood – A Seven-Act Play

by Dr. Noel Swanson

 Act 1: The Exhilarating Thought

The first stage of parenthood begins when the desire for having a baby is born in the heart of one or both the parents. In most cases, it is the woman whose maternal instinct begins to assert itself. Women don’t feel complete until they become mothers. So, when the biological clock starts ticking, you decide to take the step of ‘making babies.’ Read the rest of this entry »