Parenting Journals

Category: Parenting

  • 6 Tips to Keep Your Kids Safe and Healthy This Winter

    6 Tips to Keep Your Kids Safe and Healthy This Winter

    By Jamell Andrews I know it’s early in the summer season but when winter brings with it the allure of freshly fallen snow and all kinds of fun cold-weather activities that children love. Unfortunately, it can also be a time of viruses and bacteria that lead to colds and flu. Use these tips to help […]

  • Sticker Shock for Those Considering Starting or Expanding Their Family

    By Lisa Pecos If you’re considering starting a family, chances are that you’ve given some thought to the extra expense that having a child will add to your responsibilities, but exactly how much it costs may surprise you. A report just released last week is giving wannabe parents a bad case of sticker shock, reporting […]

  • Opioid Overdoses Triple Among Kids & Teens – How to Protect Your Kids

    By Lisa Pecos The Journal of the American Medical Associating (JAMA) Pediatrics recently published an alarming report stating that the number of young children and teens hospitalized in the U.S. for opioid overdose has almost tripled in recent years.

  • 6 Fun Fall Activities for Families

    By Jamell Andrews Summer may be coming to an end, but that doesn’t have to mean making life all about school and work. The season of falling leaves and all things pumpkin-spice offers a whole slew of fun, family-friendly activities to enjoy. Here are 6 fun things to do as a family this fall.

  • Program to Prevent Teen Pregnancy with Virtual Babies Backfires

    By Lisa Pecos It may seem like something out of an 80s sitcom, but giving teen girls lifelike baby dolls to care for as a way to dissuade them from getting pregnant is something that has been going on for years. A recent study out of Australia, however, has found that this may actually have […]

  • Report Finds Medicine is Over-Prescribed for Young Children with ADHD

    By Jamell Andrews Though behavior therapy is the recommended first line of treatment for young children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a report has found that more children are being treated with medication instead.

  • How Much Stress is Too Much: Signs Moms Should Look Out for

    Stress is one of those things that just happens – especially when you’re responsible for the lives of others. Stress is inevitably your body’s natural way of reacting to thoughts or activities in your life that can often make you feel overwhelmed. Your body goes into a “flight or fight” mode which releases stress hormones […]

  • How to Get the Most Out of Family Time

    By Jamell Andrews Between school and work, extracurricular activities, and household chores, it’s easy to see why family time is at a premium these days. If you, like may parent’s, are finding that you don’t have nearly as much time to spend together as a family as you’d like, then these tips can help you […]

  • Dads: Your Long Commute Could Have a Negative Effect on Your Kids

    By Lisa Pecos We all know that the commute to work can be stressful and the longer the commute, the more of a pain it is. Past studies have looked into the impact that long commutes have on your health and have found that those with longer commutes are more likely to be overweight, have […]

  • 7 Tips for Being a Better Stepparent

    By Jamell Andrews With the rate of failed marriages increasing, more and more people are becoming step-parents. Stepping into the role of parent for a child that already has a mother and father isn’t always easy. Even with the challenges you may face, being a stepparent can be rewarding and you can form a strong […]

  • Helicopter Parenting – Are You Guilty of It?

    By Jamell Andrews It’s hard to imagine that a parent could take too much interest or responsibility for their child or give them too much attention. Isn’t that a parent’s job and right as the person responsible for bringing them into this world and loves them more than anything? It turns out that you could […]

  • How Good-Cop, Bad-Cop Parenting Can Harm Children

    By Eirian Hallinan Anyone who has grown up in a household with two parents knows that one parent tends to be easier than the other when it comes to getting their way. This is usually the result of one parent being more comfortable as the disciplinarian than the other. While this can create a nice […]

  • Puberty Woes or PCOS: Know the Signs

    By Jamell Andrews As a parent of an adolescent daughter, it’s easy to brush off acne and irregular periods as normal parts of puberty. While missed or heavy periods and acne are certainly common at this stage of a girl’s life, they can also be signs of a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

  • 5 Tips for Talking to Your Teen Driver about Drinking and Driving

    It is a well-known fact that drinking and driving is the number one killer of teenagers in the nation. Cell phone usage while driving is running a close second, but drinking and driving is still the number one cause. It is very important that you talk to your teenager about the dangers of drinking when […]

  • Unusual Causes for Asthma Attacks

    Odd Things that May Trigger Asthma Attacks Asthma is an ongoing breathing disorder characterized by difficulty breathing, coughing and sometimes wheezing. About half of all asthma attacks are produced by various allergens, which irritate and inflame the airways; the rest can be caused by factors that have nothing to do with allergies, but which still […]

  • Drinking in Movies and Teenage Drinking

    Teenagers Who Watch Actors Drinking Alcohol in Movies More Likely to Drink Themselves A study published earlier this year in the journal Pediatrics found that young European teens who watched more scenes of actors drinking in Hollywood movies were more likely to binge-drink and otherwise abuse alcohol. Researchers gave questionnaires to more than 5,000 15-year-olds […]

  • Natural Children’s Allergy Prevention

    Natural Ways to Prevent Your Child’s Allergies Part 1 of 2 Spring is upon us. Flowers — and allergies — are in full bloom. Are there natural steps that parents can take, to prevent or lessen children’s seasonal allergies? Yes, there are many.

  • Taking Short Breaks from Daily Parenting Duties Is Good

    Taking Mini-Breaks from Daily Parenting Duties Is Good for You, Will Recharge You We know that you are a loving, dedicated mom (or dad!), and there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the things you want to do for your family. But it is important to remember that taking a break from […]

  • Delaying School Start for Summer-Born and Premature Children

    Delaying Start of School for Summer-Born or Premature Children Lowers Academic Performance, Says Study; Some Parents Disagree Children who start school a year later due to summer birthdays or premature births may do worse academically later on, according to a British study published recently in the Journal of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology.

  • Hearing Damage from Loud Music

    Warn Your Children About Hearing Loss from New Music Players Many young children and teenagers got MP3 players as holiday gifts last month; doctors want to urge parents to caution their children not to play their music too loud, to avoid noise-induced hearing loss.

  • Most U.S. Teens Are Sleep-Deprived

    Almost All U.S. Teenagers Are Not Getting Enough Sleep, Says Study A full night’s sleep is one of the best things a teenager can do for his or her physical and emotional health, mental alertness and performance at school or sports. Yet, a new study found that more than 90 percent of American teenagers aren’t […]

  • 5 Ways to Keep Your Children Healthy — Naturally!

    It’s good to know that in our day and age, medical knowledge and the ability to obtain information have increased so vastly, compared to even just a few decades ago. But even now, prevention is a fundamentally important way to maintain our health and that of our children, so that we won’t need medical interventions […]

  • Better Solutions to Discipline Children than Screaming!

    Let’s face it, what parent hasn’t lost his or her cool in the face of a defiant child or children, and started screaming. If you never have, you’re in a small minority. Nearly all parents — close to 90 percent — have yelled at their kids at some point, according to a survey of almost […]

  • Deadly Enterovirus D68 Now in 47 States

    What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Children Nine American children died in recent weeks, who were infected in the 2014 enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) outbreak that has now spread to 47 states and the District of Columbia. So far, the viral strain has been detected in samples submitted for a total of nine children who […]

  • Use of Synthetic Growth Hormone by American Teens More than Doubled in a Year

    The Internet has made shopping for so many goods a lot easier and more practical. For parents, it is important to remember that teens may also avail themselves of the ease and convenience that shopping online affords. And unless parents educate and are vigilant over their teens, youths may be getting their hands on some […]

  • Do ADHD Drugs Increase Risk of Cardiac Disease in Children?

    Like other diseases and conditions in our modern world, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses in children have increased markedly, globally and in the United States, in recent years. More children and teens with ADHD are taking pharmaceutical drugs to treat this condition. Millions of American children are now being treated with these stimulant drugs, which improve […]

  • Many U.S. Kids Still Getting Too Much Daily Screen Time, Says CDC

    For years, doctors have been advising parents to limit the time their children spend daily watching television or on a computer — the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children get no more than two hours a day of non-school-related ‘screen time.’ But the message isn’t getting through to all families. The Centers for Disease […]

  • Parents Who Don’t Get Enough Sleep May Increase Their Children’s Risk for Obesity, Says Study

    A new study has found that parents who regularly don’t get enough sleep at night are more likely to have young children who, likewise, don’t sleep enough. Lost sleep in turn puts these youngsters (and the parents) at higher risk for being overweight or obese. The study, done by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, […]

  • Many Simple Steps Your Family Can Take to Help Save the Planet!

    Parents do well to teach their children the importance of doing what we each can, to help save our planet. The efforts of one person alone don’t amount to much, true; but when you add many, many people, and many families, we collectively surely can make a big difference. Below are many simple, easy things […]

  • Autism Rates Increasing Rapidly: CDC

    Autism rates in the United States rose by 30% between 2008 and 2010, and by 120% between 2000 and 2010, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One in 68 8-year-old children had been diagnosed with autism by 2010, up from 1 in 88 two years earlier, says the […]

  • Overweight Teens’ Life Expectancies Not Increasing?

    It’s common knowledge that people’s life expectancies in developed countries have increased in the last 50 years, as science has uncovered new ways to prevent, treat and cure illnesses. But a study has found that people who were obese or overweight as teenagers are not living longer than similar people did five-plus decades ago. The […]

  • Childhood Cancer Cases Continue to Rise in the United States

    Plus: 25 Things You Can Do to Help Prevent Cancer in Children Earlier this year, the American Cancer Society published its yearly report, “Cancer Facts & Figures.” For the first time, the report included a special section on statistics about the prevalence of childhood and adolescent cancers. The separate section may be indicative of the […]

  • Seven Ways to Encourage and Improve Your Child’s Academic Success

    So, you think you may have the next Einstein or medicine Nobel prize recipient in your home … or perhaps you simply want to ensure that you give your child the best chance to succeed in life by helping them get a great education. Whatever your motivation, many parents are interested in finding ways to […]

  • Eight Big, Free Gifts that Parents Can Give to Their Children

    If you hit bull’s eye and got your kids some fancy, expensive gifts for the holidays that they are still playing with some weeks later, kudos to you. But what if you got your kids presents that only held their interest for a couple of days? You probably feel like you wasted money. It turns […]

  • The Importance of Reducing Stress in Your Life During Pregnancy — and Some Ideas for Doing So

    In a perfect world, all women who become pregnant would have a relatively peaceful nine months, with plenty of leisure time to rest and to plan for the joyous arrival of their babies. But in the real world, adversity happens often. Sometimes, a woman is subjected to high stress levels during her pregnancy, whether the […]

  • To Get Your Child and Teenagers to Listen About Health Dangers, Try Using Positive Messages

    A new study found that when it comes to getting through to young people, you may be better off focusing on the positive, rather than using scare tactics. If you’re a parent, you may at times get frustrated by how hard it is to get your children to listen to you when you warn them […]

  • Is Playing Sports Good for a Child with ADHD?

    Yes, it is. Child experts agree that playing sports is a great way for children who suffer from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to build self-esteem, get exercise, enhance social skills and make friends. Playing sports helps boost a child’s self-confidence, something with which ADHD kids often struggle. Signing up your child for a sport offers the […]

  • Parents: The Best Way to Decrease Children’s TV Viewing — Is to Decrease Your Own!

    It’s no secret to any parent that children, especially younger ones, strive to be like their parents and do the same things that parents do. So, it may come as little surprise that a study published recently in the journal Pediatrics found that the best predictor of how much time a child spends watching television […]

  • Does Drinking Sodas Cause Problem Behavior and Aggression in Young Children?

    We’ve all heard the warnings: soda pop is bad for us. Many studies have linked moderate-to-heavy soda-drinking to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal cancers and other serious illnesses. Even light soda-drinking (defined as 2 or more sodas a week) was found in one study to be linked to pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest […]

  • Getting Your Child Off to a Good Start with a Good Breakfast!

    Before we knew it, summertime was over, and it was time for our kids to go back to school. We may no longer be able to fix elaborate breakfasts before the kids rush to school; but there are certainly plenty of breakfast choices that are healthy, tasty, and easy to prepare. We all know by […]

  • Things that a Parent Can Do to Boost a Child’s Self-Confidence

    Thinking positive and believing in oneself are much more than just feel-good concepts thrown around by psychologists looking to sell us books. Most people who achieve success in life on their own merit, at whatever goals they set for themselves, will tell you that believing in oneself, and not quitting in the face of defeat […]

  • Having “The Talk” with Your Child: Tips on Talking to Your Pre-Teen or Teenager About Sex

    If you feel uncomfortable even bringing up the subject of sex with your pre-teen or teenage son or daughter, you are not alone. More than one parent has elected to avoid having that talk altogether because they didn’t feel comfortable. However, given the potentially very serious and life-changing consequences of sex, it is a subject […]

  • Do Eyes Need to Be Protected from the Sun?

    We all know by now that it’s important to protect our skin from excessive Sun exposure, to avoid skin cancers that can be caused by the Sun’s ultraviolet rays. But besides our skin, other organs that need protection from the Sun are our eyes.

  • Prescription Drug Abuse by American Teens Up One-Third in Five Years

    Prescription drug abuse by teens appears to have increased by 33 percent in a scant five years, according to a survey launched in 2012 and published in 2013 by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, in conjunction with the MetLife Foundation. The survey interviewed 3,900 teenagers in grades 9-12, who attended public, private and parochial schools. Eight […]

  • What Are Good Foods to Eat for a Child Who Plays Sports?

    When it comes to food, the great thing about it is that we all have very similar nutritional needs: for the most part, what’s good for one person is good for everyone, and what’s bad for one person is bad for all. Some people, including a lot of the experts, would have us believe that […]

  • How to Talk to Young Children so They’ll Listen

    Getting a young child to give you his or her undivided attention while you talk to them is sometimes tricky, as any parent knows; but there are specific things that you can do to better your chances of being heard. Even with a very young child, a parent or caregiver should take steps to establish […]

  • Things to Think About when Signing Up Your Child to Play Sports

    The benefits of playing organized sports are well-established. They include giving children the opportunity to interact with peers and coaches to reach a common goal. This can help foster leadership skills as the child learns to get along with others and follow instructions, while working to improve their personal best. Team sports can also help […]

  • How to Talk to Teenagers so They’ll Listen

    The teenage years are a dreaded time for many parents, as teens begin to rebel and dismiss their parents’ good counsel, reaching out for approval from their peers instead. But there are things that you as a parent can do to strengthen the quality of your relationship with your teen, and thus make him or […]

  • If Your Child’s Pediatrician Asks Whether You Smoke Cigarettes, He Is Not Being Nosy!

    Compared to years past, today’s pediatricians are more apt to ask parents about their smoking habits. And while some parents might take offense to that, your child’s doctor is only trying to help keep your youngster healthy. In our modern day, American society has largely accepted that cigarette smoke poses some of the very same […]

  • Talking to Your Daughter about Her First Menstrual Period

    A lot of parents these days rely in small or in large part on schools to supply their children with information about the changes that happen to the body during puberty, and about sex. But it’s a very good idea to supplement the education that children may get in class — and even to  begin […]

  • Before You Give Your Child Stimulants for ADHD, Try Some Dietary Changes

    The American Psychiatric Association estimates that between 3 and 7 percent of American children suffer from attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, though some studies show even higher rates. ADHD diagnoses have increased by an astounding 66 percent since 2000. Many children now take prescription drugs, chiefly stimulants, to combat the symptoms of ADHD — hyperactivity, impulsivity, […]

  • 5 Ways to Know if Your Child is too Busy

    Today’s parenting culture is one of ambition and high expectation. In an age of increasing competition in all areas of the socioeconomic spectrum, we all want our kids not just to do well but to excel. In light of this, many parents forget to leave their children time for the simple things—playing outdoors, engaging in […]

  • Raise Kids Who are Smart about Money

    Most people are not born with a natural ability to make smart financial decisions. As a species we are not designed to think about the long-term consequences of our actions, and the allure of the short-term can be powerful. That is why

  • What to do With an Underachieving Child

    Getting a child to live up to his or her full potential is one of the most challenging things about being a parent. On one hand, we do not want our children to feel that we are putting undue pressure on them to do things they may not necessarily want to do. On the other, […]

  • Survival Tips for the Toddler Years

    If you are a new parent, most of what you have heard about the year or two immediately following infancy is probably negative. You hear about the terrible twos, temper tantrums, disobedient children who get into everything, and the like. But while there are certainly some gigantic challenges to raising a toddler, this period becomes […]

  • The 5 Keys to Being a Great Parent

    For anyone who has never raised a child, the idea of parenting might seem like a rather simple thing on a day-to-day basis. After all—how complicated can it be? Just try to be a good role model, attend to your child’s needs, and make sure your child learns the rules of acceptable behavior. But of […]

  • Keep Your Marriage Strong After Having Kids

    Many healthy, loving couples are not fully prepared for the challenges of having children. These challenges are difficult to foresee, and. almost no couple is immune to them. Even couples who have never been through a serious argument before having children can be tested by all the new tensions and pressures that come with bringing […]

  • The 5 Most Common Parenting Mistakes

    Parenting is a process of continuous learning and adjustment, and no parent makes it through unscathed. Many mistakes parents make are easily recognizable and can be fixed right away, while others are only visible with the benefit of hindsight. But while no parent can be perfect, it is possible to

  • Encouraging Independence in Your Young Child

    As much as we love our children, parents need to have lives of their own, and they cannot spend every waking hour supervising children. Of course, we do not begrudge infants and toddlers their need for constant attention, but growing children need to develop a sense of independence. Not only does it give parents

  • How Can I Help My Shy Toddler?

    Your child has her own unique personality. She may be shyer than some or more outgoing. The way you respond to her basic temperament greatly affects and influences her. Sensitive and encouraging parents can help a shy child and abusive parents can make an outgoing, lively child feel withdrawn and disconnected. To help a shy […]

  • Getting your teen to talk about his or her feelings

    Many 21st-century parents are very conscious of the importance of keeping the lines of communication open with their teens. This often comes at the expense of old-fashioned discipline and parent-child hierarchy, but for many parents the trade-off is worth it. In exchange for that old-fashioned stuff, you get a strong emotional connection with your child […]

  • Help! My Toddler Is Swearing!

    You may be stunned to hear your little angel say a swear word! Many parents experience these shocks at some point so do not fret! This often happens as children begin to explore language. It happens because they have heard someone else say it in frustration and they want to express the same emotion or […]

  • Sibling Rivalry: What’s Normal, and When to Get Involved

    Sibling relationships can be among the most complex in the world. With our siblings we share a special familiarity, plus lots of shared experiences that give rise to a unique understanding. With siblings, there are few secrets and very little mystery. Your siblings see you at your best and your worst, and they have known […]

  • What to Do About a Child’s Nightmares and Night Terrors

    Everyone, no matter how old, has nightmares from time to time. Some adults remember their dreams more clearly than others, but we all have at least a few memories of nights and mornings when we woke in sheer terror, then felt that sense of relief that comes from the realization that it was all just […]

  • I Want To Be A Good Grandparent!

    As a new grandparent you want to be the best you can be! Your new role is not as daunting as becoming a first time parent but many things have undoubtedly changed since your own children were little. With so many more mothers returning to work childcare is required more often and many grandparents find […]

  • Help! My Child Is So LAZY!

    As a parent of a seemingly lazy child you may feel very frustrated with attempts to motivate him. Some parents are baffled by their children being so different in their levels of activity. Children are different and some are inherently more active than others but few are naturally lazy. Often a child’s energy is being […]

  • Alcohol and Your Teenager

    Alcohol is considered socially acceptable as long as it is drunk moderately but it can cause mixed messages being communicated to our young people. We tell our children drinking is bad for them but they then see us consuming alcohol and sometimes too much at social occasions. What do you do if you discover your […]

  • Children’s Growing Pains: What Can Parents Do?

    That kids experience growing pains is no myth. At times of growth (and kids do grow at uneven rates), to feel actual pain in the bones, muscles, and joints is quite common. Its prevalence is difficult to measure, but it is believed that as many as half of all children experience growing pains regularly. As […]

  • Parenting Tactics That Damage Your Child’s Self Esteem

    Be aware that even though you feel you are doing your very best raising your child, sometimes your parenting strategies can be damaging to your child’s self-esteem and the parent-child relationship. Your child needs to grow up with a healthy level of self-esteem to be more resilient to the lessons learnt and the knocks taken […]

  • Does My Child Have OCD?

    Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder and is characterised by repetitive and unwanted thoughts. These obsessions create actions made by the sufferer as they try to eradicate the anxious thoughts which are compulsions. OCD cases vary from mild to severe and manifest in different ways. With children suffering from OCD their obsessive thoughts can […]

  • Sibling Rivalry: What Can Parents Do?

    Sibling rivalry can take many forms over the years. When the second child is first born, it can take the form of acting out, regression, and fussiness on the part of the older child. And as the kids grow up, it can turn into arguing, physical fighting, and deep feelings of jealousy and resentment. Most […]

  • Amber Alerts – What to Do in Case Your Child Goes Missing

    It is one of every parent’s worse nightmares. You take your eye off your child for a minute only to find her gone when you turn around. Or one day he does not get home from school at the normal time. Or she goes outside to play and does not come back in. Scenarios like […]

  • How to Raise a Musical Child

    When it comes to educating children, a lot of focus is placed on practical skills like reading and math, which are undoubtedly important. But we should raise our children to be well-rounded individuals, and this involves teaching them forms of creative self-expression. While different kids have different talents-some are good at drawing, some can dance […]

  • Developing Your Child’s Handwriting Skills

    By Lisa Pecos With the rise of computers and electronic gadgets as tools for all types of school-related activities, kids spend far less time writing by hand than they used to. As a result, many people fear that the ancient art of handwriting is bound to become a thing of the past. While this is […]

  • Should Kids Get Their Own Cell Phones?

    By Marc Courtiol Although it may sometimes be hard to imagine life without cellphones, most grownups can recall a time when we were not all in constant touch with one another, and when every household shared a single stationary phone. And because most of today’s parents grew up in that world, many have a somewhat […]

  • Welcoming a Second Child: How to Handle the Change

    By Lisa Pecos Having a first child is one of the most difficult things you will ever have to do. From the middle stages of pregnancy until those blessed later months of the first year when the baby gets less fussy and more predictable, you are put through a series of challenges that test every […]

  • Helping Your Teen Learn to Drive Safely

    By Jamell Andrews Because driving is such a routine thing for so many adults, we tend to forget what a serious act it is to get behind the wheel. A car is a massive, potentially dangerous piece of machinery, and operating one comes with a world of adult responsibilities. So it is hard for many […]

  • Leaving Your Child Home Alone

    By Lisa Pecos In the early years of a child’s life, parents are forced to do whatever they have to do to make sure the child is supervised at all times. But once the child reaches a certain age, the issue starts to become fuzzier. Most well-behaved kids reach a point-generally in their preteens or […]

  • The Negative Effects of the Media on Teens

    By Lisa Pecos Today’s kids plug into media at an earlier age than their predecessors, and the amount of media they consume is staggering compared to the habits of past generations. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average child between the age of eight and 18 consumes media for seven […]

  • Hosting a Princess Tea Party

    By Chris Molnar Oh the princess tea party — it’s practically a rite of passage for little girls everywhere. At some point your daughter will embrace this phase and celebrate it for all the dainty beauty that it is. This makes for the perfect theme of a party and your little princess can truly celebrate.

  • What to Do About a Shy Child

    By Jamell Andrews Most children experience some degree of shyness in certain social situations. For example, some young kids are naturally afraid of grownup strangers, and some are shy around kids of the opposite sex. For others, the problem can be more general; they may seem to lag behind their peers in social development, and […]

  • Setting and Enforcing Kids’ Bedtime

    By Jamell Andrews For parents, getting kids to go to bed at certain times is one of those ongoing struggles that over the years can reach epic proportions. Kids have a powerful, seemingly inborn desire to guide their own sleeping patterns, and for parents there is just no easy way to subvert this force. Granted, […]

  • Spread Your Wings and Fly…

    In the early evening I would sit outside under the tree near our house and watch the birds. One day I saw a Blue Jay come and chase the other birds away if they got to close. I noticed that every time she did that, 2 little Blue Jays would fly up and eat the […]

  • It’s OK to be Different

    Our son Michael was potty trained at nine months and spoke in sentences at 12 months old. At age two, he would listen to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite over and over. When a friend gave my husband and I tickets to see the Nutcracker one holiday season, I cringed! Mike did stand up comedy at the […]

  • 10 Tasks New Parents Should Master

    Even if you have read all the books and been to all the classes, you cannot know exactly what it is like to be a parent until it actually happens. Every new parent encounters surprises and unexpected challenges. And while most of these challenges are easily overcome, they are quite serious given the fact that […]

  • How to Encourage Kids to Love Reading

    With the rise of television, video games, and now the internet and digital devices, many are worried that the old habit of sitting down and reading a good book is on its way out with the coming generation. But while the act of reading is certainly undergoing change, reading is still a fundamental component of […]

  • A Parents’ Guide to Childhood Stress

    We like to think that a child’s world is all lightness and fun, but there are dark sides to the childhood experience. Especially in this age of increased expectations, rigorous study, and intense competition for educational opportunities, kids are increasingly dealing with stress in addition to all the traditional sources of bad feelings in children. […]

  • 8 Tips for Teaching Your Kids Good Manners

    After a generations-long decline in the emphasis on manners when raising children, many 21st-century parents are rediscovering the importance of instilling values of politeness and decorum in their kids. Children who have good manners are better behaved in general, but they also tend to go far in the world because they know how to ingratiate […]

  • Are You a Helicopter Parent?

    Over the past several years, the phrase “helicopter parenting” has emerged in the media as a term for parenting styles that involve excessive intervention, attention, and guidance on the part of parents toward their children. The term is metaphorical; the parent is a helicopter constantly hovering over the child. It is often used pejoratively, and […]

  • What to Do With a Child Who Whines

    Pre-verbal children use crying to get what they need. After learning to talk, many children have trouble breaking this habit. In fact, some develop a rather complex system of sounds and gestures that sometimes includes crying, sometimes pouting, sometimes tantrums, and sometimes a loud, whiny voice. For parents, as much as we love our children, […]

  • Techniques – When Potty Training Clashes With Your Vacation!

    There are some simple preparations that you can make in advance before embarking on a trip away with your toddler in the midst of his potty training.

  • What to Do if Your Child Stutters

    Stutters or Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder most commonly affecting children between the ages of 2 and 5, though it appears in people of all ages. There are many forms of stuttering, which itself is only one of a variety of similar speech disorders. It usually involves the involuntary repetition of […]

  • How To Keep The Internet Safe For Your Kids And Home

    By Liz Krause When it comes to the internet, gone are the days when parents know more than the kids – or so it seems. The fact of the matter is, although a child may know how to use the internet faster and quicker, it is the parents’ responsibility to protect them from the dark […]

  • Encouraging Your Toddlers Caring Side

    You probably find that little toddlers can be very kind and sweet but this is not always the case. How do you encourage their sympathetic side?

  • How To Cope With Sibling Jealousy

    Sibling jealousy is incredibly common. To the older child it can be an overwhelming and confusing feeling when confronted with a young sibling and parents need to be patient and understanding.

  • Developing Your Child’s Important Motor Skills

    Many parents do not realise how important the development of their child’s fine and gross motor skills are in terms of their academic and physical performances. There are lots of games and activities which parents can do with their children to enhance their motor skills.

  • Summer Problems Caused By Nature

    The sun is shining, the days are longer and you have waved goodbye to coughs and colds but summer brings its own little irritations. Here are some tips to help.

  • A Look at ADHD

    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. The parts affected control concentration, attention and impulsivity.

  • First Day of School

    To overcome the fear of the first day at nursery, playgroup or school is a big step for your child. Talking to your child about it can help them prepare and alleviate some of their fears. They will naturally be anxious of the unknown so explain and describe where they will be going and for […]

  • Understanding Asthma in Children

    Asthma affects the small tubes (airways) that carry air in and out of the lungs, also known as the bronchi. The airways of the lungs are more sensitive in children with asthma. Something that irritates your child’s lungs is a called a trigger. Triggers cause the airways to narrow, inflame the lining of the airways […]