Being the big kid
My youngest sometimes feels a little left out and his frustration and jealousy at this situation often comes out in really practical ways.
What could possibly go wrong
I grew up in a house of five boys in one of the safest cities on the planet in an era when helicopter parents (or drone parents, as I prefer to call them) would have been laughed off the playground.
Pink or blue not black and white: gender neutral child rearing
Five years ago, I was planning my daughter’s first birthday party and all I could think of was how not to go pink.
Defusing the situation
Sometimes in our house relatively simple issues end up escalating far further than necessary.
Meditate on these things
One of the things I've found helpful to my parenting (and to my life generally, in fact) is a daily time of quiet meditation.
Community parenting
I often see kids in public places behaving in ways that are childish or impolite or even outright inappropriate and I have made a conscious effort to intervene in those kinds of situations as calmly and politely as I can.
Parenting in the digital age
Parenting in a digital age comes with two big challenges: excessive use and behavioural concerns.
Just wear your coat
I don't know if you fight about dressing for winter in your house, but it's a source of constant conflict in mine.
Can I trust you
When my son yells at me about my meanness, I tell him that I'd like to be able to trust him, but that there have been too many times when he has abused my trust, so now I have to
Don’t worry, I’m the parent
In my work with Children's Aid I often run into kids who are “parentified”, who do the job of parenting their younger siblings because their own parents haven't been able or willing to do it.
Following their dreams
I've written about this before, so forgive the repetition, but we need to stop telling children that they can be anything they want to be.
The dreaded “I hate you”
I didn’t expect was to hear the dreaded phase “I hate you” coming from my five-year olds’ month.
I love you and…
We often take it for granted as parents that our kids know why we correct and discipline them.