Lessons in Parenting

To Exhausted Parents: Give Yourself Some Grace! I am exhausted. The fatigue I’ve been feeling lately has only been getting worse, not better, as parts of the country slowly start to lift their stay-at-home restrictions. And I know a lot of my friends are also feeling like exhausted parents right now: Supervising virtual school has […]

Your Positive Parenting Crash Course for Stuck-At-Home Life: What the heck is positive parenting? And how can a positive parenting crash course make life cooped up at home easier? As parents, it can be hard to focus on praising our kids’ positive actions, rather than correcting undesirable behaviors. It’s easier to tell kids what they

Help for Managing Your Virtual Family Schedule: Keeping track of a packed family schedule was hard enough for a busy parent before the world shut down. Things seem ten times harder since we all switched our face-to-face interactions to virtual living: You’re now your kids’ virtual tech support, as you troubleshoot online class meetings, assignments,

How To Talk About COVID-19 With Your Children: It looks as if the leprechaun traps are back on for St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow. My girls have been obsessed with building them since preschool, even though that was over half a lifetime ago for them now. They’d planned to skip the ritual this year, because we

A Better Way To Have The Birds And The Bees Talk: Being a parent is anything but easy. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by day-to-day life, let alone finding time to sit down and talk to your kids about the really important stuff. And if you’re a parent, sooner or later you’re going to need

Overwhelmed by Parenting? Practical Self-Care Tips To Stop Being An Exhausted Mom: Have you ever had one of those weeks that just throws you for a loop? When you look at your to-do list for the day and think, “How the heck did things get so out-of-control?” Honestly, that’s been my life ever since January

Recently someone asked me what to do about toddler tantrums – specifically, toddler tantrums in public places. You know, like when your toddler throws a tantrum in a store. Toddler tantrums in grocery stores are by far the worst, and can be SO embarrassing if you’re That Parent. So what to do when your toddler

Be honest, now: Do you try to be the “perfect parent”? Or are you OK with just “good-enough parenting”? That phrase – “good enough parenting” – is honestly something that just popped into my brain a little while ago. Once again, it is way too late and I am finding time to write ONLY BECAUSE

How To Get Your Kid To Talk To You More: I’ve often thought that when a child is born, every parent should automatically get a few bonus upgrades to themselves. Tops on the list is one extra hand per child – how many times, busy Mamas, have you literally wished you have two or three

Easy Tips for Building Memories Over Your Next Holiday Weekend: If you live in the United States or Canada, there’s a good chance your kids got a day off from school today, whether for Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or Thanksgiving. Did you do anything special to mark this holiday weekend with them? Whatever the

Are you planning a huge event for your local school, house of worship, or volunteer organization? dealing with the aftermath of an unexpected homeowner’s claim? about to move cross-town? looking at buying or inheriting a new-to-you, gently-loved piano for your budding musician?? These are all situations when you might be tempted to go it alone

Want your child to grow up with good values? Here’s where to start: In our fast-paced 21st-century existence, everyone’s attention span is getting ever-shorter. As parents, unless you constantly remove distractions from your kiddos’ lives (television, electronics, etc.), you’ll be competing for their attention at every turn. Starting as soon as they begin to play

Your Plan Of Action For When Your Child Locks The Door (Literally!): Anyone who thinks kids aren’t fascinated by door locks either doesn’t have kids, or hasn’t met every kid I know: At first, pushing that shiny button is the “let’s see what this does?” curiosity of a toddler. When your kid hits preschool age,

Becoming a parent for the first time changes you. For many of us, it’s the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to us – eventually. But those first couple of months can be pure torture. It’s hard to fully appreciate how wonderful parenthood is when you’re exhausted and don’t have a moment to yourself. If

Does My Child Have A Learning Disability/Difference? A Step-By-Step Guide For Parents Ah, the joys of going back to school! New Supplies! New friends! And, if you’re a work-at-home mama, more sleep because you’re no longer trying to cram in all those work hours after your kids’ bedtime (as I am while drafting this)! But