It’s the beginning of fall and as surely as leaves will drop, so will the homework. Pages and pages of it. Sometimes whole binders worth. Homework can be the source of many arguments, and I wanted to take a look at why and what we can do about it. In order to really understand what’s going
“Play with me?” That one question is asked at least 100 times a day in most houses, by kids to their parents. Time and time again we hear that play improves connections. Greys Anatomy-creator (and former workaholic) Shonda Rhimes did a whole Ted Talk on how play impacted her life as a parent. Larry Cohen has two
Our family recently traveled and we had decided to get some vaccinations for our 3 ½ year-old daughter. We needed three shots over three visits. My daughter had never had shots before, but the first time went beautifully, probably because she had no preconception about what to expect. The second time she was terrified. She screamed
Separating at bedtime has been a struggle for our 2-year-old for quite some time and I have done a lot of Staylistening with him on this emotional project of his. But lately, he hasn’t been having any Staylistening at all and, depending on who puts him to bed and how tired he is,
By Laura Minnigerode Emma was born so early that she identified as a “Micro-Preemie.” That is, she weighed less than 800 grams and was born before 26 weeks. When I first met her, she was about 9 months old and weighed 15lbs, and she had a lot of fears about being picked up. Her history had included
In many parenting programs, rewards and punishment reign large. So an approach focussed on connection and listening offers therapists a refreshing change. Hand in Hand’s five empathetic listening tools form an approach that “can be described as a relationship-based, emotion-focused, trauma-informed parenting program,” says Maya Coleman, a child clinical psychologist, who also now runs Professional Intensives courses
My 6-year-old daughter and I go swimming once a week together. She normally loves this time and looks forward to it, but one weekend she didn’t want to go at all. As it was our last session for a while, I encouraged her to go, but she made me insist that we would come out