When Your Child Hurts Another: Working Through Upset
When my daughter was just under two years old, we were playing one day with a friend and her one-year old son. While gently nuzzling the leg of the younger boy, my daughter suddenly took
When my daughter was just under two years old, we were playing one day with a friend and her one-year old son. While gently nuzzling the leg of the younger boy, my daughter suddenly took
It was mid-October and we had been in the new house a month or two. My daughter LOVED the new house. She had her own room with a bunk bed, a tree house, a hot
By the time she was three months old, my entire life was focused on helping my baby daughter get some good sleep. I hired two sleep consultants, read every book on sleep available, but found no answers or magic cures. What I knew I could not do was leave her alone to “cry it out”.
Leah had returned from her dad’s house chock full of feelings—she seemed sullen and sad and had lost all enthusiasm about the party. I decided to help my daughter get in better emotional shape so that she would be able to enjoy our party.
My son and I had special time once a week for many years. He always wanted to do the same thing–go to the mall. We would play at the arcade, have an ice cream and
When my son was in college, he called me to tell me that he was dropping out of his math class because he did not understand it anymore and was going to fail. He said
Helping children with fears this way allows them to feel and share their feelings while at the same time they are truly safe.
When our grandson was one, and just walking, we convinced his parents to let us babysit so they could have a night out. They were quite nervous because they did not like to hear their
Everything went well until we got to the checkout line and he asked for gum. I said no and he began to have a full blown tantrum, I was completely overwhelmed with the baby, the groceries and him. So I bought the gum. All the way home, I kept saying to myself, “You are being controlled by a child! This can only get worse.”
When my son was 4 he went through a period when he was very resistant to getting dressed. It didn’t matter if he was dressing himself or if I offered to help him, it was
One Saturday, we took our family to a club with an outdoor swimming pool. My step-daughter loves swimming and my son is starting to enjoy it more. There were two beautiful outdoor pools, a water
I have a friend who has twin girls. Ever since they were born one of the twins (the second to be born) was labeled the more difficult one. She cried more than her twin sister, she
It was time for The Bedtime Routine. It had been decided that it was Dad’s turn for books, snuggles, and tuck-ins. When I tried to give my son a hug and pass him off to his dad in the rocking chair, he clung to me and started to fuss. I dramatically pulled him back from my husband’s arms and said playfully, “No, no, you CAN’T have my baby! He’s mine, MINE!!”
One morning, my 3-year-old said, “I am my brother, not me,” while I was busy getting my older son ready for school. Ah, a sign of a storm brewing, I thought. I squatted at his
The evening before my 7-year-old daughter had her audition for a community theater production, she asked me, “Why do I have to go to the audition?” I reminded her that she had enjoyed her theater