 |
|
|
|
| Parenting |
|
|
»
Empty nest leaves a void
|
|
CITYWIDE Louise Green had been through this before.
|
»
Parents urge ban on ‘toxic toys’
|
|
DOUGLAS PARK Parents who are concerned about the safety of their children’s toys called on the governor to pass a law prohibiting toy manufacturers from using a chemical to soften plastics commonly found in teething rings and bath books for babies.
|
»
The mama’s club
|
|
CITYWIDE Some say it takes a village to raise a child. In Elisha Lenders’ case, the old adage has never carried so much weight.
|
»
Not the happiest toy story
|
|
CITYWIDE Concerned whether any of her 17-month-old son’s toys contained lead paint, Erin Buckhantz decided to play detective.
|
»
Guest Commentary By Linda Milo
|
|
Intuition is an unexplained phenomenon interchangeably known as instinct — a perceptive insight or impression. Intuition is a very natural process and one that you can train yourself to recognize and act on. Each of us is developing our own parenting style day by day — one that suits our own desires, needs, interests and personality. As we work out our own personal parenting style, our greatest tool will be a finely tuned intuition.
|
»
Guest Commentary By Linda Milo
|
|
Why did the girl blush when she opened the refrigerator door? Because she saw the salad dressing!
|
»
Guest Commentary By Neale S. Godfrey
|
|
For many of us, sticking to a diet is a top New Year’s resolution, with sticking to a budget a close second. But each year, it seems, the budget falls by the wayside — sometimes even before we succumb to the allure of that cheesecake in the dessert aisle.
|
»
Guest Commentary By Linda Milo
|
|
Mom’s bustling in the kitchen preparing the turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Dad’s lounging and playing in the living room with the children, savoring the smells drifting from the kitchen. Thanksgiving Day is a holiday meal most families will eat together at home.
|
»
Rules learned at home
|
|
School rules, sports rules, traffic rules, fashion rules ... Our children’s lives are filled with rules. Groups work best when everyone knows the rules. But learning about rules and how to follow them begins at home.
|
»
Sticking to the list
|
|
Figuring out what you really need and want and ignoring the enormous pressure to buy stuff you don’t is the cornerstone of good budgeting, but it’s a skill many of us don’t learn until well into adulthood.
|
»
Guest Commentary By Linda Milo
|
|
I just spoke to a vice principal in a District 2 middle school in Los Angeles whom I’d met while doing research a few months back. We’ve stayed in touch. He’s been employed by the school system for more than 30 years. He told me that in all these years, he has never seen what he’s seeing today — the pre-teens’ behavior at his school is even stumping him. The kids are talking back to teachers, bullying one another to excess, smoking in secret corners of the school and acting completely out of control. He told me that the basic thing is that “the parents don’t have a clue.”
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
At 19, Nathan needs an Audi convertible. After all, he has been driving an old Toyota since he was 16. Well, 15. He had driven for a year without a license. Since it seemed to be a convenience to have him do errands, and since he seemed to drive carefully, and since it didn’t seem to do any harm, his mom thought it seemed OK. And it seemed to make him happy.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” Who among us hasn’t raised our voice in the ice cream chant, sometimes to let the world know that we are the children and that we do have wishes, and sometimes just for the fun of yelling?
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
It’s catching. Boredom is catching. Jeremy complained so regularly about being bored that his parents became bored hearing about it. Ellie’s fifth grade class insisted that their lessons were boring so frequently that their teacher got bored with kids who want to be entertained full time. Jerry repeated why his job was boring so often that his wife got bored hearing about it. She described how boring her daily commute was so regularly that Jerry got bored hearing about that. Yes, boredom can be catching. And it can become a debilitating habit. Boredom is a super tool to use when you want to avoid responsibility or manipulate others.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
Kids’ wants and wishes seem to be never ending. Lucia wants shoes and a better bike and a TV in her room and a new cell phone. Dario insists that a motorcycle will meet all of his needs, especially if he has white leathers and a really cool helmet and money for the bike club dues. Tony is accustomed to holding the line on most of the requests.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
Adrianna, 3 1/2, was cranky. Auntie Gina thought a bubble bath might help. She sprinkled a little of the blue bubble bath salts on the bottom of the tub, secured the top on the container, set the bottle up on the shelf and turned the faucet on full force.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
“Don’t let her in Katrina’s room. She’ll see that Katrina has 30 stuffed animals and she will know that Katrina is overindulged. We like having her come for dinner but …”
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
How do you encourage children to achieve in school? Some parents attempt to motivate children to get good grades by offering rewards. Some bribe, some scold, some punish, some structure time for study, some pay for grades. Some do all of the above.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
Eleanor looked anxious. “Nathan graduates from college this spring, and now he wants to live at home to save money while he goes to graduate school. He is enamored with medieval art and he says he won’t be able to get a job in his field unless he has advanced degrees. I’m so worried.”
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
A reader sent this question: “What do you do when your child’s teammates are being paid $5 by their parents every time they score? And what do you do when another mom tells your child she will pay him if he scores? We don’t believe in paying for a score. It’s just a game for pete sakes. Is there an article or anything that could be passed around the team to the parents? Or is this just a lesson we talk about with our kids — ‘Our family doesn’t do that’ and let the other parents do it their own way?”
|
»
A debate with legs
|
|
Citywide — Cloth or disposable? A question for children, but hardly a childish question. New parents the world over inevitably find themselves pondering it as they prepare for their baby’s homecoming.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
“We had been paying the children for doing chores. I know that works well in some families, but it was getting out of hand. Our third- and fourth-graders started asking to be paid for everything. They didn’t appreciate anything, and they whined and complained a lot.”
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
Martha looked haggard. “I’m so worried about my 15-year-old son.” Her voice was husky.
|
»
Weathering the tantrums can be lesson in patience
|
|
Children between 1 and 7 years old are open to emotional hurts. Temper tantrums are a way a young child expresses his frustration over a situation or a person. When your child feels thwarted, he feels many mixed emotions. Usually temper tantrums are brought about by stress. This stress is anything that disrupts the normal balance of the body.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
How I hated to hear my mom’s voice, “It’s time for bed.”
|
»
Let your children play a part in behavior
|
|
Children, like teens, like to feel personal power. Power is mostly the ability to influence some aspects of our lives by the choices we make. Giving a child a choice is the most powerful way to build personal power and self-esteem for your child’s lifetime. Children exert their personal power when they refuse to go to bed, or decide not to take a bath, or have temper tantrums. To help your child use their power in a positive way and to strengthen your child’s sense of competence, give them the power to make positive personal behavior choices.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
“Can we play now?” Clarissa was perplexed. Why did her children ask to play? They had been at Saturday swim classes all morning and their mom had spent the entire afternoon playing with them. They had played a competitive math game with flashcards. Clarissa had taught them three “taking no for an answer” games: “follow me,” “follow you,” “traffic cop,” and “red light, green light.” They had gone on a nature walk to see how many different kinds of birds they could spot.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
Chuck’s shoulders tightened as the shrill voice in backseat chanted, “I’m thirsty, I’m really thirsty.”
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
“You’re not going anywhere until you eat your breakfast!” “But, I’m not hungry!” Jack slumps in his chair, Doreen’s jaw tenses, and the argument wages on until everyone in the family is irritated.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH
|
|
“Fasten your seat belt,” dad calls as he backs out of the driveway. Mason, 4, continues to bounce around the back seat. Half way down the block, dad’s friend Cliff says, “Umm, Al, Mason isn’t belted.”
|
»
Fighting cancer starts now
|
|
A new milestone in the fight against cancer is documented in an annual American Cancer Society report released last week. It shows that the actual number of Americans who died of cancer dropped below the count for the previous year, based on records from 2003 and 2002, the most recent data available.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
The principal’s voice was controlled steel. “Mrs. Brown, your son Rob will remain in my office until you arrive!” The school has a firmly enforced “No Bullying Policy.” Rob had been pushing the limits, and this day he had ripped up another child’s art work and verbally savaged her in his fifth grade classroom.
|
»
In the end, diet makes a difference in big picture
|
|
A recent article in The New York Times says a healthy diet has only “hypothetical” benefits when it comes to preventing cancer.
|
»
Praising the goodness of your child
|
|
Praise can be a word, an expression on your face, a gesture, or a statement that encourages pride, joy and accomplishment in your child. When you give praise you are giving your child a feeling of positive feedback, which increases their sense of confidence, self-worth and competence.
|
»
‘Green soup’ is miracle worker
|
|
Dear Dr. Fuhrman,
I thought you might like to hear a story related to your vegetable soup and your nutritional advice you gave me for our son, who is our track star.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
Brian Smith’s broken leg means there are some things this second grader can’t do for a while. But the Smiths expect him to do the things he can do. They don’t want him to become helpless.
|
»
Dr. Fuhrman goes back to school
|
|
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. spent a day last month speaking to every student in a Long Island middle school about nutritional excellence.
|
»
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
|
|
The big days are over. The Nutcracker has come and gone; the holiday decorations have vanished from stores and streets. The presents have all been opened. Maybe not every thank-you has been sent, but the holiday bustle is past and the doldrums of January are here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
full story
printer version