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Parenthood

I'll Never Be That Kind of Parent

Once you actually have your own kid, the ideas about parenting you harbored in your mind become a startling reality that messes up all your best-laid plans.

All the Things I've Done When Tired That I'm Not Ashamed to Tell You

You will be too tired, and too neglected and you will feel like your life has run away without you. This is normal and okay.

No, You're Not Raising a Serial Killer

When our kids act out, we take it as an opportunity to mold them into the good people they will become.

Nurture Until They Shine on Their Own

It’s their life, not mine. I guess I can’t hold too tightly to something that’s not mine to begin with.

Keeping Her Father Present in His Absence

Her dad is off somewhere else, living his own life, in pursuit of (we hope) a better financial future for our family.

Connect Instead of Correct and Other Ways to Change Your Parent Perspective

Changing the way you view parenting will create a stronger and more positive relationship between you and your children.

Your Kids’ Friends Probably Influence Them More Than You Do

Threat of rejection – or peer pressure, as it’s normally called – is why our kids’ friends hold such incredible influence over them.

You Don't Always Have to Diffuse Your Kid's Anger

Sometimes the best thing we can do is step down off our platform of being the “boss” and allow our kids to express themselves and have a voice.

The Five Stages of Grief When Your Child Calls the Babysitter Mom

The gratitude for a fabulous caregiver runs deep. Until your kid calls them mom.

Keep Your Dot: How to Make Your Stay-at-Home Partner Feel Supported

It isn't about competing for who has the harder job. It's about acknowledging that everyone needs their turn in the center.

Watching My Parenting Come Full Circle

Eventually, with luck, It’s all there. Everything we’ve worked so hard for to form the unbreakable parent/child bond.

Bullying Is On The Decline: New Study Shows How Parents Can Keep It That Way

Although it now receives more attention than it did previously, bullying, overall, is actually on the decline in the United States.

Parenthood annoyed little girl

Financial Tough Love Taught My Daughter Responsibility

Being able to support herself was the key to her future – a future I saw as bright and full of promise. So I cut her off financially.

When I Forced my Eleven-Year-Old Son to Watch “Fiddler on the Roof”

Just before World War I when he was still a child, my grandfather Abe moved to this country from Bessarabia, Romania. According to the Julian calendar used in his province, his birthday landed some...

Parenthood Young woman covering her eyes with her hands

The Dangerous Game of Giving Too Much

The love my mother gave was her highest achievement as well as her downfall. It knew no limits, never said no, and it never flowed back to herself.

Parenthood Girl walking with flowers outdoors, side view

My Kids Might be Nudists, But I Save a Fortune on Clothes

It starts with the socks. Within three minutes of entering our home from being anywhere, my kids have ripped off their socks, leaving them splattered across the floor in multiple rooms of the house...

Parenthood shopping trolley

Eye-Witness Reports From My Kid's Check-Out Line Meltdown

I went into that grocery store at a mere 28 years young. Sadly, I drove away at an alarming 84 years old.

Parenthood little girl with brown hair smiling

How to Teach Young Girls to Embrace Their Curls and Differences, From the Author Of "Curlee Girlee"

Girls as young as five are six times more likely to have an aversion to their hair if it’s curly. How can they embrace their differences and learn to appreciate their curls?

Parenthood rear view of baby child holding mother hand walking on hallway

When Motherhood Means Sitting in the Dark With My Child

And that’s parenting really – you do all you can do, but sometimes you still find yourself sitting in the dark.

How to Delegate Chores and Actually Get Your Kids to Do Them

Getting kids to help around the house can prove to be a Herculean task. But by giving them age-appropriate tasks, they can easily participate.

Mommy-and-Me, Destroying the Me in Mommy

I am their mom. I am the crucial part of our Mommy-and-Me, but I’m losing the Me.

My 7th Grader Was Not "A Pleasure to Have in Class" and Turned Out Just Fine

If you have a child who isn’t always “a pleasure to have in class,” don’t be discouraged. Be consistent, but don’t give up or lose faith.

Buying and Selling a House…With a Toddler, a Pregnant Wife, and a Tight Deadline

My wife's reaction to finding out she was pregnant eight months after giving birth to our first child encapsulated the major difference between us.

April Showers Bring Spring Scented Kids

There is a unique smell that is my young children at the end of a spring day.