I’ve been the stay at home full-time mom, the stay at home mom with a “work from home” business, and the parent who has outside employment. The most exhausting – and often the loneliest – was the stay at home full-time mom job. I embraced my job, read parenting books, scanned the latest research, and [...]

Among the early words you teach your tot are “thank you.” Young children need prompts like, “What do you say to Aunt Becky?” Hopefully, over time it becomes an automatic response. But parents need to continue teaching an attitude of thanks even to teenagers. As you celebrate the busy holiday season, utilize every moment as [...]

If you haven’t been frazzled by a preschooler who resists going to bed, you’re probably not a parent. My younger daughter, Laura, was the Queen of Stall. I defined bedtime as being in bed – with both legs – and lights out. Laura defined it as time to begin getting ready for going to bed. [...]

No matter how good the schools are and how skilled and devoted the teachers are, they do not have the impact on learning, as does the home environment. Parents, you make the difference! Your everyday activities, discussions about school, and positive attitude about learning set the stage for your child’s success. You can impress your [...]

During the long winter months or on rainy days your child may suffer from cabin fever! You know the symptoms: feeling isolated, restless and easily agitated. You feel like screaming – or maybe you do – and you crave a change of scenery. It’s a “fever” every one of us tries to avoid. Here are [...]

Ever wonder why kids act the way they do? Often it is their temperament, sometimes it’s our parenting style, and occasionally it’s the food they eat. Got a tot who seems fidgety? It may be too much red food coloring or sugar in his system. Traces of these additives are everywhere, even in margarine and [...]

After winter we are all ready for the wonders of spring. One of the cheeriest sights are the bright yellow faces of the daffodils. However, late summer and early fall is the time we need to be planting and nurturing our jonquils to make sure they are bright and healthy later. Planting a bulb garden [...]

My husband, Steve, and I have been together for 13 years. Well, kind of. You see, we’ve had a very rocky marriage. We used to call ourselves “on again, off again.” My husband had a full-time hobby that used to keep him very busy: it was called alcohol. I was far from perfect myself, and [...]

When I think of Christmas, I often think of something that happened during my school-teaching days. The school I taught in was very old. It had fourteen-foot ceilings and huge windows. The kids who attended this ghetto school were tough, and they were extremely poor. Maybe that’s how they got to be so tough. Determined [...]

The night started out with a feeling of great excitement. I don’t know if it was the electricity in the air from the approaching storm or if it was from the energy I felt at having supper out with new friends. We had just moved and the neighborhood was full of children the same ages [...]