Forcing children to accept unwanted affection can send a harmful message, according to Karen Days, the former president of the Center for Family Safety and Healing at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Days explained that this kind of forced affection can teach children the wrong lesson: that people they know are always allowed to touch them. She pointed out that while parents often emphasize "stranger danger," they don't always stress that familiar adults must also respect personal boundaries.
I know the school needs to keep you informed, but I really do question whether a phone call home after every incident is helpful or productive. Think about whether you want to suggest a standing monthly (or quarterly?) call or meeting, so you can be aware of what's happening at school. They can continue to call you if and when they feel it's necessary, following major incidents, but I don't think it should be every time anything happens.
I had my second one at 38, and it's such a different experience than 26. I much prefer it this time around because I feel more settled and mentally present. With the first one, we were just running around, figuring stuff out together. We could match energies. Now, I just outsmart her (play offense, not defense). Both were/are fun. They're my partners - I love doing things with them in different capacities. But I'm worried about the future. The 18-year-old likes to hang out late and kick it. At 43, I can pull it off. Once I'm in my 50s, I don't have high hopes.
We're both huge readers, with a house full of books, and we plan to read to our baby from birth, so naturally many of our friends and family members are giving us picture books. The problem is that most of these people are very progressive, like us, but lack experience with young kids. The books they choose tend to be focused on social messaging and education, and are largely boring, preachy, and (in my opinion) badly illustrated; they tend toward the garish and oversimplified, while I strongly prefer more intricate, fantastic, and old-fashioned art.
In the old days, whispered mom confessions included things like telling the person at your work potluck that you actually bought the macaroni and cheese from the grocery store or telling a fellow mom at a playdate that you haven't showered in two days. Now, the confessions from moms just like you are a little... deeper. Whether it's life dealing us some tougher hands than it used to or simply having the guts to get a little more vulnerable than before,
A flying saucer rocket launcher where they can stomp hard to get the discs flying and then use the net to catch 'em. Go ahead and assign yourself as the designated "stomper" (so you can stay stationary) and have your kiddos use allll that pent-up energy to chase the flying saucers all around, trying to catch them before they fall.
When I was pregnant, we moved to a new town, to a wreck of a house we planned to do up. My mum, who was ill, moved in with us, and then I was the carer of a newborn and a dying parent at the two extremes of life, but sharing many of the same needs, and often at the same time.
My wife "Misty" and I have a 12-year-old son, "Zachary," and a 6-year-old daughter, "Aria." Recently we were visiting my brother and his family when my teenage nephew caught Zachary trying to sneak a wine cooler from the fridge. He had just opened it when my nephew walked into the kitchen. My nephew took it away from my son and brought him back to the backyard patio where the rest of us were and made him fess up to what he did.
"It's a good shorthand phrase for healthy masculinity in 2025. The first instinct of a mensch is to protect, to sacrifice for something bigger than oneself, and not to pick on the vulnerable but to look out for your family and community. Real men don't start bar fights; they break them up. They don't shit-post other people or their country; they defend both. A man's default setting should be to protect, in any situation."
As children grow, most parents take the necessary step of childproofing their homes by adding baby-proof locks to cabinets, covering power outlets, and securing doors. But there's one area they may overlook: the family car. It might seem unnecessary at first. After all, kids are strapped into their car seats; how much trouble could they really get into? But as the parent of a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old, I can assure you - it's a healthy amount.
First of all, I'm so sorry that your family and daughter went through something so deeply traumatizing. The thing about experiences that emotionally damage an entire group of people at once is that everyone has to deal with it differently. I understand how reminders of this horrific day cause you tremendous pain. And I see how, for that reason, you'd be squarely against having someone you love tattoo such a reminder on their body where you can never not see it.
A set of three travel-size Poo-Pourri toilet sprays in festive scents that you spritz in the toilet before you go and uses ~magic smell science~ to keep any undesirable smells trapped in the bowl. It's like air pre-freshener, and this travel size is perfect for keeping in your bag! Great for kiddos who might be overly conscious of using the toilet for #2 away from home.
The kids do not believe me when I speak to them about current events or anything fact-based. When they ask an adult at large to spell something, and I reply, they check my response with another adult. I told one of them a medical fact, and they told me flatly that their parent was much, much smarter, and their parent said otherwise, so I must be wrong.
One key insight from these observations is that when teachers correct kids when they are engaging in unwanted behavior, many kids shut down or escalate, becoming defiant, melting down, or getting more aggressive. This is especially true for kids who are highly sensitive, big reactors, by nature. They are quick to shame and process corrections as indictments of their personhood. They get so flooded with emotion that they can't process whatever lesson the adult is trying to impart.
In my previous post, I explained why your Halloween candy rules keep backfiring. Control-based approaches create sneaking, obsession, and battles that leave nobody's needs met. Kids want autonomy and inclusion while parents want competence and ease - and traditional rules don't address either set of needs. So what works instead? A collaborative approach where you and your child create agreements together. This isn't about being permissive or letting kids eat unlimited candy. It's about involving them in finding solutions that work for your whole family.
When my oldest daughter turned 9, her pediatrician said she could get her period within the year. I was blindsided: When I was growing up, girls expected to get their periods around the age of 13. I rushed out to buy a pack of menstrual pads to keep in her backpack, in case she gets her first period in school, and ordered The Care and Keeping of You, the iconic puberty book series that has sold 8 million copies since it debuted in 1998.
While going through a divorce in 2020, the topic of after-school care for our two children came up, along with the associated cost. My son was in third grade, and my daughter was starting kindergarten. The thought of my kids being home alone after school gave me so much anxiety. I was insistent about adding after-school care details to the divorce decree, and I agreed that my ex and I would split the cost.
Parenting is hard, period. And sometimes, parenting self-help books or forums can offer solutions that are just way too time-consuming or drastic to even entertain. When you are incredibly tired, burned out, stressed about the world, and worried about money, it can be hard to try a whole new parenting philosophy or lifestyle. Hell, it can be hard to get through the day.
But one of the simplest, most personal considerations is whether, and how, having a child will affect a person's quality of life. Here, psychologists studying well-being have encountered what's sometimes called the parenting paradox: parents report lower mood and more stress and depression in their daily lives than adults without children; yet parents also tend to report higher life satisfaction in general.
After wiping my tears on the drive home and adjusting to the quiet of my house, I was surprised by what lingered. Naturally, I missed my kids when they left for college, but I couldn't shake the feeling of helplessness. My two oldest children are now away at college, and my youngest is preparing to leave the nest in a year. Now, there's nothing for me to do. They no longer need me in the same way they once did.
I remember as a kid I was obsessed with Halloween candy. It was the one day of the year where I could get as much candy, eat as much candy as I could. I had a one-track mind. I didn't find joy with Halloween because of the costumes or hanging out with friends. I'd just get a pillowcase and fill it up with as much candy as I wanted.
I had assumed they would be aghast at the impunity of their school administrators in taking the phones away. Instead, a majority of the teens that my colleagues and I have spoken to seem to welcome the break from their phones. There is less pressure to respond to social media feeds or to constantly check their texts. They also report that their school cafeteria has become a popular spot to hang out and chat with friends.
Does an only child usually feel lonely? Does an only child lack social skills? Does an only child have more emotional problems? These three questions come up often from my patients, because although most Americans say they think two or more children is ideal, many are, or will be, raising an only child instead. 1 Sometimes it's because of fertility problems, or because they started their family later in life and are unlikely to have more than one child naturally.
She froze on the edge of yelling, then stopped herself. If it had been one of her child's friends, she realized, she wouldn't have been angry at all. "So instead of overreacting, I just said, 'It's OK. Let's clean it up together,' Canineu tells TODAY.com. 'That moment honestly changed everything for me and for her.' But, Canineu, adds, she still sets limits when it matters, enforcing chores, rules and respect.
1. Acorn Soup - this cooperation cooking game is sure to be to your *taste* if you're teaching your kids how to take turns. It also provides risk-free family fun because there's no winner (and thus, no frustrated kiddos at the end). To play, pick an ingredient card and place the correct number of each item inside the pot to make Squirrel's favorite meals. Dinner's served!
Warsavsky, 35, tells TODAY.com she's experienced about 10 pregnancy losses over the years. When it came to trying to have a third child, she and her husband eventually turned to surrogacy, something they had considered for years. Their surrogate was pregnant "within six months of the day that I met her," Warsavsky says. But, it turned out to be ectopic - the fertilized egg implanted outside the uterus.
A-ha, the easiest fill-in question on a Friday ever. Are you just watching Game 6, which could be the final game of the "2025 Championship Season," or is there something more topically relevant also going on? Are you perhaps combining the two, somehow? (If you're towards the East Coast and have kiddos, the candy-gathering is probably done before the game starts;
