#parenting

#parenting

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.

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.

When encouraging children to become excited about learning, it is very important to help them develop a positive academic self-concept. A person's academic self-concept is the way they identify with what type of student they are. It is how you would describe yourself as a student. A person has many different aspects to their overall self-concept and likely identifies with each aspect differently. For example, every person will identify with their athletic, artistic, musical, social, emotional, or academic self-concept in different ways.

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.

The US rapper has been advocating for formula feeding - and six years after having my baby, I don't feel an ounce of guilt about my own decision to reach for the bottle

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.

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.

"First of all, I just want to say, I just had a baby and I have a lot of brain fog," she said. "So, I haven't slept in seven months, so if I repeat myself, I'm sorry. Like, interrupt me and tell me I'm off track."

The amount of often conflicting advice for parents and caregivers available on social media can feel overwhelming. How does one even begin to sort through this overabundance of advice, much less figure out what is best practice for building healthy relationships? The Spirited Child Approach has been developed over decades of working with families of spirited children who are typical and yet more intense, persistent, perceptive, sensitive, and energetic. It interweaves findings from the fields of temperament, secure attachment, sleep, development, resiliency, neurobiology, and self-regulation.

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.

An analysis of numerous studies shows that grade-centric approaches are not always beneficial for young people's mental health and do not yield the expected benefits. Understanding, encouragement, and support, rather than asserting too much pressure, become the cornerstone of healthy youth development. A child with their parents' support is more likely to grow into a resilient, confident, motivated, and secure adult. On the contrary, emotionally unsupported children are likely to remain mentally fragile and underachieving.

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.

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.

Earlier this year, I realized that dinnertime had gotten out of hand at my house. It seemed like each of my five family members spent half of our mealtime together complaining about each other's poor manners. My teens often didn't love that their younger siblings would interrupt during conversations or chew with their mouths open. Everyone made their feelings known.

Being a parent is hard. No one wants to be that person with a screaming baby at dinner, and the last thing anyone wants to think about while their kid is crying is the death stares they're receiving from a crowd. But there are just some situations where you have no choice but to pack up the stroller. Hopefully, people will understand, but if you do end up bringing your baby to a restaurant, there are things you can do to help the staff out.

Growing adolescent differences are abrasive, wearing down dependence between parent and child. The parent must maintain caring communication and contact so they can feel connected as they grow apart. Change complaints in the parent-adolescent relationship are not a problem to stop but a reality to accept. The more parents know about what adolescent changes to expect, the less they are likely to become upset.

Between us, we have three children, ages 8, 6, and 2. We've done a lot of math with an accountant and determined that it would be best for the household finances if Kevin divorced me and married Monica (with a bunch of other paperwork filed to make sure we stick as a group when it comes to parental authority, medical proxies, power of attorney, etc.).

When our child was born, we went from fairly evenly split chores to me doing most of them. I had FMLA and my husband "Josh" didn't, daycare always called me instead of him, and then it became a habit. It left me miserable and cranky, at home and at work. This past summer, we sat down and talked it out. It wasn't fun, but we agreed to try to rebalance the work.

Of course, it's never acceptable to lie...unless you have children, in which case it is one thousand percent necessary to have a few "fibs" in your arsenal. These are just harmless parenting tricks that are necessary for survival. So redditor u/TopRun8728 asked, "What's the most unethical parenting hack you know?" Here's what people said (including a white lie my dad used often when I was a kid that I still remember to this day).

When children visit someone's house, it's a really good time to instill that they need to be polite and respect the rules of others. When you're at home it's totally different and you can expect to be much more relaxed, but when going to Grandma's, or a restaurant, or the grocery store, it's a great time to reel it in and practice our social skills.

It's our job to ensure that those around us, including immediate and extended family and friends, understand ADHD because it will impact our entire circle in some way, shape, or form. It may feel odd, or even stressful at times, to take on the burden of driving awareness and educating loved ones about our child's neurodivergent diagnosis; however, it's a must-do activity because your child and you need and deserve support.

"I feel like every birthday party invitation I'm receiving now has a registry/gift list," she continued. "It kind of makes the whole thing feel shallow. Registries were for bridal and baby showers to give couples and parents the things they needed for a huge life change, and now I'm getting invitations with registries filled with toys, some being $50+, for a 1 year old's birthday party."

Forcing kids to hug and kiss relatives and family friends teaches them their physical boundaries don't matter and that they don't have autonomy over their bodies.

No father or mother prays to have a rebellious child who talks back, disobeys instructions, or lives carelessly. Yet, many good children gradually become rebels, not because they were born bad, but because of avoidable mistakes made in parenting. Raising children is like building a house. If the foundation is faulty, no matter how beautiful the walls look, cracks will eventually appear. The truth is this: rebellion in children is not sudden, it is often a silent cry from wounds caused in the home.