Best Parents

Back in the 1970's a new catch-phrase was being tossed about in the United States: "Quality Time." With the big changes in the American family and financial life, parents had less time to spend with their kids. So, in order to try to gloss over this loss, the idea of "quality time" was launched. While it is better to spend some time in constructive activity with your child rather than spend no time at all, there is no replacement for spending "quantity time" with your Read more [...]

We live in a culture of excess, and this culture is a major contributing factor in today's childhood obesity epidemic. To put it simply, kids eat too much, and this is especially true on Halloween. This Halloween, teach your kids that fun is more important than food. When your children grow up, they won't cherish the memory of the tenth candy bar they ate that night in 2010. You are not doing them any favors by saying "yes" to every plea for more. But that tenth candy bar - or rather, Read more [...]

" I have nothing to wear!" can probably be heard in many households across America on most mornings of the week. A common dialogue goes like this: Daughter: "I have nothing to wear" Mom: "Why don't you wear that new sweater you just bought, that looks really nice on you." Daughter: "I don't have anything to go with the sweater" Mom: "Your jeans will look great, they go with anything" Daughter:" I hate my jeans, I need new ones." Read more [...]

If you're a parent, raising your kids is certainly on of the most important things you'll ever do in life. Each couple or single parent finds their own way. Some are strict, some are lenient, some yell and some admonish calmly. Raising kids is a very personal undertaking. Sometimes it is very easy to criticize the methods of other parents. But surprisingly, most kids turn out just fine, in spite of the judgement of others. One basic premise of raising kids is that they learn much more by our actions Read more [...]

Within the past fifty years, motherhood has gone from exaltation to embarrassment. Instead of being proud to claim motherhood as a career, we cower in the corner and mumble out a feeble, "I'm JUST a mom!" Just a mom? Give me a break! This entire mentality wasn't even present in our culture until recently. The media is a powerful force! It can discredit motherhood with its lies and we just gulp them up like hot doughnuts. So, what lies are you living? Lie #1--You need to take a load off. Read more [...]

After 20 years as a parent educator - there's nothing I haven't heard and very little that surprises me. What interests and inspires me is how much we parents have in common with each other. And as a mom who raised 5, highly independent and self-sufficient kids and as a parent educator who has talked with hundreds of thousands of parents about life with their kids, I feel qualified to share this fun list of what I consider the "Top 10 Parenting Complaints" Enjoy.   10. Kids Read more [...]

Take a trip down memory lane, how did your parents try to manage your behaviour. Were they controlling, guiding or just laid back. Chances are that you probably use the same techniques to discipline your own offspring. We all would have learnt from experiences throughout our own childhood. The way your parents brought you up is probably the same way you are raising your children right now. Diana Baumrind (1967) suggests that there are three parenting styles used by parents to help children with Read more [...]

So you are a new parent? Congratulations! Welcoming a new child into a family is an exciting, thrilling time. It can be scary, too, of course. And rightly so. No where else in life will you experience the rollercoaster of life more than in the game of parenting. I know because I have four children and have been parenting for more than two decades. What words of wisdom for new parents can I offer you? Well, if I was to start all over with my kids, I'd want to know that there is an art and a science Read more [...]

Being a father or mother is a normal part of life, but we typically take it for granted. We often think that we immediately know what is best for our daughters and sons. Sadly, that is not the case; we'll find ourselves making unfavourable judgments sooner or later. Buying as well as reading parenting books would make us much better mums and dads and assist us in dealing with each and every stage that our sons and daughters experience. In many cases, when our boys and girls enter the adult years, Read more [...]

I may upset a few with this post, but it is something that has been bugging me for quite some time. What you may ask? It's the ugly truth about parenting. Many parents will be disappointed with the actions of their children for some reason or another. Many still, will think it is the child that has the issues or society or the teachers or the peers but never once have they looked at themselves. Never once have they looked in the mirror. By looking in the mirror we may actually see some of the traits Read more [...]