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How Much is Enough? How Much is Too Much?
Although there are plenty of families in America who struggle with the basic necessities of life like putting food on the table, many other parents have access to a huge array of options. Toys to buy,...
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Great New Resource for Kids Songs
Let’s Play Music is a phenomenal resource! http://www.letsplaykidsmusic.com/free-kids-songs-directory/ The site is developed by Sara Mullett, who has 15 years of experience teaching kid’s music...
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Parental Anger
Parents often ask: “Is it OK to be angry in front of my kids?” “Is it OK to be angry at my kids, or does that make me a bad parent?” “What if my partner and I get in a fight when the kids are in the...
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Preventing Parental Meltdowns
This is part 2 of this week’s series on Parental Anger Every parent will have bad days – times when we’re overwhelmed and stressed, and find ourselves yelling at our kids. We want to do what we can to...
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Coping with Anger
This is part 3 of this week’s series on Parental Anger No matter what we do to try to prevent it, there will be times when we are angry in front of our kids. We want to have some concrete strategies...
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What if you’re angry at your child?
This is part of a week-long series on Parental Anger. People often tell me that when they get angry at their kids, they feel like bad parents. It’s important for parents to realize: It’s normal and OK...
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Fighting in Front of the Kids
[This is part of a week long series on Parental Anger.] Many of today’s parents grew up in families (or knew families) who didn’t handle conflict well. It is definitely unhealthy for kids to be around...
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Resolution
This is my final post in a week-long series about Parental Anger. It’s about picking up the pieces and moving on after you had a parental meltdown… If you were angry in front of your child,then when...
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Recommended Parenting Books
This list includes 20 great books on parenting kids age birth to five. They are some of my personal favorites, and also include books frequently recommended by my colleagues in the Bellevue College...
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Boys in Dance Class
I am working on a post about “how to make sure your classes are gender inclusive.” But first, I thought I’d share my story of why this topic is on my mind right now… My 4-year-old son has recently...
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Twenty Recommended Parenting Books
Today, I put together a handout on 20 Recommended Parenting Books. Click above for a printable handout, or check out the list below. Title Author topic And Baby Makes Three Gottman relationship skills...
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Gun Play
In our Family Inventors class last week, we had giant tinker toys for the kids to play with. A group of boys designed and built three identical “blasters”. From a tinkering / creativity perspective, I...
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The Martian – A Study in Character
Since Andy Weir’s book, The Martian, came out, I’ve had many friends recommend it to me. And not just the science fiction fans. All sorts of friends raved about this book! I hadn’t read it yet, but I...
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Routines and Rituals
When working with parents of toddlers and preschoolers, I talk a lot about the benefits of daily routines. Today I want to look at the difference between the routines of everyday life and the rituals...
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47 Things You Should Never Say to Your Kids (or Their Heads Will Explode)
There’s an article by Parents Magazine that I often see shared on the internet. It’s titled “10 Things You Should Never Say to Your Kids.” When I see that headline, I think of things like “You’re...
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Financial Literacy
On Sunday, I was teaching a class to a group of 9 – 10 year olds. We were talking about the roles that need to be played by various family members to help the family life run smoothly. I happened to...
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Look Mom! That lady only has one leg!
I’m an amputee. I had cancer 30 years ago when I was a teenager and my right leg was amputated. It’s nothing new to me – just the way my body is. It is not a subtle handicap – but one you can see...
View ArticleYour Discipline Toolbox
There are lots of different discipline techniques you can use to guide your children toward good behavior. Learning about them is like stocking your toolbox for home maintenance. If your house has a...
View ArticleWhen/Then and If/Then
A positive discipline technique is to say to your child "When you [do this positive thing], then we get to [social reward]." This is often more effective (and more connecting) than the threat of "If...
View ArticleConsequences
Two tools in your discipline toolbox are natural consequences, and logical consequences. Natural Consequences A natural consequence is what will happen if the child keeps doing what they are doing, and...
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