Seems like almost every parent today knows that spanking is verboten. Everyone except that parent who says, “My father spanked me, and I turned out fine.” To him I want to say, You don’t remember how you felt while you were being spanked—the terror, the helplessness, the... Read more...

There’s nothing like a toddler’s tantrum or an older child’s melt down to bring a parent to her knees.  It’s one of those behaviors that makes you feel inadequate and helpless, to say nothing of incompetent. Put that tantrum in a public place—a restaurant, the grocery store, the... Read more...

It’s hard enough to raise your own child—teaching him the rules of the road, guiding him as he learns how to “play nicely”—but what happens when a child who is not yours is in need of some pointed guidance (a swift kick in the pants, perhaps!)? You’re having... Read more...

Isn’t it amazing that as soon as the phone rings and you answer it, someone else needs you? This phenomenon, phonus interruptus, is pervasive in homes all across the country. Further, the more you tell your child that you are on the phone (as if he hasn’t noticed)... Read more...

As often happens, over the weekend I ran into a client at the grocery store.  Mid aisle we stopped for a brief  greeting.  As soon as the mom began to speak to me, her son piped up with,  “Mom, Mom, can we get some Gatorade?” tugging at... Read more...

It’s August...three, four, even five more weeks of summer vacation depending upon your child’s first day of school. Summer time and the livin’ is (still) easy! Even though the consistent, routinized school year schedule actually makes life easier for most children and parents, getting back into the swing... Read more...

While I cannot take credit for inventing the expression lousy local conditions, I use it all the time. It’s just so right-on-the-button. Lousy local conditions refers to those times when a child’s less than perfect behaviors are magnified or even created by the conditions of his environment. The... Read more...

It’s not likely that your car arrived factory equipped with a chauffeur’s screen, the one you flip up at the touch of a button. So, what the heck is a parent to do when the kids’ fighting in the back seat drives you nuts.  To your kids, the... Read more...

While I cannot take credit for inventing the expression, "lousy local conditions," I use it all the time. It’s just so right-on-the-button. Lousy Local Conditions refers to those times when a child’s less than perfect behaviors are magnified or even created by the conditions of his environment. Children... Read more...