Cultivating empathy is a hot topic in the parenting world.  Current research has demonstrated that children under a year not only have the capacity for empathy but actually exhibit empathy. (Regarding infants:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201306/empathy-appears-in-infancy-varies-age-and-gender   Regarding toddlers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX6krHsZA_w .) But parents, usually not educated to recognize and encourage this trait... Read more...

As the big hand creeps its way toward midnight, most people give at least a fleeting thought to New Year resolutions.  Those usually have to do with eating or exercise or a nagging behavior ripe for modification. And we all know how long those last: Not very. ... Read more...

There is a dilemma that accompanies the winter holiday season that is rarely discussed out loud. It certainly is a topic that is dominating my parenting groups this month. That is, how do parents deal with grandparents who want to do as they please with their grandchildren... Read more...

In the video, Emotional Baby is Moved to Tears by Mom’s Singing, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/emotional-baby-moved-to-tears-by-moms-singing_n_4173272.html?utm_hp_ref=parents&ir=Parents?utm_hp_ref=parents&ir=Parents, we witness the power of emotion in even the youngest of babies. At only 10 months old, the baby’s deep feelings spill over in the form of tears when he hears his mother’s beautiful... Read more...

 Now that the school year has begun, it won’t be long before one morning you’ll awaken to the declaration, “I don’t want to go to school.” It’s a cry, actually more of a plea, which every parent is likely to face at least once, if not ten... Read more...

It isn’t usually until the fall that I begin to hear chatter about parents wanting their kids to find their passion, who are eager to enroll their kids in specialized, extra curricular classes.  I have already weighed in on this topic, kids finding passion. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/betsy-brown-braun/finding-their-passion-rea_b_991621.html.   Eye roll. But... Read more...

Keeping your child safe, (also the name of a seminar I offer), is every parent’s top priority. And each time the internet explodes with news of another abuse to a child, parents are shaken to the core. Fear reverberates across the county, and we ask, “How did... Read more...

Current research on the topic of empathy in children points to likelihood that infants as young as 6 months have the ability to demonstrate empathy.  Whether or how empathy develops as the child grows is a whole different story. Here we go again, nature vs nurture. A... Read more...

I’ve just returned from a funeral. A friend’s husband, father of five, died way before his time was up.   And it was a five Kleenex affair. My mirror neurons, the ones that make you match the emotions of others, were hard at work. (You know when someone yawns,... Read more...

“So, how do you handle the death of a pet when your child is older than 7 years?” asked a client after reading my previous blog, When a Pet Dies.  Good question. As children grow and mature, they begin to understand death differently. Children older than 7 years... Read more...