You asked your child come to dinner, and he didn't respond. So you ask him again, this time with a voice that's quite clear, direct, and firm. "Put your Leggos down and come to dinner now, please." And your child responds, "Stop screaming at me!" You are quite sure you didn't scream, you didn't even shout or yell, but it sure sounded that way to your child. He didn't even hear your words. Very often parents are not aware of the power of their tone. But children hear tone more loudly than … [Read more...] about Stop Screaming at Me!
Parenting
Watch Out for the Wild Things
Where the Wild Things Are, the beloved children's book by Maurice Sendak, has been made into a movie. When I first heard about it, I was excited...then worried. An article in this morning's Los Angeles Times about the movie fueled my worries. Granted, I haven't seen the movie, but I am still worried. I just know that hundreds of cool, thirty-something parents are going to line up to take their young children to see it. Is this really a movie for young children? In today's world, children … [Read more...] about Watch Out for the Wild Things
“My child got the bad teacher.”
Every one of us had a teacher she will never forget. She was the best teacher ever! And each of us had a teacher who was, well, not a favorite at all. How great it would be if every teacher was special, was a winner. Welcome to the world of education. That's just not going to happen, and maybe that's a good thing. As parents we begin to experience the good and the not-so-good teachers that will fill our children's educational experience as soon as the child starts preschool. The good … [Read more...] about “My child got the bad teacher.”
A Spirit of Optimism
My teacher friend, Barbara, retold the wonderful story of a little boy in her new Pre K class. She was reading the class a particular book the plot of which was getting tense. The little guy interrupted her reading and announced, "Let's look on the bright side, guys. I'm pretty sure there's going to be a good ending to this story!" Call it half empty-half full or just plain having an optimistic attitude, this little boy had it. The optimistic child (and adult, for that matter), is the one who … [Read more...] about A Spirit of Optimism
Bad Behavior…of Grown Ups, That Is
This morning's treadmil conversation at the gym was livelier than usual. I announced that I just had to blog about the growing epidemic of bad behavior...of adults... public figure adults' bad behavior. Whether or not my gym rat buddies felt Serena's tongue fault was forgiveable (It was, they thought--it was her first outburst; it was a lousy call; it was a genuine mistake), whether Joe Wilson had the right to call President Obama a liar (He did not, they agreed), or whether Kanye West's … [Read more...] about Bad Behavior…of Grown Ups, That Is