In my last post, I addressed balancing a child's media diet--how much and when. As challenging as that issue is, it is almost easier to address than the question of content-- what media is okay for your child. In today's world of so much, so young, deciding what is okay and what isn't can be daunting. Remember how many of you thought Baby Einstein was a good idea? Now parents are scrambling for a refund. Who knew? (By the way, I did, and I have been steering parents away from Baby … [Read more...] about Knowing if a movie is okay for your child..and for you
Safety
BEWARE OF HALLOWEEN!
One of the joys of being a parent is getting to do the fun kid stuff all over again. Stuff like sharing Easter baskets, making Valentines, and dressing up for Halloween. You can hardly wait to dress up your nine month old in that lion costume and parade her around the neighborhood, right? But you aren’t remembering Halloween from the perspective of a two or three or four year old. You remember it from when you were nine or ten years old, when it really was all fun and there wasn’t much that … [Read more...] about BEWARE OF HALLOWEEN!
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
Keeping your child safe while you’re texting.
My seminar, Keeping Your Child Safe, is always a sell out. No surprise there. What could be more important than doing everything within a parent's control to keep her child safe? In the seminar I address the things parents must know about a child's safety -- what the real dangers are "out there," the parent's role, what a parent must teach her child. I teach what children need to be taught about keeping themselves safe, too. What I can't teach, however, is common sense. Unfortuantely, it … [Read more...] about Keeping your child safe while you’re texting.