How amazing is it that all kids seem to whine at some time or other? Seriously, how is it that they all use the same tone? Is that capacity just part of the factory-equipped model of child? Truth be told, it kind of is…the capacity, that is. Children whine at different ages for different reasons. No one can say exactly when whining will start, but it can even be as young as 18 months. It is interesting that early talkers seem also to be early whiners. The toddler whiner often feels … [Read more...] about Want Some Cheese With That Whine?
Toddlers
Look At That Lady’s Nose!
Young children notice difference. As they try to make sense of their world, they pay attention to regularity and irregularity, what is familiar and what is not. And there is no judgment involved, just recognition of difference. Truth be told, most people notice difference. It’s no big deal, or it shouldn’t be, anyway. Problems arise when difference is viewed as unacceptable. I know many adults who could use a lesson in tolerating difference. Last week on the bike path at the beach, a … [Read more...] about Look At That Lady’s Nose!
Little Boys and Nail Polish
On my son Lucas’ second birthday, he wanted to wear barrettes in his hair just like his sister Jessie wore. I am reminded of this episode daily as I read the headlines about the trial of Brandon McInerney, the teen who shot Larry King, the boy who wore a dress and heels to school. (As an aside, the defense claims that the shooting resulted from Larry having made passes at Brandon, the shooter, not from his cross dressing. We will never really know what went on. But the trial, per se, is not … [Read more...] about Little Boys and Nail Polish
Toddler Tutoring?
They’re getting younger and younger! Now there’s Junior Kumon, a program to teach your two year old academics. Seriously! In a recent New York Times article, Fast-Tracking to Kindergarten, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/fashion/with-kumon-fast-tracking-to-kindergarten.html?_r=1&emc=eta1 author Kate Zernike highlights the proliferation of the new Kumon (and other) tutoring programs designed to jumpstart toddlers’ academic career. Are they kidding? Sadly, they are not. And more and … [Read more...] about Toddler Tutoring?
The Unmentionable: Wiping Your Child
Sheepishly, the mom asked, “Should I still be wiping my seven year old’s tush after he makes a poop?” Some of you might be gasping in horror, but others of you are nodding in agreement as you wonder the same thing. The third time in a week that I was asked the question in a parenting group, I knew it was time to write about it: When should a child wipe his own bottom? Isn’t it funny that parents flock to my seminars on raising self reliant children…. and the next morning they run to wipe … [Read more...] about The Unmentionable: Wiping Your Child
To Bring or Not to Bring
A friend who is an event planner and I recently shared the dilemma of what to do when guests, often family, want to bring their (young) children to formal events. Having planned three weddings in the last 22 months, it is a question that is not unfamiliar to me. For one of our weddings a family member flat out refused to come if she could not bring her infant child. And many years ago at my children’s B’Nai mitzvah the spiritual atmosphere of the sanctuary was shattered by the wailings of my … [Read more...] about To Bring or Not to Bring