Parenting
Proud Mama
This weekend, Feb. 18, to be exact, will be two years since my bilateral mastectomy. Two years I might not have had. Two years in which so much has happened: some bad, some sad, some downright ugly. But I don’t want to go there. I’d rather focus on the amazing things I’ve been a part [...]
Parenting: Tiger Mom has a few regrets
If you have only heard about “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” and decided you hated it, the Tiger Mother has a request: Read it. All of it. And then decide. The memoir, a global bestseller that has prompted anger, scorn and vitriolic e-mails, is Amy Chua’s account of raising her two daughters “the Chinese [...]
10 Fun Brain-Building Games
We are one month into 2012 and time is flying. Here are 10 toys, games, brain teasers, or websites to help your infant, preschooler, or older kids improve their cognitive skills and build brain muscle. This list has a variety of memory, attention, sensory, and processing skills tasks that are not just smart, they’re fun, [...]
New Moms: How much help will you need and how much is too much?
Sure, you can do it all, but you shouldn’t – you need to rest and heal during baby’s first weeks. Here’s how to get others to lend a hand. When I was pregnant with twins, my husband and I were trying to figure out what help we’d need when our babies came home. Other moms [...]
Waiting in line? No problem with a little pre-planning
Long lines and toddlers seem to go together like eggs and ice cream. But that doesn’t always have to be the case. Here are a few tricks I’ve developed throughout the years that can help make waiting in a long line fun for both you and your kids. A Bag of Tricks: I’ve learned to [...]
Got smarts? How about heart?
A popular parenting magazine recently had a little boy on the cover dressed like Steve Jobs in a black turtleneck, wire rim glasses and his hand posed beneath his chin. Cute. Very cute. The cover story was on how to raise genius children. Who wouldn’t want to be the parent of a genius like Steve [...]
Smarter baby monitors
The cry has been heard: After 20 years with little change to baby monitoring devices, new designs premiered in January at the Consumer Electronics Show promising Wi-Fi connectivity and high-definition video that streams live to a smartphone. Some new monitors will have two-way audio, allowing parents to whisper comforting words in their baby’s ear without [...]
Child Sense: Toilet training
Toilet training is one of the major life skills we all master in order to lead a normal life. Approaching this lesson with patience, compassion and understanding will go a long way with helping your child master this skill. By understanding how your child’s dominant sense affects their mastery of toilet training, you will be [...]
Imaginary friends are common, and help children practice social skills
The Wachs family had just moved from Utah to Traverse City, Mich., when, suddenly, 3 1/2-year-old Eden began talking about a new friend named Kelly. “She said, ‘Kelly brings me cookies; Kelly gets in trouble,’ ” said Eden’s mother, Rachel Wachs, 29, who first heard about Kelly [...]
Nurturing the nursing mother: Mom-to-mom support gives at-risk babies a better chance
Erica McLeod, a mother of three, holds up what looks like a string of wooden beads, each one just a little bigger than the previous one. She uses it to teach Rachel Trader, 22, an expectant mother who stopped breastfeeding her first child because she thought she wasn’t producing enough milk. “I don’t want to [...]
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