-
This is Part Three of a
Three-Part Series
I have a friend who used to be an attorney. On Friday nights, the firm went out for drinks. She attended because her husband was available to take the kids so she could participate in this important office bonding activity. These evenings…
Read More »- Let’s talk: Comment (0) | Blog
- Email to a Friend
-
When our tiny ones first toddle off to preschool, we agonize about how the first days will go. We take careful note of the separation practices of preschools when we tour them. We ask our friends and neighbors, and we compare their horror (or band aid-quick) stories with what we imagine might be in store for us. We explain and prepare and read to our kiddos, trying to strike a balance between serious and light-hearted, trying in effect to be cavalier about something we know to be huge in their lives. And then a few years later, our kiddos are preschool professionals. We attend their graduations (or whatever the schools choose to call their ceremonies), and we talk about kindergarten with excitement leavened with just a bit of sweet sentimentality. Read More »
- Let’s talk: Comment (0) | Blog
- Email to a Friend
-
On their journey from primitive cave-babies to full-fledged, semi-civilized children, our little ones are bound to bend or break just about every social rule in the book. They grab toys, toss sand, push and swat at other kids who are in their way, yowl when crossed, throw food on the floor and generally behave like the little barbarians they can’t help being. As they grow, their offenses become more sophisticated. Knowingly using bad language (giggling madly all the while), refusing to play with certain children, threatening to dis-invite friends from birthday parties and other crimes and misdemeanors become part of the repertoire. Kids can’t help but make these sorts of faux pas. How else would they learn? And so, a large part of a parent’s job is to teach them when they have crossed the line, and how to make amends for their transgressions. In this essential, endless process, no words are more important than "I’m sorry." Read More »
- Let’s talk: Comment (1) | Blog
- Email to a Friend
Sponsored Links
-
Every few years we read yet another study confirming how important it is to eat dinner together as a family as often as you can. It renews connections; it enlivens verbal and communication skills; it makes a happy home. But no one -- repeat, no one -- is happy when food is flying, supper is met with a grimace, and dinnertime has become a circus. Eliminating battles around eating is tough enough (and we hew carefully to the wise counsel of Ellyn Satter as best as we can). Eliminating the wildness of sharing a meal together is one of our basic keys of parenting bliss. Maybe it's just because we're always racing and find ourselves so ravenous when it's time to eat, but we cherish dinnertime more than ever -- and these are our best tools for making sure we all enjoy it! Read More »
- Let’s talk: Comment (0) | Blog
- Email to a Friend
-
As the new year turns, parents of four and five-year-old preschoolers are looking back and looking forward and thinking: can it be that there is only half a year of preschool left? And then we're onto...kindergarten?! And each one of us is also thinking: is my child ready for this? Am I ready for this? Read More »
- Let’s talk: Comment (10) | Blog
- Email to a Friend
-
What's the most essential thing our preschoolers need to learn before walking into their first day of Kindergarten? Well...how to walk into Kindergarten. That is to say, how to function independently in the group setting of the classroom: how to trust teachers and get along with new friends, how to share toys and clean up after themselves, how to wash their own hands, how to put on their own coats and mittens, and on and on. Considering that these little ones were mere helpless babes a short while ago, it's truly amazing just how self-reliant they've become. As we shake our heads in wonder over all they can do, let's also think about what more we can teach them so they'll feel as self-confident as can be when they first walk through that school door. Read More »
- Let’s talk: Comment (4) | Blog
- Email to a Friend