Baby Sleep Struggles (Guest Post By Eileen Henry)

A bonus of getting older (there aren’t many) is a more acute awareness of where our talents lie, and also our limitations. For instance, there are many parenting issues about which I feel confident  and capable of offering advice – however, sleep isn’t one of them. Although I can certainly help with the basics, I find sleep problems a bit too thorny and complicated.  (Granted, I knew far more before my third...

Make A Holiday Snowflake (Even If You FAIL At Crafts)

I’m not crafty. Really not crafty.  Just hearing the word ‘craft’ gives me anxiety. But it’s not my fault. It’s the instructions. They fail me all the time! The last straw was when I volunteered to teach Sunday school and chose a simple-looking activity right out of the curriculum book — making cool, stained-glass-type ornaments. The children had created little drawings, colored them and cut them...

You Can’t Do It! – 3 Powerful Messages Parents Don’t Intend To Send

“When you grow up you can be anything you want to be,” my mom often told me. She believed in me and wanted me to know it. Oddly, I translated this encouraging message into an overwhelming expectation that I could never live up to: “You have to be big, important and really famous. No mediocrity for you!” We all parent with best intentions, and we are bound to be misinterpreted by our children sometimes. But...

Screaming Baby Isn’t Bored (Encouraging Independent Play And Self-Soothing)

Hi Janet, I recently learned about RIE when I read the book, “Respecting Babies“, by Ruth Anne Hammond.  I purchased the book because I’ve had a very difficult time with our second daughter, Julianna, who is now 5 1/2 months old.  We also have a 2 1/2 year old daughter, Cassidy, and I stay home with the two of them.  Julianna screamed inconsolably for many hours each day for the first few months...

A Child Molester In My Circle

I never imagined I’d be writing a post like this one. The last thing I want is to be the bearer of bad news, stir up worry and paranoia. I want to share inspiring, hopeful messages about raising children, not scary, disturbing, cautionary ones. But last week I heard something incomprehensible: my chiropractor, a friend for 18 years, is in jail after confessing to child molestation. I’m sharing this scenario...

4 Reasons To Ditch Academic Preschools

I’m still scratching my head that I actually witnessed this…  Years ago, I was investigating preschools for my first child and made a scheduled visit to one of the most popular schools in the neighborhood, chosen by parents I consider to be intelligent and thoughtful.  As I entered the classroom and discreetly sat on the floor behind about fifteen 3-4 year olds, a teacher stood at a chalkboard to present a...

RIE Parenting – A Culture Of Creativity

There was a buzz about RIE last week. The Daily Beast, Parenting and ivillage posted articles referring to RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) classes as a trendy “celebrity craze”,  and even insinuated that participants constituted a cult. For members and advocates of infant expert Magda Gerber’s non-profit organization, one that’s inspired a diverse community of parents, early childhood educators and...

Mommy’s Pregnant – Toddler Is NOT Pleased

Hello Janet. I would love to hear your thoughts/advice on the apparent “stage” my son is going through. (I hesitate to call it that, since I am somewhat tired of being told it’s a stage, he’ll grow out of it, etc. But for lack of a better term, “stage” it is.) B has just turned three. I may be biased, but he is a bright, articulate, funny child who has, over the past few months,...