How To Love A Diaper Change

Call me sensitive, but I once saw a diaper change that made me cry. In fact, I can cry just thinking about it. It was a scene from a film about the The Pikler Institute, the highly respected orphanage in Budapest, Hungary, founded by pediatrician and infant expert Dr. Emmi Pikler. The camera focuses on a 3-week-old new arrival being welcomed with a diaper change. We hear the caregiver speaking slowly and see her...

Magda Gerber’s Gift To Grown-Ups – Parenting That Engages The Mind

Infant expert Magda Gerber’s contributions to the lives of children are widely acclaimed by educators and child care professionals.  Less acknowledged is the tremendous gift her Educaring philosophy is to us. Magda’s theories not only make our job more enjoyable and successful — they elevate the child care experience. They stretch us and engage our intellect, opening our eyes to a new view of infants, and...

Baby, Interrupted – 7 Ways To Build Your Child’s Focus And Attention Span

You’re off and writing. You’ve cracked the blank page and the keyboard’s clicking. Time melts away, as does the chirping bird, the sound of distant traffic, the tick of the clock, and the discomfort of the broken wicker desk chair you’ve been meaning to replace for months. Suddenly the doorbell jars you. It’s a neighbor friend. She snaps you out of ‘flow’, and back into reality. You love her dearly,...

Parenting is Not For Sissies – A Dad’s View

When it comes to parenting, especially the first time, I assume most people make it up as they go along. We read a few “What to Expect…” books, stock up on baby essentials and listen to advice from other dads, mothers and friends who’ve been there. But for the most part, parenting is one of those experiences we’re never really prepared for. An infant changes everything, and while preparation is comforting,...

In The Toilet

Today, while many prepare for the most glamorous event of the year (the Oscars), I’ve got my head in the toilet. The advice I’m reading on the web about potty training makes me want to scream!  Potty training in 3 days? One day? Tips and tricks? People, have a little respect.  Potty training is not something we do to a child, or ask the child to do to please us.  Children are human beings, not puppies to...

This May Hurt (Baby’s Doctor Visits)

I have had many surprises since becoming a mom. I found out that children under the age of six never walk down a hallway when they can run; that corn kernels pass through the body whole; and that boys have a testosterone-powered impulse to test the breaking point of everything, especially new toys, with predictable results. But the biggest surprise of all was the discovery that babies and toddlers can actually...

The Easily Forgotten Gift – Real Attention

I know the gift all children want most — we all want it — but it’s a hard one to remember. I’ve forgotten it for days, even weeks at a time. Sometimes it takes a desperate situation to remind me. Once, I remembered it when my independent ten-year-old went through a phase in which she saw no reason to bathe. Days would pass. She would come up with excuses. I would let her off the hook and then forget...

Smelling Roses (Taking Babies on Errands)

I can relate to babies. I get over-stimulated in the supermarket the way babies do. I have a strange aversion to making lists and always believe I will be able to take a few minutes to march down each aisle, recognizing all I need to buy. Twenty minutes later, I’m in a zombie trance and have covered less than half the store. (The hidden benefit to this is that my husband now prefers to get-it-and-go himself,...