Baby Table Manners (With Video)

I am continually amazed by how capable babies are. Sometimes words, however descriptive (even mine!), can’t do them justice. So, I’ve attached a video from one of my classes to this post to visually demonstrate. Please have a look — no actors were hired! I was stunned to learn years ago that once a baby is able to sit securely on his own (usually 8 to 12 months old), he can actually sit down to eat at his...

Big Bad Mama

I had a conversation with a neighbor today, a mom whom I have not spoken to for more than a few moments in passing for several years. She needed to spill some resentments she’s had towards me.  Her point-of-view did not surprise me, but it helped me connect some dots.  Since becoming a mom, many of my weaknesses have been unveiled, but I have also realized some surprising strengths.  For most of my life I have...

Facing the Strange

I have never been fond of change. And I don’t mean coins, I mean transitions. This is one of the many things I have in common with babies and toddlers, who often find transitions difficult too. I would love to say, for example, that I’m a world traveler, full of wanderlust to explore the earth. That sounds sexy, but it’s not me. I am a homebody. I enjoy trips once I’m there, but the thought of getting...

Don’t Stand Me Up

An infant sits stiffly on the floor, unable to move his legs or extend his arms without losing his balance… A toddler steps off a platform and takes a tumble… Another toddler climbs the bars to the top of a wooden structure, then panics and cries out for his mom, who rushes over to rescue him… These are children in my classes who are less physically self-assured than they might be for one simple reason: their...

The S Word (Share!)

It is chanted on every playground and enforced at the park, parties and play dates. It is a word that has become the social mantra for parents of toddlers everywhere: Share! We are all desperate for our children to share. Sharing is vital. The future of the world depends upon our children’s spirit of generosity. We fear that if we don’t remind our child to share, he might become a selfish, stingy outcast. Or, we...

Hi, Bye and Thank You

My mom taught me that the worst thing you can be is a ‘phony.’ Like my mother, I value authenticity, and I hope my own children will always have the self-confidence to show their true selves to others and act the way they feel. I also hope that, as members of society, my kids have the kind of pleasant manners that make them desirable companions. The infants and toddlers I spend time with in my parenting...

A Jar Not Opened (Babies Solving Problems)

A recent parent/toddler class was a jarring experience. While I was setting up the classroom with simple toys, platforms, climbing structures and objects, I decided to include a large, white plastic jar with a wide screw-on lid. I put several plastic chain links inside the jar and, as I later realized, closed it a bit too tightly. This simple plastic jar would open an important discovery in child development. The...

Blue Sky Thinking

“Take the mobile off the bed, take care of their needs, and leave them alone.” This odd sentence was my introduction to Magda Gerber and the child care philosophy that would become my passion. I had given birth a few months before reading this quotation, the only one by Gerber, in an article in L.A. Parent magazine about raising a creative child. I remember nothing else about the article, but I could not get...