The day that your child turns red then blue while writhing on the floor in an attempt to get his or her way, is a day when you earn perhaps your first parenting medal, “valor under stress.” Joan, a mother of two, related to me her ordeal of a temper tantrum with three-year-old, Robbie. “It […]
Think Win/Win
In our busy day-to-day lives, as we try to do everything–jobs, children, home, marriage–stopping to think what everyone in our family needs may not be a high priority. When we’re caring for small children, there never seems to be enough time, enough money, enough sleep, or enough hours in the day. It’s difficult to find […]
Seek First to Understand, and Then to Be Understood
One is none. Two is ten. ~Icelandic proverb about children For a while, this parenting stuff can seem like you’ve got it under control. Then comes the second child. As Uncle Norm told me years ago, “Before I had children I had ten theories about raising children. Now I have ten children and no theories.” […]
Helping Your Child Be Better Organized
“A place for everything, and everything in its place.” What a wonderful dream. When I was six years old, my toys would fit in one drawer of my dresser. Jacks and balls, jump rope, coloring books, crayons, checkers and a deck of cards. A shelf in the closet held all the toys for five children; […]
Increasing Your Child’s Active Working Memory
“Is there something wrong with Henry?” Dee inquired about her four-and-a-half-year-old son. “Henry can only accomplish one task at a time. When I ask him to brush his teeth and put on his pajamas, he can do one or the other, but not both.” Dee was describing Henry’s “active working memory.” Henry was having difficulty […]
Finding the Teachable Moment
Children make us into adults, goes an old saying. “That’s because,” Monica added, “they give us our most embarrassing moments.” “For example, at gymnastics class the other day, Danielle, my three-year old, told the instructor she wasn’t going to get off the mat. She smarted off and told her instructor she was going to somersault […]
Begin with the End in Mind
Finis origina pendet. The end depends on the beginning. ~From the movie, The Emperor’s Club A favorite book is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. One habit that I encourage parents to develop is, “Begin with the end in mind.” What kind of person do you want your child to become? […]
The Best Gift for Our Children
It was Parents’ Weekend during our daughter’s freshman year at college. The ladies cross-country team had arranged a dinner for the parents. As we dined on ravioli at a local restaurant, it dawned on me that I was sitting in the middle of a statistical anomaly. Every team member had a parent there, and of […]
What’s Your Sentence?
Clare Booth Luce told John F. Kennedy that “a great man is one sentence.” Abraham Lincoln: He preserved the union and freed the slaves. FDR: He lifted us out of a great depression and helped us win a world war. Luce cautioned Kennedy about keeping his focus and purpose easy to remember; otherwise his life […]
Taking Responsibility for Our Children’s Success
Our new education needs to be exponential education to meet the exponential change on our planet. We need every person on our Earth to have opportunities to realize their potential through self-directed meaningful activity in specially designed learning environments that passionately engage children and adults. As our children develop mastery they will, in turn, create […]