by admin | Sep 22, 2017 | Dear Family Coach
Rigid Bedtime and Postered Walls for 09/22/2017
Dear Family Coach
Dear Family Coach: My sister-in-law keeps her 1-year-old daughter on the strictest schedule. She has to put her down for a nap and down to bed at exactly the right time. She freaks out if a family gathering runs a bit late. It’s so frustrating, and it ends up stressing us all out. How can we encourage her to lighten up? – Annoyed
Dear Annoyed: Before I answer your question, just a quick question for you: When the baby doesn’t get to sleep at the right time and is then overtired and cranky the next day, are you going help out? And when the baby is up at 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. because she’s overtired or had a catnap in the car, are you going to be there to rock her to sleep? I don’t think so.
Updated: Fri Sep 22, 2017
Rigid Bedtime and Postered Walls for 09/22/2017
by admin | Sep 16, 2017 | Dear Family Coach
A Slob and a Deliberately Unhelpful Daughter for 09/16/2017
Dear Family Coach
Dear Family Coach: My teen son is a slob, and it drives me insane. The other day I decided to help him clean up. It took us four hours, but everything had a place and the room was spotless. Not a day later, it was back to a disaster area. I was hurt and felt that he was disrespectful to me by not trying to keep his room clean. Am I wrong? – Tidy Mom
Dear Tidy: Yep, you are wrong. Your son didn’t mess up his room to spite you. He’s just a slob. It’s what comes naturally to him. He likely doesn’t even see his room as messy. You see a disorganized mess. I assure you sees it differently.
Updated: Sat Sep 16, 2017
A Slob and a Deliberately Unhelpful Daughter for 09/16/2017
by admin | Sep 15, 2017 | Dear Family Coach
Gifts Giving and Receiving for 09/15/2017
Dear Family Coach
Dear Family Coach: A friend visited recently and brought a toy for both of my children. The 5-year-old received an awesome puzzle, and the 3-year-old received a dolphin bath toy. Unfortunately, my older son became obsessed with his brother’s dolphin. He pushed his gift aside and obsessed over the dolphin. I tried to get them to share, but it became a source of constant bickering and tantrums for my older son. In the end, I took it away, but that felt unfair. What should I have done? – Caught Mom
Dear Caught: How sweet that your friend brought the boys gifts. How sad that your oldest ruined the moment for everyone. But really, he isn’t to blame. You are. The good news is that you can easily undo the damage so it doesn’t happen again.
Updated: Fri Sep 15, 2017
Gifts Giving and Receiving for 09/15/2017
by admin | Sep 9, 2017 | Dear Family Coach
Play Dates With a Stay-At-Home Dad and a Stinky Teen for 09/09/2017
Dear Family Coach
Dear Family Coach: I’m a stay-at-home dad, and most of my play dates have been with other dads so far. But I’m becoming friends with moms, too. We all have one big thing in common, but I just feel like it might be a little odd at first. If I invite a mom over with her child, are there certain things I should do as a Dad to sort of, I don’t know, make them feel comfortable? – Dad
Dear Dad: In this day and age, moms and dads are clearly taking on more similar child-rearing roles. More and more often, dads are organizing the social calendar, and that means interacting with the moms. Treat play dates with a mom friend just like you would a dad friend. You may not become best friends with all of the mothers, but if you are yourself, you will find those who will feel comfortable around you.
Updated: Sat Sep 09, 2017
Play Dates With a Stay-At-Home Dad and a Stinky Teen for 09/09/2017
by admin | Sep 8, 2017 | Dear Family Coach
Potential Football Injuries and Stealing a Candy Bar for 09/08/2017
Dear Family Coach
Dear Family Coach: I allowed my son to play high school football last year because he’s a former soccer player, and the coach said he needed him to kick and punt. I was comfortable with that, and he had a great time. This year, however, the coach wants him to be the backup quarterback. My son is thrilled, of course. Football terrifies me because of the roughness and potential for long-term injuries like concussions. Would it be cruel to say no? – Cautious
Dear Cautious: I have a strong opinion here. Too many parents blindly sign their kids up for football without a moment’s thought to the high potential for irreparable injury. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that 110 out of 111 former NFL players whose brains were donated to scientific research after death had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a fancy name for brain damage. While evidence is mounting about the impact on younger players, the same study reported that 21 percent of high school players and 91 percent of college players also showed CTE.
Updated: Fri Sep 08, 2017
Potential Football Injuries and Stealing a Candy Bar for 09/08/2017
by admin | Sep 2, 2017 | Dear Family Coach
Unsupervised Play and Losing Friends for 09/02/2017
Dear Family Coach
Dear Family Coach: My children are grown now, but I feel deeply concerned by the hypervigilance that I see in today’s parenting style. Playing unsupervised and out of sight of adults, and simply spending time alone (outdoors mostly) was crucial to my childhood years and my children’s early years. Do you consider it a problem that today’s children are growing up with almost no chance for unsupervised play and/or being alone? – Home Alone
Dear Alone: The days when parents said “be home by dinner” are long gone. Sadly, children today rarely have time to just play, let alone do it unsupervised. Most kids are booked solid with homework, tutors, sports, piano and karate. For most kids, unstructured playtime is lost by middle school.
Updated: Sat Sep 02, 2017
Unsupervised Play and Losing Friends for 09/02/2017
