• Created on 2/4/13 by Marcy Axness

A common misconception is that teens need us to drop the reins. But neurodevelopmentally, they are as tender as infants, so teens still need us very much. One of the most important books I’ve encountered about parenting during early adolescence is poignantly and aptly titled Our Last Best Shot. Author Laura Sessions Stepp spent two years finding out what teens need for future psychosocial wellbeing and success. She admits in the book that she “wanted to minimize the significance of parents and emphasize the importance of other adults.”   While she discovered the... read more

• Created on 2/1/13 by Beth Berry

By Beth Berry     Among my favorite things about living abroad are the unexpected encounters and rich relationships we’ve formed with people from all walks of life and corners of the planet. One such experience stands out as particularly interesting... Some months ago, I met a man from England at our favorite hole-in-the-wall wine bar down the street from our house. He, a chatty guy in his late 40s, and I, excited to be out without kids and sharing a table with jovial strangers from six countries, enjoyed a lively conversation on subjects from healthcare... read more

• Created on 1/29/13 by Marcy Axness

“But they’re so awful!” This is a response I often hear from parents when I recommend Grimms' fairy tales as reading fare for their children. While Grimms' is all the rage these days for adults, parents often recoil at the idea of regaling their young children with stories of orphans and witches, kidnappings and murders -- at bedtime no less. Understandable. But savvy parents understand that fairy tales are soul food for children. They nourish the developing psyche in complex ways. But the real ones, not the prettied-up, pasteurized ones.   The Brothers Grimm... read more

• Created on 1/14/13 by Marcy Axness

If I've been a bit incommunicado lately it's because I've been busy reaping delicious fruits of parenting for peace: enjoying some of the delights of parenting adult children! Between visiting New York to catch my son in a fabulous show at the 92nd St. Y and spending time with my daughter as she is about to begin her last college semester before embarking on The World, it's been a couple weeks of juicy mothering life and no blogging life.   It's been a time to deeply savor the lived reality of what I wrote about somewhat wistfully in the conclusion of my book... read more

• Created on 1/11/13 by Beth Berry

By Beth Berry     (Dug up this script from two years ago thinking a few of you might relate...)   My kids are home from school today, unexpectedly. I knew it was a national holiday, it just never registered that school would be out for the rest of the week. It seems appropriate to write about the very circumstances under which I find myself -- working, while tuning out/minimally managing the chaos around me. Over the next hour I will share with you the interruptions and requests from my children and husband, just for kicks. This ought to be... read more

• Created on 1/9/13 by Melanie Mayo

Thank you to Dr. Laura Markham and Perigree Books for sharing this exclusive excerpt of Dr. Markham's new book Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting.   How to Set Empathic Limits Setting limits is an essential part of parenting. Limits keep our children safe and healthy and support them in learning social norms so that they can function happily in society. And if we set limits empathically, kids are more likely to internalize the ability to set limits for themselves, which is otherwise known as self-discipline.   How are you... read more

• Created on 1/1/13 by Melanie Mayo

      (Contributed by Mothering.com writer Sarah Clark)   Happy New Year mamas!  If you are like most people the new year   makes you think a little about trying a little harder and being a little better.  And if you are like most mother's then that always leads back to the home, and children, and motherhood.   Here are a few easy tips for you to help improve yourself- and your family- in this next New Year.     ~ Take a breath ~   It's amazing how much difference it can make to simply BREATHE when life gets  hard.... read more

• Created on 12/21/12 by Beth Berry

  By Beth Berry   This article has been reposted from my blog, Revolution from Home.    I thought about not writing this -- about giving it more time, having our holiday and simply honoring the now-resting and their broken families in silent prayers and tear-filled gazes upon my babies. Tragedy such as Friday’s is hardly touched by mere words; even less is the suffering left in its wake. But while my heart remains heavy and selfishly prefers to put it off, my conscience won’t allow me the luxury. Much like digging bodies from a mud-slicked mountain or... read more

• Created on 12/20/12 by Marcy Axness

As we all anguish over Newtown's murdered children, parents understandably worry about their own children's safety. Realistically and statistically, there is a miniscule chance of your child being assaulted by a deranged shooter. But how often do we worry about protecting our children from the violence of media?   Picking up from my last post's discussion of television as a neuro-violent experience, a topic of eternal concern and seemingly endless research is the effect of certain kinds of screened content on children’s wellbeing -- particularly violence. (And... read more

• Created on 12/16/12 by Marcy Axness

So many questions in the wake of Newtown, and an excellent one is about how television violence affects children. As some of the wiser commentators have said, there is no one single reason (not just guns, not just mental illness, not just family dynamics) for a tragedy of such heinous proportions. The question of how television violence affects children is just one thread of the complex tapestry of causes in such tragedies as the Newtown massacre.   This tapestry surely finds its warp threads in the early days of a child's life as the social brain is wiring up... read more