• Created on 6/22/10 by Mothering Editorial

Dear Ms. Aldort, My son, 4 years old, has Sensory Processing Disorder. He is receiving treatment, and and improving well. I am a big fan of your book but find in some ways his areas of delay challenging in finding the balance between leadership, and my son self regulating. For instance, often when validating his feelings, he finds himself in a loop of distressing emotions, described by his therapist as very similar to OCD, where he cannot come out of it to problem solve or resolve the conflict and his "loop" can go on indefinitely until he distracts himself with a... read more

• Created on 6/20/10 by Jennifer Margulis

Hesperus is turning 11 this summer. She wears the same shoe size as my mother-in-law and she’s getting so tall and grown up. Last year, when she turned ten, we had a gymnastics-themed birthday party for her. We played pin-the-ponytail-on-the-upside-down-gymnast, had a prize walk (where you dance walk in a circle to loud music and get a prize when you land on the number that’s pulled out of the hat), had a beautiful homemade red and blue (strawberry and blueberry decorated) American flag birthday cake, and even had red and blue streamers with matching gymnastics party... read more

• Created on 6/19/10 by Mothering Editorial

Dear Naomi, ever since I have learned about unschooling I have tried to balance the exposure of my now 4 year old son to what is labelled as addictive and harmful in our society; DVD movies and sugar are what we struggle with. I used to say NO to all of it, but the older my son got the more he wanted to find out what these things were all about. The more I resisted the stronger his urge got. At one point all I ever heard was 'Chocolate...and Spiderman'. Although my son has been and is with me all the time, unschooled, I have most of my food/goods delivered, I am out with... read more

• Created on 6/19/10 by mamazee

1. Love your children, and let them know it, even if it might feel a little awkward because your own parents were not comfortable with showing affection. 2. Be fair. So consistently that your children know they can count on your fairness, even when they don’t like it. (And as they watch you consider both sides of an issue, they’ll grow to understand that things are not ever necessarily black and white—or as simple as they might have first seemed.) 3. Listen to your children, even when their ideas might seem a little out there. (This is a corollary to... read more

• Created on 6/18/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Craig Idlebrook Web Exclusive - November 7, 2008 I found myself screaming at my toddler again, repeatedly telling her to shut up until the only sounds she made were little gulps. This was not the kind of father I wanted to be, and watching her frightened reaction, I knew I had to change. When I first learned I was going to be a father, I vowed to be kind to my child in a way my parents weren't always with me. I grew up in a home where fights were personal, explosive, and frequent. Both my parents had short tempers, and fights sometimes lasted days. Hitting was... read more

• Created on 6/18/10 by mamazee

Olive Juice makes clothing for children that’s both a cut above jeans and tees AND comfy, classic and charming. Here are my two children clowning around in them–proving that they are play clothes, too! Subscribe to the Mothering.com Blogs Feed This entry was posted on Saturday, June 19th, 2010 at 11:34 am and is filed under review on the run. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.     read more

• Created on 6/17/10 by mamazee

My 10-year-old daughter, who turns 11 this summer, has noticed that a lot of her friends have cell phones. “Mommy,” she says. “I want a cell phone.” I wish James and I didn’t have cell phones. Every time I hold mine up to my ear I think of Ted Kennedy who died of brain cancer. Every time I multitask—talking on the phone while exercising, which is something I love to do, for example—I think of how Thich Nhat Hahn and other Buddhists believe that we should be where we are in any given moment, mindful of what we are doing instead of distracted by other... read more

• Created on 6/16/10 by Mothering Editorial

A couple of friends and I are starting a play groups for our kids (ages 13 months - 30 months). We want to make it purely an opportunity for them to have fun, and learn social skills in dealing with children older and younger than themselves. Could you give us some suggestions of activities that are age appropriate and how much structure the play group should have?A playgroup such as you described can be a wonderful opportunity for mothers to get together on a regular basis and for the children to start to become familiar with one another. But they're on the young side... read more

• Created on 6/15/10 by mamazee

(Photo: me with Jacob on his 11th birthday…him eating chocolate cake and me with my gluten-free cookie!)   Am I the only mother who is insanely busy at the moment driving from end-of-school-year publishing parties to final soccer games? Every day last week I thought I’d done everything on my “to do” list and was positive there cannot possibly be one more teacher celebration, field day or house rental to look at (yes, after searching for a house to rent for 6 months on the morning we were to sign the lease the people who owned the house decided... read more

• Created on 6/15/10 by Mothering Editorial

Why and what to do with an 8yo boy (not in school) does dangerous things and loughs about it when we don't look (or thinks we don't see) and even makes our youger childrens do some dangerous things too and then when the yougers come and tell to us he will completly lie about it rediculising the other and saying ''what are you saying? I never did that!''. The last thing was he was walking on wet and high wooden beams around our house and was saying look I walk on it its dangerous, you want to do it? He also wont stop when he pass with his bicycle and hit others and say he... read more