Mothering › Child Articles

Some Thoughts On Bedwetting

At 2:00 a.m. last night Etani, my 6-year-old son, opened the door to our room. “I peed in my bed,” he said. Bleary-eyed, I changed his sheets and tucked him in again. He went right back to sleep. I lay in bed thinking how short a time it is when our children are small. My oldest daughter’s feet have grown so much that soon we’ll wear the same shoe size. My second daughter now has a key to the garage and a $2/week allowance. Even Etani’s baby sister Leone, who’s only five months and two days old, looks like a sumo wrestler next to the newborn I... read more

Remembering Grandparents

By Allison Gilbert A Web Exclusive, December 4, 2006 There are a lot of jobs we moms have: making sure our kids succeed in school, ensuring they develop the social discipline to be a good friend, and ironically, scheduling unscheduled time into our hectic calendars so they can develop their creativity as well. For many mothers though, there is another albeit rarely discussed item on our priority list—keeping our own parents' memory alive for our children. My son Jake is six and my daughter Lexi is four. They will never get to know their maternal grandparents; my... read more

Crime at the Co-op

  • by AdinaL administrator

  Happy customers buy kale at the Ashland Food Co-op “Did you hear about the embezzlement at the Co-op?” I asked James, who came back from taking care of his dad on Wednesday night. “I heard about it at the Buffalo Co-op,” James said. “When I was checking out. I said I’m a member of the Ashland Co-op and they said they were planning to review their safety measures because of what happened. What happened?” I wish I could answer that. The Ashland Food Co-op is one of the most popular stores in our town of some 20,000 people. It sells a... read more

Cosleeping When Your Child Refuses to Sleep

My son was born three months premature. He thankfully has done well. We chose to co-sleep for his growth and to make sure he got all the feedings he needed, as well as catching up on one-on-one time. He has been slow to gain weight so we continued to co-sleep until now. He is currently 15 months (12 months corrected/developmental age). Three months ago he started where he won't sleep on his own for more than 45 minutes to an hour. So if I put him down for a nap, I have to cuddle and nurse him to sleep and then if I try to slip away for awhile, he wakes up. If I co-sleep... read more

Child Custody Issues and a New Baby on the Way

Thank you for taking my question. I will try to be succinct...I was married for six years and had two boys and a girl with my husband. We married young and moved a lot to support my husband's career. When we moved back to NYC, our relationship, which had been struggling, fell apart, and do to financial issues we ended up in a homeless shelter. Needless to say, it was hard on the kids, especially the two who were already in school. My husband left us in the shelter about four months in, he found another woman to live with. I struggled to work and travel every day to get... read more

Transitioning to Attachment Parenting

I am gradually working on becoming a connected and attached parent, which is a big change and we are still getting there. I am finding that the more leeway I give and the more respect I try to show to his feelings my 7 year old seems to be behaving more and more selfishly and disrepectfully. Having said that, he is more caring towards his siblings, but more reluctant to do anything that he doesn't want to do. I expected that there would be a transition, but the "selfish" and "uncooperative" behaviour (my husband's judgement, not mine) is increasing the resistance... read more

I can bring home the bacon...

  • by AdinaL administrator

    I had a profound moment today that I’d like to share with you. As I got onto the metro this morning with my son a mother in our neighborhood shouts out: “Hi you guys!” It’s my son’s friend’s mother, a woman I don’t know well but I do know that when we moved here just over a year ago she talked alot about how much she loved her job. It was one of those dream jobs where she was director of a department responsible for using creative methods to bridge the gap between liberals and conservatives in America and create a more peaceful... read more

Angry Child

I have a nine-year-old daughter who gets very angry when things don't go her way. At meal times for example, she yells and insults the food if she doesn't want to eat it. I don't force her to eat, but I don't make a separate meal for her either. On occasion she opts to eat just fruit which she can get for herself. Her persistence in getting what she wants is not a bad quality, but I don't feel comfortable catering to her, or with her constant yelling. Do you have any suggestions?  Dear Parent, One of the best ways to prevent healthy demands and upsets is to fulfill... read more

Co-Parenting Disagreements over Hygiene

Oh, help! My husband and I have been having an ongoing argument about hygiene for nearly 3 years now, and I have reached my limit. The argument started when our son was a few months old. My husband wasn’t washing his hands after changing our son’s diaper, and then somehow I discovered my husband wasn’t washing his hands after his own bowel movements. I was really shocked and I confronted him the moment I became aware of what was happening. He was really defensive, and said that in third-world countries they use their hands, not toilet paper; he said the world does not... read more

Nose Picking

Help! I have a really embarrassing situation with my 5 1/2 year old son. I don't want to admit it but my son picks his nose and will even eat it! This has been going on since he was 2 1/2 years old. My husband and I try to talk to him about how its not appropriate in public (yes he does it in PUBLIC!). We tell him to grab a tissue or go to the bathroom in privacy. He tells us he can't stop because his "brain" tells him to do it. His 3 year old sister even tells him to stop and says "That's disgusting". He also sucks two fingers and bites his nails to the point... read more

Mothering › Child Articles