• Created on 5/21/09 by Mothering Editorial

What can new parents say to people who recommend that they let their new baby "cry it out"?On a recent Internet radio show1, I emphasized that babies are the true experts on parenting. I added that I often ask new parents if they wish they had an expert living with them to help them to figure out what to do next! I told the radio audience to "Just look to the baby. If you're doing something wrong, the baby will tell you. If you're doing something right, the baby will tell you that too. Babies know exactly what they need."The interviewer neatly summed up these thoughts by... read more

• Created on 1/23/11 by LynnS6

Please share books that may appeal to children who are reading ahead of their chronological age, with content that is appropriate for younger readers.  (To add another line to the table, just put your cursor in the last box and hit tab. To add in the middle right click.)   I've chosen to use Lexile because that seems to be a better measure of difficulty than grade level. If you're interested, here's a conversion chart for Lexile-Grade Level.  3rd grade is about 600-730 for... read more

• Created on 5/23/13 by AmandaK

                  It often seems as if I have spent my entire life in search of a specific moment.  A moment when all of my goals are met, all of my tasks are completed, all of my obligations are met, and I can sit back and rest in perfect peace knowing that I am, indeed, good enough.This pursuit took on different faces in the various seasons of my life.   When I was a student, I believed that peace would come when I finally had all of my work done, all of my reading finished, and all of my exams prepared for.   As a young wife, I believed I would earn... read more

• Created on 6/2/13 by AmandaK

                  I had a mothering fail today.  I took my girls on a play date to a local park.  The two older ones were running around and playing, and I was sitting on a picnic table under the shade with the baby.     It had been a stressful morning, and I was happy to have a fifteen second reprieve while both big girls were taking breaks from climbing on the high parts of the play ground.  I turned around to grab my phone to check the time, and I heard screaming.  I looked down, and I saw little Mae lying face first on the ground.  Sobbing.  Somehow,... read more

• Created on 8/27/12 by emilyfrischmann

One of the most frequent questions I get is, How do I get my child to listen to me? What lingers in the roots just beneath this question is, How do I get her to respect me? The two are intimately entwined. As so often happens with Life’s sticky questions, sometimes we can unstick things a bit by turning the question around: rather than How can I get my child to listen to me, we can get far more traction with How can I make myself more “listenable”? The fact is, you can never “make” your child do or be anything! Oh sure, we’re lulled into the comforting... read more

• Created on 10/10/12 by emilyfrischmann

By Katharina Sandizell   Have you ever told your child the same thing again and again, but haven’t been able to get him or her to stop hitting a sibling, shouting at you, or ignoring your requests?  Do you sometimes wish your child would listen or be more respectful?  Do you ever wonder if and when the tantrums will stop? Well, I think most parents face these and many more challenges with their kids.  Often parents can feel helpless and alone when it comes to handling and correcting their children’s behavior.  Many people may not... read more

• Created on 4/12/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Joel TroxellIssue 151-November/December 2008 It began when our son was a few months old. We were at the shore for a summer vacation and had found some artsy shops not far from the beach. In one store, my wife, Amanda, approached me, grinning, with a little cotton doll. "Don't you think this would be great for Nathan?" "Uh . . . it's a doll." "Yes, I know. The doll's face doesn't have any expression, to allow the child to use his imagination when playing." At that, my expression left nothing to the imagination. But because my mother was with us, hell-bent on... read more

• Created on 6/10/13 by SantoshaMama

           How learning to trust my child allowed me to begin to trust myself.   "Do you trust me?" the Littlest One asked, four years old, legs barely hanging over each side of the big, old tree trunk stretched across the muddy creek flowing rapidly below. My heart leaped again, this time not just from my unnerving fear that he might fall in, but also from the fear that I might not trust him...might not trust myself. And this concept, trust, was the exact thing that had been surfacing in my mind and in my life over and over for the past several weeks. I... read more

• Created on 4/10/13 by Marcy Axness

"I had to love her enough to let her hate me." It was a stunning and very wise thing that Carol Burnett said to the ladies on The View. Burnett said she was scared of her daughter -- of saying the wrong thing, making her angry, pushing her away. (She was talking about her late daughter Carrie's three-year struggle with addiction when she was a teen.)   While Burnett's situation was extreme, her experience isn't unusual. Scared, stressed-out parenting has become epidemic: many parents today feel overwhelmed and under-adequate. Always waiting for the other shoe to... read more

• Created on 11/9/12 by Marcy Axness

For generations, formal adoption in America consisted overwhelmingly of white babies who were born to white, unwed women and were parented by white, married couples. Our laws, policies, practices, attitudes and understanding were based on that reality – and they have not significantly changed. Yet the population of adopted children – and the characteristics of expectant and prospective parents – no longer look anything like the ones for whom the institution was created. We need to examine the historic changes that have taken place, and ask ourselves: Is it time to stop... read more