What does “cry it out” have to do with education and learning?
Well, maybe not that much, directly. My son is now 20 months old and sleeps through the night, mostly. A few days ago I saw this article about a new study on infant sleep, and then I read the full...
View ArticleWhat should schools do about parent “stalkers”?
If you push your child toward high achievement using often severe methods, you might be a Tiger Mother. If you are overinvolved in your child’s life and intervene unnecessarily when problems arise, you...
View ArticleAre today’s parenting practices hurting kids’ brain development?
Are we raising kids to be more aggressive, anxious, and depressed because we use strollers and carriers, don’t breastfeed exclusively, and sleep train? At a symposium at Notre Dame, researchers from...
View ArticleWhich Kind of Helicopter Parent Are You? A Quiz and a Simple Step
Not all “helicopter” parents are the same. Yes, the term has become synonymous with parents who overmanage, spoil, or “hover” over their children to prevent them from facing any hardship or setback....
View ArticleWhat I Learned By Failing as An Attachment Parent
Before my son was born, I had a lot of plans for how I was going to parent. I read lots of books and made assessments based on what I observed from my friends’ parenting challenges. I thought that I...
View ArticleWhat Can We Learn From Introverts and Homeschoolers to Help Us Educate Kids?
“The purpose of school should be to prepare kids for the rest of their lives, but too often what kids need to be prepared for is surviving the school day itself” (p. 253) in Susan Cain’s Quiet: The...
View ArticleWhat Does Feminism Have to Do With Intensive Parenting?
When the website Role/Reboot asked if I would be interested in writing about what’s next for feminism in the coming decades, I was pointed to the New York Times Room For Debate topic: “Feminism’s Next...
View ArticleDo Homeschooling Moms Show the Paradoxes of Modern Motherhood?
For the second installment of Experts Unplugged, I spoke with Jennifer Lois, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Western Washington University, about homeschooling and parenting. For almost a...
View ArticleIn Praise of Filth: A Housework Manifesto
Does the following scenario sound familiar? When my son was a baby and would nap two, three, sometimes four times a day, this would be our routine: My son would be awake for a while, we would play or...
View Article10 Reasons Why I Hope My Son Is Bored
When I was a kid, growing up on a farm in the Adirondacks of upstate New York, I do remember declaring the universal, “I’m bored” with a dramatic sigh to my parents. But not that often. And my...
View ArticleIs There One “Parent in Charge” At Your House?
Since I wrote a piece for the Role/Reboot website (that is posted today) called, Why Are There No “Working Dads”?, I’ve been thinking a lot about the changing roles of fathers and mothers. While it’s...
View ArticleIn Defense of Oversharing Parents Who Won’t Shut Up
I’m an unlikely person to become passionate about defending new parents who talk about their babies and children all the time through social media. Because if my “pre-baby” self were reading my...
View ArticleGuest Post: What’s Wrong With a Campaign To End Mom Bullying?
This weekend I received a thoughtful message from a reader, Kathy, who had been thinking a great deal about what she’s read during the past week. She responded to my post about “the breastfeeding...
View ArticleCould a New Book On Pregnancy Help End the Mommy Wars?
It’s hard to feel supported as a parent when your parenting decisions are described as “neglect,” “abuse,” or “cruel.” Yes, maybe a lot of the media reporting on the Mommy Wars feels artificial,...
View ArticleHow Do I Stop My Toddler From Sexting (Someday)?
What will I tell my son about dating? About breakups? About commitment? About sexting….? My son is growing up in a technological and social media world that is completely different than the world in...
View ArticleWhat should schools do about parent “stalkers”?
If you push your child toward high achievement using often severe methods, you might be a Tiger Mother. If you are overinvolved in your child’s life and intervene unnecessarily when problems arise, you...
View ArticleAre today’s parenting practices hurting kids’ brain development?
Are we raising kids to be more aggressive, anxious, and depressed because we use strollers and carriers, don’t breastfeed exclusively, and sleep train? At a symposium at Notre Dame, researchers from...
View ArticleWhat I Learned By Failing as An Attachment Parent
Before my son was born, I had a lot of plans for how I was going to parent. I read lots of books and made assessments based on what I observed from my friends’ parenting challenges. I thought that I...
View ArticleWhat Can We Learn From Introverts and Homeschoolers to Help Us Educate Kids?
“The purpose of school should be to prepare kids for the rest of their lives, but too often what kids need to be prepared for is surviving the school day itself” (p. 253) in Susan Cain’s Quiet: The...
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