What Parents Can Learn from the Gorilla Incident

It happened at the Cincinnati Zoo. A 3-year-old boy somehow fell into the gorilla exhibit’s enclosure. A 17-year-old male gorilla, named Harambe, encountered the boy. Someone from the Zoo made the decision to shoot and kill the gorilla in order to save the preschooler. What can parents learn from the Gorilla Incident? Parent Shaming Doesn’t Fix Things It didn’t take long for parents around the world to take to social media to comment about the Gorilla Incident. While some expressed sympathy for the Zoo, the majority chose to attack the mother of the 3-year-old boy and question her parenting ability. … Continue reading

The “Two Minute Warning” Might Make Tantrums Worse

It has been said that the “two minute warning” is a good way to help a young child transition from playtime to another (less fun) activity. A study found that the “two minute warning” might actually make tantrums worse for some children – especially if the child was engaged in screen time. Researchers at the University of Washington’s Computing for Health Living & Learning Lab interviewed 27 families about how they manage media and screen time experiences for their toddlers and preschoolers. The answers to those questions informed a diary study that included 28 different families. Each family documented screen … Continue reading

The Hidden Dangers of “Shake it Off” Parenting

                What do you do when your child is upset? The answer to that question can be based on the parenting style that you choose to practice. One option is to comfort your child until he or she feels better. Another option is to tell your child to “shake off” the injury or emotion that he or she is experiencing. Parents that do this often feel it is a good way to help their child grow up. However, there are some hidden dangers to “shake it off” parenting that you should be aware … Continue reading

What to Expect When Your Kid Becomes a Tween

You may have been warned that your darling baby will become a teenager some day. There is plenty of advice out there about how to parent a teen. What appears to be lacking is the advice for parents whose children have suddenly become tweens. Here are some things to expect. What is a tween? In general, a tween is a person who is not a little kid anymore and who is not technically old enough to be an actual teenager. Teens are people who are 13 through 17. There is debate over whether an 18 or 19 year old is … Continue reading

Focus on the Candidates – Carly Fiorina

This blog is part of the series that focuses on the candidates who are running for President of the United States in the 2016 election. This blog focuses on Carly Fiorina. According to her official website, Carly Fiorina earned a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. In 1999, she was recruited to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard (1999 – 2005). She was the first woman to lead a Fortune 500 company. In 2010, Carly Fiorina ran unsuccessfully for United States Senate in California against … Continue reading

Synchronous Movement Helps With Bonding

Want to build a stronger bond with your toddler? One way to do that is to incorporate synchronous movement into your lives. Researchers have found that there is something about moving together, the same way, at the same time, that causes the bond between people to strengthen. It is time to play some music and dance with your toddler! Researchers at the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior at McMaster University did a study that involved 68 babies. Their study revealed that synchronous movement caused the babies to form social bonds with the person whom they shared the synchronous movement … Continue reading

The Family Dinner Project Promotes Family Unity

Does your family sit down together every night for dinner? Many families are in the habit of parking themselves in front of the TV as they eat dinner. Those families are missing out on a great opportunity to connect with each other. The Family Dinner Project has some excellent advice about why eating dinner together as a family is so important. The About Page at The Family Dinner Project has an summary of why families really need to have dinner together. It says: Over the past 15 years, research has shown what parents have known for a long time: Sharing … Continue reading

Exercise and Diet Together Help Weight Loss

Thinking about losing some weight? You’ve probably found tons of advice that suggests how to do that. Some of it might contradict the other pieces of advice. Those of you who are confused about what the best plan for weight loss is may want to consider what a recent study found. It turns out you need to focus on both exercise and diet together. A Stanford study about weight gain and obesity was making the rounds on the internet recently. The lead author of the study was Dr. Uri Ladabaum, a Stanford gastroenterologist. In short, he describes the results as … Continue reading

When Your Child Doesn’t Want to go to Preschool

Your child has been happily attending preschool for a while now. He or she always comes home with a smile and a story about something fun that happened that day. Now, suddenly, your child has started to resist going to preschool. What happened? Here is a quick checklist for parents who are baffled by their child’s declaration of “I don’t want to go to preschool!” Keep in mind that it is totally normal for a child to decided that he or she no longer wants to attend preschool. There are days when you don’t particularly want to go to work, … Continue reading

Favorite Pick: Expanding Folding Crate on Wheels

Expanding Folding Crate on Wheels I know you are wondering why any person would need such a contraption. Do not dismiss this versatile, back saving, cart just yet. I didn’t think I needed on either. I took the advice of a reader and decided to give this a whirl. I discovered it was the one thing I never knew I needed. You see in my homeschool, we are hardly ever home. School is often on the go and that means lugging around a ton of school books and projects. I normally priortized and spread things out among the kids to … Continue reading