Giving New Meaning to Parenting

A Kangaroo carries her baby in her pouch right next to her body until her joey is ready to explore the world. When my daughters were first born we held them skin-to-skin on our chests, a technique called Kangaroo Care. Kangaroo Care helps a premature baby regulate it’s body temperature because the heat from the [...]

Last night at dinner, my wife and I turned to each other and couldn’t contain our grins. We understood each other without speaking our feelings: “This totally rocks.” What revolutionary event in our parenting lives sparked this tsunami of warm satisfaction?
We had kids over without their parents.
Two kids, to be exact — a brother and [...]

I wrote a post recently about school projects and how sometimes, the line between coaching a kid and making the project more the parent’s than the child’s is often thin. In the comments, one reader mentioned how you can tell (and I would argue more so in early grades than in middle school and [...]

I’ve been talking with my sister-in-law about the concept of over-negotiating. My kids have been compromising and negotiating since long before they ever peed in a potty. They’ve been listened to and validated and respected and they have grown into skilled negotiators. Sometimes I think they should have shirts made that [...]

My Oldest child just turned 14. 14 seems so old. 14 seems just a few steps away from freedoms of driving and dating and graduating from high school.  And yet, 14 is still in 8th grade. 14 is not allowed to date yet, but has had boys who have liked her for years now. 14 is responsible [...]

I am old and sheltered. Other people have been listening to U2 for years. In fact, they are old. But I didn’t listen to a whole song until this year. And I know, some people find them profound, others find them pretentious. But that’s not the point of this post.
A new friend gave me a [...]

I have shared here my personal pacifier battles. It has been a long battle, and at times an ugly one. I have felt frustrated, unsure of myself, and guilty for not having the discipline to do the right thing – if I could even figure out what the right thing was!
I was at a point [...]

Our son M was two and a half when we met him at his orphanage in Moscow. When we brought him outside to the playground, one of the first things he did was pick up a stick, assume a shooting stance, and yell, “Ba-ba! Ba-ba! Ba-ba!” like a machine gun. That’s right: he was just [...]

Once you’ve gotten your house ready and your gifts planned, the next hurdle on the holiday prep list is food. The strategy is pretty simple, really:

Decide what food you want to cook
make a list of ingredients required
purchase them in advance.

Bonus points awarded to individuals who start purchasing shelf-stable ingredients over time, thus [...]

My daughter just turned 13 and I couldn’t be luckier. She’s reached her teenage years in fine fashion. She’s independent, but not disrespectful. She’s opinionated, but not snotty. She’s social, but not wild. I hear parents talk about the teenage years being harder than the terrible twos, but my wife and I seem to have [...]