This grandparent feels that one cannot and should not force their grandchild to eat, BUT encouraging them can be fun. In a previous article, “Disciplining Your Grandchildren Can Be ‘Tricky’“, I shared some tricks I had up my sleeve regarding that topic.  Now, I have some tried and true ‘recipes’ that I have used to [...]

Hi Jennifer, I’m struggling to deal with a particular behaviour that my five and a half year old, Chandra, has been displaying. For the last three months or so, when she gets upset about something, she says she doesn’t like herself and starts to smack her head. This is very upsetting to me and even [...]

We all know how uncomfortable tantrums in a grocery line-up can feel! Read “”Whale Done Parenting”: What Parents Can Learn from Sea World Trainers” by Liz Hoffman of chicagoparent.com and learn what we can learn from sea mammals!

We’ve all been there and often don’t know how we arrived. But one thing is certain, no parent enjoys being in a power struggle with their child. What brings us to this point?

Parenting is not a one way street. Two separate personalities interact to hopefully produce a loving parent-child relationship. Becoming a good parent is as much about us as it is about our kids.

All of us have anxiety – it is an important emotion.

We need it to survive, stay safe and make good choices. Some of us are hardwired to be more anxious than others. As a therapist, I feel that more and more children are struggling with anxiety for many reasons and many parents struggle with how to help their kids cope.

Understanding respect and boundaries is crucial to parenting. What does this mean? When I was growing up, respect meant one thing only – how we spoke to and behaved towards our elders. Today, I have a very different understanding of these words.

I loved an article written by Paul Dalton in articlescollections.com called “Happiness – Just How Do You Do It?”

Dalton says that adults refer to the “pursuit of happiness” or “I’ll be happy when…” Happiness for most is conditional and placed in the future. He says that we even refer to ourselves as the human race implying that we are chasing something.

How in the world does a grandparent discipline their young, adorable and brilliant grandchildren? This grandparent feels it is important to have a trick up your sleeve. In this blog, I will share one of my favorites.

My sister and I were talking the other day about how difficult we find it to NOT be helicopter parents. So naturally, this article at nytimes.com by Amanda M. Fairbanks called “Letting Your Grad Student Go” grabbed my attention.

Hi Jennifer,

I’ve always felt my daughter was maybe gifted somehow. She is 8 years old and extremely hard on herself. I think she is a perfectionist and gets very upset if she doesn’t do something perfect the first time. She then shuts down and won’t redo something. I am hoping this website might help me respond to these outbursts. She also has difficulty handling conflict with her peers. Her father (who doesn’t live with her) doesn’t think these are things to worry about but I do.

- Julie