A friend of mine, and co-founder of The Open School, wrote the following blog post and I love it. You can find her blog here. If you have boys in the ages of 8 to 14 years old, most likely you have heard of MineCraft. MineCraft is a computer game where you get dropped into […]
Category > Positive Parenting
The Power of Puppets
I am sure I’m not the only mother who struggles with a toddler or preschooler who says “no” to everything. “Let’s put your shoes on.” “No!” “Do you want oatmeal for breakfast or eggs?” “No!” (Me placing his stool next to the counter.) “NOOOO!!!!” I’m often completely confounded by his “no”s, and even more often […]
Be the Coach, not the Referee
There are a number of parent/child metaphors that I have heard over the years, usually to help understand the world of a child. One interesting one is to think of your child as an alien from another planet. They know nothing of our culture, our language, our rules, or our expectations. So, we must show […]
How to Create a Tattletale
My son W has a best friend. We’ll call him E. E and W play one to two times a week together. E’s mom and I trade off watching the other’s children, so the boys see each other a lot. Because they are 4, they are at an age where they don’t need a lot […]
Consequences or Punishment?
I have recently engaged in a Facebook conversation about punishment and consequences. I personally prefer to eschew the use of either word because, generally, the second is just a euphemism for the first. If we call it a “consequence” we don’t feel as bad as if we call it by it’s real name. What’s curious […]