The Blog
Truth in Parenting
Tearing your hair out over lack of sleep, daycare decisions, homework enforcement, or what to do with the toddler tantrum? Want to feel better about your own tantrum as you try and manage it all? Read my Truth in Parenting blog for evidence-based reassurance (The Art and Science of . . . ), my own True Mom Confessions, and get a sneak peek of what my book offers with Autonomy-Supportive Parenting Diaries. Not sure where to start? Try here.
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The Art of Online Parent Groups
Of course we are probably all dealing with overwhelming stress and high emotions at times, and may not fully think out what we impulsively type into the universe in the flash of a “post” click. But one of the comments I heard repeatedly was what makes a good group great is “assuming good intentions.”
Safety First: Have We Gone Too Far?
In our world of news from remote towns that would never have reached the rest of us before the expanse of the internet, it can feel like threat and danger lurk on every street corner, no matter how insulated our particular street corner seems.
The Cell Phone Dilemma
My 8-year-old daughter has been asking us for a cell phone since she was five. Obviously, the answer “no” has been easy, but the harder question to answer is “when?”
To Daycare or Not to Daycare
That's exactly why we need to tread carefully with how we read and respond to headlines about the effects of daycare. We don't need the already-present flames of guilt to be fanned by click-bait headlines preying on our fears.
The Truth About “Attachment” Parenting: From Failed BabyWearing to Daycare
I take on “attachment” parenting because these types of highly publicized, marketed, sometimes trendy approaches to parenting not only are largely theoretical, but can result in more guilt and stress for mothers feeling like they can’t do it “right.”
Homework: Is It So Bad?
Researching this topic actually changed me, and my parenting. I had fallen into the homework trap with my second grader, a portion of our short evening together devolving into tears and pencils flying through the air. My worries about her future work ethic pushing me to push her, even if I tried to do so with compassion and encouragement.
Where the Science Ends and the Art Begins: An Introduction
In this Art and Science of Mom space, we celebrate and embrace the imperfections, even as we constantly strive to do and be ideal versions of our parent selves.
The Art and Science of Sleep: The First Year
I consumed every nugget of information online or in print or through advice from other parents. Letting her cry-it-out accomplished nothing but a super stressed out me laying in bed wide awake, and her STILL not sleeping. I am an educated, reasonable, well-resourced woman; I couldn’t figure out this puzzle -- and there is no motivation like utter sleep deprivation.
Screen Time: Is It Really That Bad?
Today’s “screen time” has become complicated by so many types of screens and media, potentially available at every minute, that most parents feel a constant pull of guilt versus convenience.
The Art and Science of Discipline -- “I’m not in the mood for effective parenting!”
It is both heartbreaking and somewhat comical when our 2-year-old son says, “I don’t like when you scream at me. It cries makes me.” His brain is still learning how to put sentences together, but he sure understands enough about his emotional experience to let us know how our impatience affects him.
The Art and Science of Food and Feeding
What is the number one job of parents to keep their children alive? Feed them. What could be more natural than feeding our babies and children? Well, for a lot of reasons, it can be pretty difficult and stressful.
Research: A Regular Person's Guide
Let’s add some sanity and reason back into our angst and chaos by asking these questions: 1. What do we really know? 2. What’s true for my child and family?
Everyone Yells
As a psychologist who promotes communication, positive family interactions, and focusing on strengths, I say this: we will all yell. But that's not all that counts, and the more you forgive yourself for it, the less you may actually do it.