Ages and Stages
A Spring Break Staycation with Tweens & Teens
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- Written by Pam Molnar; Photo: PhotoXpress.com
My 12-year-old daughter came home from school and announced that she was the only one staying home for spring break this year. She went on to tell me how bored she would be, how lucky her friends were and how she would be stuck at home doing nothing. Poor girl! Contrary to what your tweens and teens think, not everyone goes on a spring break vacation. Finances, parent’s vacation time and recent holiday travel are some of the reasons that a second vacation is not possible.
Mama Drama: 5 Ways to Handle Mommy Cliques
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- Written by Christa Melnyk Hines
Curled into circles, some bouncing toddlers on their hips, mothers dot the school parking lot at pickup time, laughing and talking together. I wave hello to a mom I met at a meet-and-greet the week before. She looks past me and continues with her conversation. I wonder, Does she recognize me? Maybe not. We’ve only met once. Or maybe she didn’t see me. Feeling awkward and vaguely rejected, I retreat to a spot near the school entrance and wait for my son to emerge.
Music to Their Ears - Nurturing Babies With Music and Melody
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- Written by Elizabeth Pantley; Photo: PhotoXpress.com
Babies love music, and music is good for their development. If you can’t carry a tune, don’t fret. There are lots of ways to bring music into your baby’s life. For hundreds of years, mothers have crooned their babies to sleep with lullabies, fathers have sung nursery rhymes to their toddlers and families have made folk music a part of everyday life.
A Parenting Coach's Top 10 Tips for Calming Your Contrary Child
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- Written by Dr. Caron Goode; Photo: PhotoXpress.com
One of the most frustrating stages of toddlerhood can be when a child learns to master the word, “No.” Between the ages of 15 and 30 months, a toddler begins to realize that they are a separate person from their parents; a person who has their own will and their own mind. As this realization sets in, a child begins to discover their independence and begins to practice asserting this independence to all who will listen. It’s this stage of development that is usually marked by a child singing a seemingly continuous chorus of a loud and proud, “No.”
