Extra-Curricular Activities Can Pose Extra-Stress on Families

When I was a coach for an extra-curricular activity, trying to plan practices, I was surprised how many children had commitments almost every day of the week! I could understand parents not wanting children who were couch potatoes with withered brain cells, but saw the stress it caused for both the parents and children. Most [...]

Is it Puppy Love? What To Say About Your Child’s First Crush?

There is only one “First Love” in each of our lives. Do you remember yours? Although it may be far in the past, most of us can still feel the excitement of that first crush. We can even feel butterflies in our stomach just thinking about that special puppy love? We usually smile when thinking [...]

Halting Homework Hassles

Homework is a child’s responsibility, so we need to be careful how much we help. We want to be aware of what our children are doing and be involved in helpful ways, but not help too much. We can start by avoiding the word “we” when referring to homework; it implies that homework is our [...]

Solving Sibling Strife

Some parents “let kids work it out” by doing nothing, but if the children use insults, humiliation, or physically duke it out, then it will only make matters worse! Some parents will dive into the action and solve problems for their children. While this may bring peace and order quickly, it robs children of an [...]

Is Your Child Ready to Be Home Alone?

Most parents know accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. So when children start becoming more independent, many parents wonder whether their child is ready to be home alone. To know the answer, parents must look at both a child’s age and maturity. There is an unwritten rule-of thumb among social service and [...]

Use Fall Sports to Teach Healthy Competition

By Jody Pawel www.parentstoolshop.com Tis the season for Fall sports — when parents spend more time at playing fields or driving to games than they spend at home. At the game, parents enthusiastically cheer their child’s team and discuss the game on the car ride home. While most parents have good intentions, they can inadvertently [...]

Don’t Say “Don’t”

Jody Johnston Pawel www.parentstoolshop.com When I was eight years old, my parents took a parenting class and went on to teach parenting classes for over twenty years. I was old enough to remember what my parents were like before and after that class. One might think I had a perfect family, but my older brother [...]