Search Results for: blog parenting your only child what to expect and do

The Hazards of Distracted Parenting

Posted on by

Humans can become distracted every now and again. Parents are only human and cannot be hyper focused on their children every second. There is a difference from a moment of distraction and a pattern of it. Be aware of the hazards of distracted parenting. It has become common for people to spend time looking at the screens of their smartphones while they are outside. Some people are recording video, and taking photos, to preserve memories. Smartphones make it easy to share a fun trip to the zoo with a grandmother who lives far away. That scenario can be fun way … Continue reading →

Should Both Parents Tend to the Baby at Night?

Posted on by

Whose job is it to get up in the middle of the night to tend to a crying infant? There was a time when the automatic assumption was that this task was entirely for the mother. Today, there are plenty of parents who realize that there are good reasons to share this responsibility. Babies are incredibly cute. They can also be exhausting. Many babies simply refuse to sleep through the night. They loudly let their parents know that they need a diaper change or want to be fed. At least one parent needs to get up to tend to the … Continue reading →

Tiger Mother Parenting Can Lead to Problems

What’s your parenting style? Many parents use the same parenting style that they were raised in. It is comfortable, familiar, and fits their cultural background. Parents also strive to raise their children in a way that will teach them to become successful, self-sufficient, adults. Sometimes, it turns out that a particular parenting style is not as advantageous as people might assume. A study found that the “Tiger Mother” type of parenting is not helpful (and might do more harm than good). What is a “Tiger Mother”? The Macmillian Dictionary defines it as: a very strict mother who makes her children … Continue reading →

Taming the Preschool Beast

Nothing unleashes a preschooler’s inner beast quite like extracting him from a fun environment without advanced warning. When my daughter was 4 years old she had an epic outburst at a children’s museum in Chicago because I failed to give her proper notification of our departure.  In doing so, I robbed her of the gradual transition I knew she needed in order to calmly exit the building. The fit she threw nearly got us thrown out of the museum. Looking back, my preschooler’s tantrum, which included tossing her shoes down a slide, was simply her way of staying true to … Continue reading →

Mistake #2 Parents Make With Teenagers: Looking for Parenting Answers in Others

So far I have covered mistake #1 that parents of teenagers make, expecting the worse out of this stage of life.  The second mistake I am going to talk about is trying to find parenting answers through others. I know that sounds pretty strange, considering I am technically giving advice.  But at the heart of my message is this…every family is different, so you have to learn what’s best for yours. This doesn’t mean that help from others—whether it comes through books, seminars or blogs—shouldn’t be sought.  It doesn’t mean that you can’t be encouraged or inspired by others. But … Continue reading →

Parenting Advice Challenges

You may think you have the absolute best parenting advice EVER to share with every mom and dad on the planet, but the fact is if said mother or father didn’t ask for your tips, it’s highly unlikely he or she is going to follow them. Unsolicited advice is invaluable advice. If you want to share your tried and true parenting techniques with other moms and dads, wait until you are asked.  Parents are more apt to follow advice if they are seeking it rather than having it forced down their throats.  What’s more, it’s important to remember that a … Continue reading →

Would You Marry Yourself?

Would you want to marry yourself?  Most of us probably don’t think about this but you might want to if you have teenagers. Why?  They are getting closer and closer to that time of making a lifetime commitment.  And the chances are pretty high they will choose someone similar to their same-sex parent. It’s an interesting thing to consider.  Although my 18-year-old son is nowhere near ready to get married, he does talk about the traits he would like in a wife.  Many of them are similar to mine. Hopefully he will bypass the negative one in me when it … Continue reading →

Mistakes To Avoid When Starting Your Home Based Business

I just read an article about starting a home – based business that rubbed me completely the wrong way. Of course, it may be more about me than it is about the author of the article, because it was mostly a good article. It is simply written from a different perspective than the one that I come from. I take my home – based businesses just as seriously as anybody else, even though I work part time because of my primary career as a stay at home mom. The article that I read seemed like it was written for home … Continue reading →

A Note From A Single Parent

Dating a single mom isn’t easy. There are many challenges as they are trying to balance their time between their children and with you. If you are dating a single mom, there are many things to keep in mind. If you are considering this venture, please read this beforehand, so you can gain some insight into what is going through a single mother’s mind as she begins dating you. Dear Potential Date, I am finally ready to get out into the dating world, but I am still a little frightened at this whole dating scene. I have been burned in … Continue reading →

Would You Name Your Daughter “Halloween”?

What’s your favorite holiday? Would you be inspired enough by your enjoyment of that holiday, or the season it falls in, to name your child after it? Ancestry.com found some strange names in the census, including a woman named Halloween. This isn’t the only person with a name that fits into this holiday! There are two main things that influence a parent to choose a name for their child. One strong influence is the existence of a “family name”. Parents name their children after the child’s grandparents, or they give their baby a name that has been passed down through … Continue reading →