Search Results for: blog when parents are pitted against each other

Finger Pointing at Other Parents

Here is something I have found easy to do…judge other people’s kids. It is easy for me to sit back and think to myself, “Well, at least my child has never done such-and-such.” Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I think my children are perfect and can do no wrong. On a daily basis it seems that someone is always doing something “wrong” (or at the very least something that is challenging). But I guess what I am discovering about myself is that at no point can you ever assume your child won’t do something. Now for the sheer … Continue reading →

Teaching Teens about Cooperation

If we want our children to be cooperative then we have to teach it to them. Cooperation, like any other character trait, is best caught than taught. In other words, our children will “catch” us acting one way and it will be a bigger influence upon them than if we attempted to lecture to them the right way to act. Our words mean less than our actions. This past weekend, my husband and I had to work really hard to be a positive influence to our teens when it came to cooperation. He undertook a project that, as I posted … Continue reading →

When Parents Are Pitted Against Each Other

I don’t know if it’s like this in other households but in mine it seems that many times one particular child is less fond of one particular parent for a period of time. For instance, my 8th grade hormonal daughter has found her father lately to be more of an annoyance than anything. While he thinks he is being funny, she just thinks he is being lame. I am the one she has been getting along with better. Then there is my 6th grade son who I have been butting heads with for almost two weeks now. I am definitely … Continue reading →

At Odds: Teachers and Homeschooling Parents

Homeschooling parents and teachers are often pitted against one another either by society or by the individuals themselves. Many teachers take offense that a parent could possibly think she could teach her children better at home. Many homeschoolers take offense that teachers feel they are not qualified to teach their children at home. Let’s cut through the thick fog and put an end to individual homeschooling parents and individual teachers fighting over who has the right to education young minds. Does a degree or the one who gave birth have the right to educate a child? Homeschooling is legal in … Continue reading →

Attachment Parenting Controversy

Most of us have probably heard about or seen the controversial “Time” magazine cover, in which a mother is breastfeeding her 3 year old son. It has sparked a lot of debate about not only the image displayed on its cover but the idea behind “attachment parenting.” Some of the methods used in attachment parenting include breastfeeding into their toddler years, “wearing” your baby, sleeping with or close to your baby, and responding to your baby whenever they cry. Now I am not one to judge, as every parent has to do what they feel is best. Some doctors believe … Continue reading →

You’re Always the Expert Until You Get to That Stage

What I am about to say doesn’t just apply to others…it is something I have been guilty of as well. It is the mentality that you “know” the right way to parent, the right way to handle a child at a particular stage of life. Or at least you know what you will and won’t do. But then suddenly you are finally in that stage and all of your “knowing” goes flying right out the window. Most of the families I surround myself with have teenage children. But there are also other families whose children are younger and I once-in-a-while … Continue reading →

Truthful Parenting

This week I sat down to talk to a mother of three, whose children are now grown (two are married). Whenever I need some great advice, I always turn to her. Her experiences and the way I see how her children have turned out are really inspiring to me. While I had several things on my mind, one of them in particular was concerning a parenting decision that my husband and I had made. It was one of those decisions where you ended up with a lack of peace. Deep down inside it has been eating away at me, the … Continue reading →

A Parent’s Fatal Mistake

You may have heard the horrifying and tragic story of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzy, savagely killed and dismembered in New York. Although it has been all over the news, I first read about the arrest of his murderer when I was searching for traffic accident stories for one of my freelance writing gigs. The headline blazed across the computer and I honestly wanted to vomit. I won’t tell you the details. But as I read the news story, tears ran down my face. This little boy was simply lost and looking for directions. But he came across the wrong person to … Continue reading →

High School Behavior in Adults

High school behavior isn’t relegated just to teens. I have seen some of the same behavior that our teens struggle with, be just as much an issue with adults. I’m talking about when adults start to interfere in teen issues that should probably be left on their own. Parents who get overly involved in their teens lives not only prevent them from learning how to handle relational issues but they can quickly find themselves getting sucked into the same behavior we see in our teens. What I have learned is that I need to be very careful about what I … Continue reading →

Botox Daughter Removed from Home by Social Services

So the other day I blogged about kids getting Botox and I mentioned the interview done with a mom who has been giving her 8-year-old daughter Botox injections. Since then, the child has been taken away by Social Services. Apparently complaints began pouring in, which resulted in an investigation and then a determination that the child should be removed from the home. Now I have a few thoughts on this. First, why would any mother take the chance and put herself out there in the public eye to brag about the act of giving her daughter Botox? You would certainly … Continue reading →