Photo via Pixabay Who says that rainy days have to be boring? By exploring the fun activities below, your child will be anything but bored! This up-to-date list of educational online activities will nurture your child’s curiosity, creativity, and sense of fun without feeling “educational” or b-o-r-i-n-g. Get Moving! Rainy day or not, according to […]
children
Top 5 Travel Must-Haves (for our family)
*This post contains affiliate links. I wouldn’t say we travel a ton… but we do get around a bit. Since Danny was born last August we’ve been to Disney World and Tampa, Boston, Niagara Falls (this one feels like a cheat…is it really traveling when it’s only 45 minutes away? It is a huge tourist […]
How We Avoid Punishing Our Children
I often see comments in gentle parenting boards asking, “If you don’t punish, what do you do?” Or, “There are definitely circumstances where punishments are necessary, right?” As a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst), I frequently have to hold back from defining the term ‘punishment’ because I know that’s not exactly what folks mean. I […]
Please don’t spank your child.
Please don’t spank your child. “But if I don’t spank them, they will grow up to be entitled brats.” Everything you do as a parent will impact your children. Whether you spank or not does not have anything to do with your child growing up to feel entitled. It will, however, impact the way they […]
Give Your Energy to the Behavior You Want to See
A friend of mine, who also happens to be a Marriage and Family Counselor and BCBA, often gave what I considered a fantastic speech during trainings we used to do together. He would ask our audience during which scenario more energy was being displayed. Then he would dramatically shout something like the following: “What are […]
Who benefits from ‘time-out?’
You. You (the parent/caregiver) benefit from sending a child to time out. You’re the only one who does. Let’s face it, it gives you a reprieve from whatever ‘bad’ behavior they were engaging in… a chance to clean up the huge mess made with the toilet paper and shaving cream. But don’t think it’s actually […]
How I keep my cool (when things are getting ruined)
One night, when I was about 14, I was babysitting a boy who lived near my house. We were tossing a bag of marshmallows back and forth between the two of us, just for fun, and he started to throw them harder each time. I kept warning him, telling him to take it easy, before we […]