Adventures in Parenting

My family had a great time at the Los Angeles County Fair this past weekend.
At the “Bark Park” the stunt dogs performed a number cute tricks. For one of the tricks, two small children were asked to be volunteer helpers. Usually kids love that sort of thing. However, one of them, a little 4-year-old girl [...]

I believe it was Gary Smalley who taught that everyone has an emotional tank. We function at our best when our emotional tank is full.
Here’s how it works.
When an emotional need is met, our tank gets a “deposit.” It fills up a bit.
A hug, an affirming word, a listening ear, laughter, good times together - [...]

While we were at the cemetery paying tribute at my mother’s grave site (it’s been 9 years since her passing, I miss her), my 8-year-old nephew started running around with no apparent aim.
His mother and I looked at each other. “Where is he going?”
We nodded with mutual understanding: It doesn’t matter where he’s going. It’s [...]

Are your children spending too much time on computer/video games and won’t stop playing?
Will an Internet Use Contract solve your problem?
When we draft such a contract, we want to make the kid promise to all kinds of restrictions - “I will not play more than 2 hours a day.  I will not chat with strangers. [...]

This is the second article in the series on Discipline.
Honestly, no one likes to be disciplined, isn’t that right? Whether you are an adult being disciplined by the law or by your boss, or you are a child disciplined by a teacher or by a parent, it’s definitely no fun.

This is the first article in a series on Discipline
Dr. Laura was asked a question by a mother about the proper method of disciplining her son to behave well when they go to the market.
Her response I thought was right on. Dr. Laura said, “It’s not always about discipline.”

Children do not behave the way [...]