Parenting babies, toddlers, tweens, teens and beyond.

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Sea Monkeys: Great Starter Pets for Kids!

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Who didn’t have Sea Monkeys as a child? That’s exactly what I knew them as, even as a child in Argentina, where the Spanish translation would have been monos marinos. They are tiny tadpole-like creatures. Slightly hairy with a long thin…
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Open Adoption: When Child Wants to Meet His Birth Mother

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Aren’t you scared that he will want to meet his birth mother one day? I am sometimes asked this by well-meaning acquaintances or people who have reached out to me because they are interested in adoption. When I hear that question, what I…
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Should You Clean Your Teenager's Messy Bedroom?

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UPDATED August 1st, 2016 You open the door and there it is—your teenager's bedroom. No matter how responsible, well-behaved and great your teen might be, you've probably happened upon this scene before: piles of laundry cover the carpet,…
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Teaching Our Boys How to Treat Girls & Our Girls to Have Self-Respect

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It was Valentine’s Day and I had just picked up my 11-year-old from an extracurricular activity. I asked how his day had been, and specifically, how his Valentine's Day had gone, and he proceeded to tell me the following: A classmate (a…
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5 Tips for Handling Stress When Raising Children With Special Needs

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No matter how strong or positive you may be about the task of parenting, stress is hard to avoid. For those of us who are raising children with special needs, the stress we handle is multiplied. Instead of trying to ignore it, I have found…
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The Importance of Talking to Your Kids About Tragedy

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Just like with so many things for our tweens—it’s getting harder and harder to shelter them from the world’s tragic events. This week’s senseless murder of innocent children and teachers is another unfortunate tragedy that provides…
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Explaining Autism to Abuela

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“Él no es asi.” (He’s not like that.) That was my mother’s initial reaction when I expressed concern that my son Norrin might have autism. He was almost two years old and not doing the things that other kids his age were adept at.…
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Do Our Mothers Make Better Grandmothers?

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Lisa Quiñones questions whether grandmothers are better at that role than they were as moms.  I am always amazed when I watch my mother kiss my son goodbye. She will not leave my apartment without several hugs and kisses from her only…
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Spending Summers With Grandparents

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Here’s the scene.. The camp director marched out to the playground yelling my name.  Huffing and mumbling under her breath, she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me inside the lunch room.  Lunch had long been over and all of the tables…