Category Archives: Parents

Parenting is a very special job. Find great tips here on how to make your job easier – or at least take comfort in knowing that others are going through the same thing!

How to Support Your Transgender Child

Your child insists that they are not the gender they were assigned at birth. Parents need to learn how to support their transgender child. This is especially important if you live in a state that has created laws that are intended to cause harm to transgender kids and teens. Time to Learn Mayo Clinic explains that gender identity is a person’s sex that was assigned at birth. It is the internal sense of being male, female, neither, or both. Gender expression and sexual orientation are separate things.  According to Mayo Clinic, if your child is persistent about gender identity feelings, … Continue reading →

Are You A Snowplow Parent?

There are many different kinds of parenting styles to choose from. Some of them are very beneficial both to the children and the parents. Others are disadvantageous to not only the children, but also to their parents. Among the worst is the “snowplow parent”. Actual snow is not required for a parent to choose this parenting style. Emma Waverman, writing for Today’s Parent defined a snowplow parent as “a person who constantly forces obstacles out of their kids’ paths. They have their eye on the future success of their child, and anyone or anything that stands in their way has … Continue reading →

Saint Joseph Parenting Center Offers Classes

There are times when every parent could use a little help. Saint Joseph Parenting Center offers three different types of parenting classes. Their vision is that all children live in a world free of child abuse and neglect. Their mission is to strengthen families that are at risk of child abuse and neglect by providing parenting education and support. Saint Joseph Parenting Center describes their values this way: “We equip parents with the education, tools and resources to change unhealthy parenting patterns and to foster healthy ones in an effort to decrease the incidence of child abuse and neglect.  “We … Continue reading →

Gentle Parenting Offers Empathy

Think back for a moment about how you were raised. Did you parents threaten punishments (perhaps including physical violence)? Did they offer you rewards for doing your chores? There’s a new, more emphatic way, to parent called gentle parenting. It offers parents and children a way of partnering together to connect and solve problems.  What is gentle parenting? The Conversation reported that gentle parenting throws out the old ways of disciplining children. Gentle parenting encourages a child to internalize good behavior for its own sake.  Here are a few examples from The Conversation about what gentle parenting looks like: Start … Continue reading →

CDC has Advice for Parents of Toddlers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some positive parenting tips for parents of toddlers. Some of the advice is for toddlers who are 1-2 years of age, and some is for toddlers who are 2-3 years of age. Toddlers 1-2 years of age Read to your toddler daily. Ask her to find objects for you or name body parts and objects. Play matching games with your toddler, like shape sorting and simple puzzles. Encourage him to explore and try new things. Help to develop your toddler’s language by talking with her and adding to words she starts. For … Continue reading →

How to Recycle After Christmas is Over

Many families enjoy decorating for Christmas. This includes both indoor and outdoor decorations. After Christmas, families begin storing their Christmas decorations. What can you do with items that cannot be re-used? It might be possible to recycle them! Real Christmas trees can be recycled. The first thing to do is call your local recycling center, or your local waste management authority. Ask if they will recycle Christmas trees before bringing your tree to the facility. Your local zoo may be collecting recycled Christmas trees to be used as treats for their animals. Before you go – be sure to remove … Continue reading →

Survey Tracked Time Spent on Childcare

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics posted an Economic News Release titled: “American Time Use Survey Summary.” Part of the summary includes statistics on the amount of time parents spent on childcare between May 2019 and December 2020. On average, among adults living with children under 18, time spent providing primary childcare on a given day was about the same in 2019 and 2020 (1.2 hours and 1.3 hours per day, respectively). Primary childcare is childcare that is done as a main activity, such as providing physical care or reading to children. Fifty-three percent of adults living in households … Continue reading →

The Mom Project Helps Women Stay in the Workforce

The Mom Project is committed to helping women remain active in the workforce at every stage of they journey. The Mom Project is proud to work with employers who are committed to designing and supporting a better workplace. According to The Mom Project, an estimated 43% of highly skilled women leave the workforce after becoming mothers. CEO/Founder of The Mom Project read that statistic while on maternity leave. She started to imagine a future where women would not have to choose between parenthood and their careers. The Mom Project was founded in 2016. You can join The Mom Project movement … Continue reading →

Facebook’s Instagram for Kids is Controversial

Facebook is planning to build a version of Instagram for children who are under the age of 13, according to BuzzFeed News, who obtained an internal company post from Facebook in March of 2021. This has led to controversy among lawmakers and a large group of U.S. Attorneys Generals. A group of four Democratic lawmakers signed a letter in April of 2021, to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The lawmakers were Senator Ed Markey, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Representative Kathy Castor and Representative Lori Trahan. In the letter, the lawmakers question Mark Zuckerberg about Instagram for Kids. “Facebook has an obligation to … Continue reading →

Study: Negative Mental Health Not Linked to Teen Tech Use

A study was published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science on May 3, 2021. The study was titled: “There Is No Digital Evidence That Associations Between Adolescent’s Digital Technology Engagement and Mental Health Problems Have Increased”. The results of the study may bring peace of mind to parents who worry about the amount of time their teenagers spend online. The Abstract of the study explains: Digital technology is ubiquitous in modern adolescence, and researchers are concerned that it has negative impacts on mental health that, furthermore, increase over time. To investigate whether technology is becoming more harmful, we examined changes … Continue reading →