Are We Too Quick to Label?

It seems to be a reality of modern life that we parents worry that our child may have a learning disability, mental health problem, physical ailment, or other diagnosable problem. It has become the norm to try to get children in to see specialists at a very young age for “early detection” or early intervention. I cannot help but wonder, however, if we are too quick to label and actually setting children down a path that they might otherwise avoid? I am certainly not an educational expert or a psychiatrist, just a worn down, experienced parent–but I see more and … Continue reading →

Senioritis

It has arrived…and right on schedule too. Now that we have slipped into the final term of my eldest daughter’s senior year, she has caught a hard case of Senioritis—just getting up and getting going on school mornings is tough (although the socializing all weekend is not) and as for getting in those papers and projects—it is like pulling teeth! I have told my daughter and myself that she is actually right on target—she is supposed to be ready to be done with high school. The fact that she is far more interested in where she is going to be … Continue reading →

Opportunities for Skill Development

As parents, most of us know the basics–we know that we teach our children to read and dress themselves, we may even know that we need to work with them on things like social development, teaching them how to throw a baseball or kick a soccer ball, or even help them learn how to clean and organize their rooms. There are so many other “life skills,” however, that parents can have a hand in teaching their children. We just have to be aware and look for those natural opportunities to help our children develop important life skills. Who knew that … Continue reading →

Instead of Just One Session of “The Talk,” Expect Several

It is hard for me to believe, but there are still plenty of parents who think that sex education is a one-time obligation. While they may have the best of intentions, they wonder when is the right time to have “the TALK” and be done with their parental obligations regarding this discomforting subject. Instead of one, all-encompassing “talk,” however, most experts recommend that parents be prepared for regular and repeated age-appropriate discussions and be open and available to answer questions as they pop up. Maybe instead of one big TALK, parents can think of how to lay an early foundation … Continue reading →

What Did We Do Before “Googling”?

When I was growing up, I used to hate it when my mother would answer my curious questions with her pat: “Go look it up”–meaning that I should look up the answer in one of the 3 dozen volumes of the hard-bound encyclopedias we had in the living room book case. I always swore that I was not going to say that when I had children. Instead, I catch myself saying: “I don’t know the answer to that, why don’t you Google it?” Really, it’s the same general answer and I wonder if my kids can even imagine a world … Continue reading →

Is Instant Messaging Ruining My Kids’ Spelling and Grammar?

I understand that language is fluid and as much as we would like to pin it down to just exactly what is documented in the Oxford Dictionary–that is not the way our language works. There are always changes and adjustments and new words and slang being added–but I cannot help but wonder if the internet, specifically e-mail and instant messaging (not to mention “texting”) isn’t doing some serious damage to my children’s writing, grammar and spelling skills? Sure, my kids are fast typists or great at “keyboarding” as it is now called–but they are NOT writing in full sentences here! … Continue reading →

We’re Getting Closer on the College Forms

I’ve written a bit about how my eldest daughter is only a few months away from high school graduation and how we have been getting geared up for college as well. I believe I’ve mentioned that she is a bit of a procrastinator and not one of those kids who is absolutely certain-written-in-stone about what she would like to do after high school. Meanwhile, I have been trying to balance out my involvement and let her take the lead. So, it is an interesting dance we have been doing! As deadlines are starting to loom, however, she is picking up … Continue reading →

Graduating in 2008

My eldest daughter is graduating from high school this year, 2008. It has seemed a little strange as the inevitable year approached and now it is here. The strange thing is that I remember when she was born, in 1990 and thinking that 2008 seemed like such a long way off! How on earth was I going to get this little baby (okay, not so little since she weighed over 10 pounds) to the place where she would be graduating from high school? And what would she be like when she did? I am not one of those people who … Continue reading →

Conduct Unbecoming

Tyler has always excelled in his school work. So far he’s brought home nothing but A’s and I couldn’t be more pleased. The school he currently attends is a private Catholic school and their grading system is somewhat different from the public school grading system I’m familiar with. For instance, in order to get an A, you have to make 97. As I said, I am extremely satisfied with his academic performance. His conduct on the other hand, “needs improvement.” He started out fine but over the past two weeks his behavior has not been stellar. Each day his teacher … Continue reading →

This Parent’s Pet Peeve: Misspelled Words in Marketing and Products

As we are being inundated with product marketing this time of year (particularly toys and child-directed items), I wanted to share one of my parenting pet peeves—it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to when my children were small beginning readers and spellers, but I still do NOT like it when companies misspell the names of the products or marketing materials on purpose—especially with items that are directed at children. As a mother of young kids, I remember that my children learned a great deal about reading and letters from reading street signs, looking at cereal boxes, and … Continue reading →