Tag Archives: behavior

No Trantrums

My toddler is such a little helper. We’ve had a new baby in the house for the last month and Jessie is such a mommy. She is the best big sister. She is so gentle with Baby E. She is loving and genuinely concerned. Jessie loves her dolls and stuffed animals. She is always playing with her babies. Since Baby E has been in the house, she mimics how I am with Baby E with her babies. It’s really cute. I guess she couldn’t really remember how it was with the last infant to do the same things. Even though … Continue reading →

Preview of the Terrible Twos?

Lily will be 17 months old on May 2. Our friends always comment on how sweet and quiet she is, and, truthfully, she is a very sweet little girl who rarely causes trouble. However, yesterday she really decided to flex her toddler muscles. The morning started out OK. She ate oatmeal with butter and some blueberries. We’ve found this is the best method of hiding her laxative. Simply cut the pill into tiny pieces and embed them in the berries. From that point forward, however, she was a little devil. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I take her to the library … Continue reading →

Runaway Toddlers

There must be other parents out there with runaway toddlers. I know I am one. My son disappeared for ten minutes in a store when he went shopping with his grandparents. Anytime my son has the opportunity to get free, he runs off. He runs away from us in stores, in the back yard and even in the house. He is just hyper and wanting to burn energy by running around. He doesn’t realize the dangers involved with running off away from adult supervision. We’ve taken several precautions in order to protect my son. We hold his hand firmly when … Continue reading →

Does Your Child Hate the Doctor’s Office?

I once got into trouble with my mom for falling asleep in the waiting room at the allergist’s office. In my defense, I had been at a sleepover the night before — and despite the clever name, had barely slept. The wait seemed endless, and I nodded over my waiting room magazine. Mom kept nudging me awake, telling me to pay attention, and letting me know how rude and disrespectful it was to snooze in the waiting room. As far as waiting room mischief goes, I still maintain that sleeping in my chair was not the worst crime possible. But … Continue reading →

Spouses Behaving Badly

What would you do if your spouse talked and laughed about you behind your back? Or didn’t stick up for you when someone made an unkind remark about them? Or ran to save only him or herself without consideration for your safety when danger loomed? Sadly, my marriage has encountered all of these situations. Behind My Back In our early years, back when we were still dating and not even living together, Wayne had some friends who could be rather lewd and obnoxious. One day when we weren’t getting along very well (which happened more than I care to admit … Continue reading →

Are They Looking for the Greatest American Dog or Trainer?

Even before a reader left a comment on one of my “Greatest American Dog” articles about how could I buy the junk the show’s trying to sell us, I was already starting not to like certain things about the show. I’ll address more of those in a separate article to follow later, but for now I’ll talk about my main gripe: it seems they’re not so much looking for the greatest American dog as they are the greatest American trainer. Because forget what happens in the Dog Bone Challenge, it all comes down to how well the owner worked with … Continue reading →

When Children Regress, Part One

You have finally got your child potty-trained or moved her from a crib to a big bed all to herself. Things may be going along swimmingly and then something happens, and it is as if she had never progressed out of diapers or to sleeping independence. Regression is fairly common and it can happen for a variety of reasons. This does not make it any less frustrating or challenging, but it can help if you understand what is happening. The arrival of a new baby, a move to a new house, a divorce, death, travel or any myriad life changes … Continue reading →

Can You Have Compassion for your Child’s Unlikable Friends?

Let us be honest here—we are not going to like all of the friends and peers that our children interact with. That would be a lot to expect from ourselves! There are going to be children whose manners we don’t like, who do not have healthy boundaries, who may talk or play rudely, or for whatever other reason, we just do not like them. As the adult, however, we have the challenge and opportunity of choosing how to react. There always seems to be that one child in the neighborhood who we would rather not have to interact with. The … Continue reading →

Toddlers and Hair-Pulling

With toddlers and preschoolers, there can be all sorts of sudden physical behaviors that cause grief—biting, hitting, and slapping can go hand-in-hand with temper tantrums. Hair-pulling is another one of those physical, lashing-out behaviors that can be tough to control and stop with the preschool set. There is a difference between the curious and absent-minded hair pulling that a baby does—wrapping his fingers in someone’s hair and giving it a tug—and the purposeful gripping and yanking that an angry toddler or preschooler can do. As a parent, we might find it tough to stop that impulsive behavior and not only … Continue reading →

Consider Sleep Deprivation with Behavior Issues

I do not mean to imply that all naughty behavior is due to lack of sleep, but I definitely think that sleep issues and behavior problems go hand-in-hand. As first time parents, many of us learned how quickly our judgment and basic function skills could be affected by lack of sleep but it can be one of those realities we overlook when looking at reasons for our children’s behavior. I think many people assume that if a child is sleep deprived, he or she will be sleepy or tired or lethargic. In fact, many sleep deprived kids may be just … Continue reading →