Tag Archives: fighting

The Pets Blog Week in Review for Aug 27-Sep 2

Happy Labor Day! I hope you have the kind of job where you’ve enjoyed the day off and maybe even a nice three-day weekend. In case you’re trying to spend what’s left of today catching up on blogs, here’s your breakdown of what Aimee and myself covered last week in the Pets Blog. Monday, August 27 Does your pet like to run errands with you? Murph does, because I know where to take him to get drive-thru donuts and coffee for dogs to reward him for helping me. Tuesday, August 28 If you’ve been following the Michael Vick case, then … Continue reading →

Sometimes They Don’t Even Know Why They Are Fighting

I know that as parents we spend a lot of time trying to figure out the motivation behind all the things our children do. Are they ill? Going through a growth spurt? Is something bothering them? At least I seem to always try to find the motivation and the reason why my kids are behaving the way they are behaving. But, I have decided, after nearly twenty years that sometimes they really DON’T know why they are doing what they are—when they say that irritating “I don’t know”—they mean it! I think sometimes my kids pick on each other and … Continue reading →

Fighting About Money Doesn’t Fix the Problem

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Money. Money. Money. It’s the guilty party in most marriages when it comes to fighting with your spouse. Whether you talk about your finances, pool your resources or leave it to one spouse or the other to manage it – money is a huge bone in the midst of any relationship. If you’re thinking that money is one of the leading causes of divorce, you’d be right. So How Do You Deal With It? Financial issues are the pink elephant in the middle of your marriage. But you have to recognize that fights about money aren’t just about money. Those … Continue reading →

Don’t Always Kiss Me Goodnight

Photo by Arjen Klinkenberg Have you seen those plaques that say Always Kiss Me Goodnight? I see them in almost every catalog I get. (Wayne would tell you, “And that’s a lot of catalogs!”) The first time I ever saw one I thought, “Aw, that’s sweet.” Then I toyed with the idea of buying one as a reminder for Wayne, because goodnight kisses are a bone of contention with me. He’s great about kissing me good morning, but he rarely kisses me goodnight. It has to do with our natural rhythms. I am the night owl in our family. Not … Continue reading →

How Important is it to Keep the Peace?

There have been periods in my parenting life when I felt like I was doing little more than just working to keep the peace–providing a mediator between my kids, my kids and their father, my kids and the school–you name it, I was the designated peacekeeper. But, I can’t help but wonder how important it is that I actually work so hard in an attempt to keep the peace? I guess it is obvious that living in a peaceful, harmonious home is far more important to me than it is to anyone else in my family. It took me years … Continue reading →

When You Want To Hit A Bully Follow-up

This week I posted a blog titled “When You Want To Hit A Bully” and I just wanted to follow up on the story. The other day we told my son to hit the kid who had been bullying him for the last year at the bus stop. We felt like we had exhausted all other possibilities. My husband remembered when he was in junior high and a certain boy constantly bullied him. But one day my husband went up to the bully and hit him. After that the bully left him alone. So we felt like the action was … Continue reading →

The Birth-Order Blues – Joan Drescher

Millicent Brown is a little girl with a journalist bent as evidenced by the fact that she runs her own “newspaper.” While having troubles dealing with her little brother, she is inspired to interview her friends from school about where they fall in their families and how they feel about that. Her friend Kim is the oldest, and Beth falls between Tim and Terry. Ralph is the youngest, and Tony is an only child. Each friend has a different situation. Millicent starts with Kim, and asks her how she likes being the oldest. On the one hand, Kim loves it. … Continue reading →

Gotcha Day #3

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By May, 2003, my wife and I had taken into our home two foster children, ages two months and 30 months. We had met their two other brothers, ages four and a half and 18 months, at the twice a month family visits with their mother. We had indicated to the state and our adoption agency that we would also take the other two boys. All of us were worried that the foster home that had them was not meeting their needs. On May 5, the state worker called to say that she would bring the boys to our house … Continue reading →

Saying I’m Sorry

Saying “I’m sorry” is a difficult thing for many children to learn. Yet it is extremely important. Saying “I’m sorry” means that your child recognizes that they have done something wrong or hurt someone and that they accept responsibility for their actions. By about age two your child is old enough to say, “I’m sorry.” When your child does something that they shouldn’t have, prompt them to say, “I’m sorry.” They will probably not understand the full implication of the word, but realize that it is what you say when you have hurt someone. Sometimes children can be really stubborn. … Continue reading →

10 Ways to Prevent Aggression in Toddlers

As every parent knows there are times when your toddler will become aggressive. For toddler’s, this aggressive behavior is normal. They are learning to become independent and have an undeveloped impulse control. “Some degree of hitting and biting is completely normal for a toddler,” says Nadine Block, executive director of the Center for Effective Discipline in Columbus, Ohio. Toddlers usually do not understand that their behavior has hurt someone. They may feel ashamed because they know they disappointed you not because of their actions. Toddlers often do not know their own strength. She may not have meant to push the … Continue reading →