Tag Archives: neighbors

When Siblings Have Shared Friends

If your children are like mine and they are close together in age, one of the “bonuses” is that they may very well move in the same social circles and interact with some of the same peer group. Some kids really like this, while others may want to have their very own friends that they don’t have to share. In my own family, we have been through “stages”—there was a period around the middle school years where my kids really needed to separate and carve out their own identities and this meant having their own friends too. Overall, however, there … Continue reading →

Long Marriages: This Family Knows How to Do It

A few weeks back one of my favorite Families.com commentators, Jade Walker, PM’d me with a subject line that read “A Case for Long Marriages.” Within the PM she included a link to an article and the brief note: “Apparently, the key is to have the wife stay at home.” I would have clicked the link anyway, but that was a definite attention getter. “Has there been some kind of study done proving there’s a correlation between stay-at-home wives/moms and long marriages?” I wondered. Not exactly. But if we study the seven siblings (five sisters and two brothers) who make … Continue reading →

Sibling Support

We talk a great deal about sibling rivalries, fighting and tension here in the Parenting blog, but what we don’t give much space to is how supportive and encouraging siblings can be for each other. Those sibling bonds can be strong and for those of us parenting more than one child, there may be things that we can do to help siblings learn to love, depend on and enjoy one another… Years ago, a friend of mine referred to my three children as “cheaters”—it didn’t apply to how they played board games but it was her take on how they … Continue reading →

The Neighbors Are Moving: What Would You Do?

Our new neighborhood is a very quiet one. People are very friendly, although everyone tends to keep to themselves. Still, I have to admit that I was a little surprised when a bunch of moving trucks pulled up at my neighbor’s house, the one across the road from ours. I noticed the trucks as my eldest son and I waited for the school bus. The neighbor’s yard was a swarm of activity. There were three large moving trucks plus several SUVs, pick up trucks and cars; the people loading them all. I didn’t want to be a busy-body, but all … Continue reading →

Lawn Guardians and R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Earlier I wrote about my nemesis neighbor, Mr. LG. Since he’s spawned two blogs today, you can see I’m pretty worked up about him. It’s All About Respect In my years of walking a dog, I have encountered situations like this where people don’t want my dog on their lawn. Even though I always make sure to pick up any Murphy droppings, some people just don’t want a dog pooping in their yard period. Some have been nicer than others about making their requests, but no matter how they ask, I always respect them. It is their yard after all. … Continue reading →

My Nemesis, the Lawn Guardian

This morning I encountered a neighbor who I consider my nemesis because he never fails to irk me. Specifically he aggravates one of the few pet peeves that can spark my fury. (And ask anyone who knows me. I don’t get furious very often, but when I do…it’s nuclear.) His offense? He’s insolent. To the max. This neighbor is what I call a Lawn Guardian. In fact, that’s how I’ll refer to him from here on out, as Mr. LG. About a year ago, Mr. LG made it perfectly clear upon moving into his new home that he did not … Continue reading →

Siblings Blaming Siblings

Bickering, fighting and blaming might be what you think of when you think of sibling interactions. If you have more than one child, chances are at least one of them has tried to blame the other for various things. For most of us, the blame seems to be forever shifting as siblings blame each other for all sorts of things both individually and in small collective groups. Is there anything a parent can do about the sibling blaming sibling situation? For a sibling to blame another sibling, it is often a temptation too great to resist. Even if the children … Continue reading →

Book Review: Is That Your SISTER? A True Story of Adoption

So, how do the kids really feel? Is That Your Sister? tells you. It is narrated by six-year-old Catherine, who co-wrote the book with her mother, Sherry. At the playground and the store, Catherine is often asked, “Is that your sister? Is that your mother?” Catherine, her mother and her sister all look quite different from each other because Catherine and her sister are adopted. (In the black-and-white pencil illustrations by Sheila Kelly Welch, Catherine appears to be biracial, fairly light-skinned with textured hair and some African-appearing features, and Carla is African-American with dark skin and a short Afro.) Catherine … Continue reading →

Book Review: Bringing Asha Home

The long wait common in international adoptions can seem inconceivable to children. When their mother is pregnant, older children can see that the baby is there, see the mother’s belly growing and hear the baby’s heartbeat at the mother’s doctor visits. They can be given an approximate date for the baby’s arrival, or at least a general time frame like “just after next Valentine’s Day”. In an international adoption, there is no such certainty and no markers along the way. A children’s book which is unique in addressing this aspect of international adoption is Bringing Asha Home, by Uma Krishnaswami, … Continue reading →

Teasing or Torture?

I think the “teasing vs. torture” issue is universal in family life—it is not just for families with more than one child. It can be the interactions between a child and his friends, parent and child, or between two parents in the home. We may think we are being playful and teasing—but are we really? Are our jokes being taken as jokes or is the other person perceiving them as hurtful, annoying, or torture. Teasing should be light-hearted and fun, an opportunity for everyone to have a little chuckle. If someone gets their feelings hurt or ends up in tears, … Continue reading →