June 2008

Are You Turning Your Child Into A Wimp?

June 27, 2008

This is the title of an interview by Andrea Sachs in Time magazine with the author of a new book called A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting. Hara Estroff Marano is the author in question and she is editor-at-large at Psychology Today magazine. Marano believes firmly that there are now a [...]

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Planning Time For The Park

June 26, 2008

When Thinker (now 9.5 y.o) and Little Rascal (now 7) were toddlers/preschoolers we spent a lot of time at parks and playgrounds. As we have had more children and the number of activities we fit into the day increases, I noticed earlier this year that Possum and Babaganouski really don’t get to the park as [...]

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Six Word Memoir

June 25, 2008

All the way back in April the delightful PreSchool Mama tagged me for this meme. The aim of which is to obviously write your life memoir in six words. I filed it away to take some time to ponder what beautiful bit of prose I could whip up! I have to admit that it did [...]

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10 Reasons To Look Forward To School Holidays

June 24, 2008

I genuinely look forward to school holidays. I think with this long term, I have been counting down the days as much as the children have been! Sometimes it can get a little hectic with all four home, but by balancing school holiday activities with quiet time and a positive attitude from mum, I generally [...]

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What To Expect When You Are Expecting An Adolescent

June 20, 2008

This was the title of a talk that I went to Thursday evening at my children’s school. It was presented by Associate Professor Nicholas Allen from University of Melbourne. He is a clinical psychologist working in the Faculty of Medicine. I am four or so years of expecting my first adolescent, but I found his [...]

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Rotating The Children’s Toys

June 19, 2008

Back in February I reorganised the children’s toy shelf that we have in the family living area. I had noticed how over the last week or so, the majority of the toys were remaining untouched and the preschooler and toddler were looking for other things to play with. I try to rotate the toys on [...]

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10 Ways To Encourage Your Child

June 17, 2008

When The Thinker (now 9.5) was at his first year of preschool, his teacher pointed out to me how using empty praise on children often has the reverse effect of what we intended. I did some further reading on this issue and concluded that I would try and eliminate praise from my parenting vocabulary and [...]

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The Dilemmas Of Modern Parenting

June 14, 2008

Essential Baby published a post earlier this week on a dilemma of modern parenting, asking the question “Are parents today getting it all wrong?” I know that I parent differently from my parents, but I think that within the bounds of normal (whatever that may actually be ) my children behave with consideration and respect [...]

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Some Pre-Planning For The School Holidays

June 12, 2008

It is only a bit over two weeks until we have school holidays here in Victoria. It has been a very long term and I have to say that I am looking very much forward to the school holidays arriving. During the term breaks I aim to have a balance of rest, relaxation and organised [...]