Introduction

Fellow Parent (I’m guessing):

You’re very brave, to look at another parenting blog (or whatever this is). But I promise, I’m not going to tell you what you are doing wrong, or what you should be doing.

Potty Training: The Second Child

This whole potty-training thing seems so much less daunting, the second time around. I mean, yeah, the frantic trips up and down the stairs to the bathroom are annoying, but it’s a phase, and it, too, passes (eventually, they can hold it longer, so the trips are less…

Interrupting

Serena interrupts. Me, other adults who are speaking… All the time. Well, OK, not all the time. But a lot. It’s gotten worse. I mean, it was bad, and then it got better, and now it’s worse again. A couple weeks ago she had a cold and couldn’t hear well. It took me a few days to realize the cold might be…

Clever Behaviorist Self-Care

The stressors of the last year+ of COVID-19 led me to identify some really key self-care strategies. I apparently do better — am calmer, less irritable, more patient, and better able to focus — when I do two things everyday: some kind of mindfulness meditation (preferably…

Clever Behaviorist Kid: Exposure

My kids (or at least Serena) seem to have been born with an intuitive understanding of exposure. I mean, I get that behavior therapy didn’t totally invent the idea of doing things you’re afraid of until you’re not afraid of them anymore. The idea of confronting your fears…

The Big-Kid Bed

Ben’s first experience in a big-kid bed was when he was about 2 and a half, at my mom’s house. The bed was actually a toddler air-mattress, but in any event, it was not a crib. We got the bed set up for him and invited him to lie down and try it out. He climbed in with a huge grin on his face. Then…

Staying in Bed: The Second Child

Serena wasn’t so into staying in her big-kid bed at first, but I managed to train her to stay in it.

Until we started potty-training — for the 3rd, and (thank goodness) final, time.

Please

When Ben was 3, we had a massive snow storm that kept us home for about a week. Rob helped our neighbor with something (cleaning off her car?), and she invited us over for dinner. During dinner, Ben asked for more ravioli, and I said, “Can you ask nicely, Ben?”. He obediently posed the question for a second time…

Bigger Kids, Bigger Problems (?)

So, my grandmother used to say, “Little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems.” I’m not sure I agree. Or maybe it just doesn’t apply all that well to this particular age-and-stage (pre-school/school-aged kids).