Parenting

In the 1950s you could buy your kid radioactive samples for fun — As a child, I remember reading the warning messages on plastic shopping bags: ‘This bag is not a toy, keep away from children’. I found this statement hilarious. Of course a plastic shopping bag is not a toy. At the time, I was too young to appreciate the reason for…

Parents, We’ve gotten some pushback about the preschool graduation calendar, so we just wanted to reach out, explain the schedule, and remind you that we are mandated reporters if we suspect that you don’t love your child enough to sacrifice your careers and livelihoods. Obviously, your child will only graduate…

There are few lonelier places for a child to be raised. — Who is the narcissistic parent? You could ask a million adult survivors of these homes this question and get a million different answers. The experience is different for each one of us. However, some threads seem to run through the stories of all adult survivors of narcissistic parents. Specifically, the…

Let’s make a pact, right here and right now. — Life has a way of unfolding in unexpected and sometimes painful ways. For some of us, this means growing up without the safe, nurturing childhood we longed for. It’s a reality that often goes unnoticed, overshadowed by societal expectations, or dismissed as mere nostalgia. Yet, the absence of a secure…

What? Wait a minute. How old have I gotten? — I must have been under a rock here lately because I had no idea that young people today are analog-clock-reading challenged. …

It’s a childcare headache of massive proportions — The countdown to summer has begun. My children are giddy. Ten weeks glimmer ahead of them, weeks that will entail generous doses of sand and chlorine and popsicles. Evenings that linger. Bare feet and the crackle of campfires. When I was a child, my parents shared in the giddiness, too…

Celebrate, if your child wins… Celebrate, if your child fails… — Aim for long wins and failures will be inevitable part of that journey How many of us do that? I’m sure there are very few. As a wise man said, sure shot formula of success is QUICK failures. Why are we so afraid to fail? Why are we not encouraging…

Distracted Parenting — A friend’s son is bringing home a girlfriend. Like any good parent, the dad (an early Internet pioneer), consults ChatGPT for advice. “My 20-year-old son is bringing home his girlfriend to meet us for the first time,” he tells the chatbot, before adding a joke. “Do you think she would…

Hello readers! Today I am fielding a query from AnyMom in AnyTown who says, Dr. Psych Mom, I don’t want more than two kids but my husband won’t get a vasectomy because “what if we change our minds.” Please help! Sincerely, Random reader This is a fairly common issue within…