Philosophy - Tinker with your Thinker
Walking on egg-shells is for chickens
Do you S-P-E-L-L O-U-T W-O-R-D-S in front of your kids to purposefully...
The Gift of Adoption
The first recorded evidence of adoption is in antiquity, yet there has...
“Sleep: Those little slices of death, how I loathe them” – Edgar Allen Poe
Bedtime often is a stressful, hectic time, and if you need help managing...
Where there’s a Will there’s a way – The importance of having a Last Will and Testament
Sure it’s an unpleasant topic, and of course, we can’t control the world...
Well-Rounded or Sharp? Will your child be heard from the herd?
Do you consider yourself well-rounded, accomplished in many areas, and a...
Mother Nature’s ‘optimal’ Birth Spacing
Due to economic and social factors, couples are waiting longer and longer...
Mother Nature’s guidelines for giving up the bottle/pacifier
There is evidence that babies have used some version of a pacifier for...
Does your child “have to” or “get to” go to school?
The United Nations has created eight “Millennium Development...
“It’s Not FAIR!”
Definitions of “fair” vary. To be “fair” can mean being free of bias,...
How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? One, but the light bulb has to want to change
Try to guess the best predictor of success for those who engage in...
Without failure, improvement is impossible
My dear friend Trevor Smith wrote: When I was learning to walk, often I...
Anger: It’s all the rage
“You gotta vent, let it all out, go ahead, it’ll make you...
Illusion of Invulnerability: The source of actions, both great and crazy
George Bernard Shaw said, “Youth is wasted on the young.” But what if...
The Long-view: Humane and strong parenting “over the years and through the tears”
Here are two major societal trends: (1) Expectation of Instant Results:...
Conversation PEACE: Speak now AND forever hold your peace
Who are the happiest couples? (a) those who argue frequently and...
When is a Bride a Reward, and when is a Reward a Bribe?
We often hear parents say things like, “Junior didn’t want to go to the...
The Terrible (or Terrific?) Two’s
The “Terrible Two’s” need not be “Terrible” at all. In fact, the...
The Short Tale of WAGE and SAGE
Two old friends (one named “Wage” and the other named “Sage”) crossed...
Test your “vision”
Agree or Disagree? The glass is Half-Empty. Agree or...
All the simplicity money can’t buy
It’s a classic scene: the birthday gift sits in the distance, while...
“Where did God come from?” asked my 5 year old
It took me a few seconds to get my mind around his question when my...
SILENCE! (for your moment of Zen)
When was the last time you were in total silence for 20 minutes? I mean...
I was walking down the street one day…
Imagine being on a walk with your child and you are approached by a...
“I Know I shouldn’t compare kids, but…”
Comparing Kids? Go Ahead! COMPARE (but do it right): Somewhere along the...
The “Pain of the Problem” versus the “Pain of the Solution”
Marie Meyer, Ph.D. was a professor emeritus in the Psychology Department...
Magical things every parent should know about Peter Pan
James M. Barrie was born in 1860, as the ninth child of ten in a large...
Real Live Make Believe
“Play” is the instinct of all young beings. It is observed all over the...
Words that Wound: The worst fairy-tale you can tell your kids
Let’s say your child speaks nastily. You then try to teach Junior to be...
Would you trade your bag-of-troubles for a stranger’s?
Let’s make a new National Holiday, called...
Reality Show
One of the Buddhist noble truths is that “Desire is the root of all...
Warning: If your MOOD is backward, that spells DOOM!
If nothing else, you’ve got to show up at race wearing sneakers, and...
How ALL (met and unmet) Expectations Undermine Happiness
It is obvious that expectations decrease happiness when those...
Does success leads to happiness, or does happiness leads to success?
Do you believe that you will be happy when you are successful, or that...
The Missing Tile Syndrome
The “Missing Tile Syndrome” refers to a preoccupation with imperfections...
Carefully Compare
“Keeping up with the Joneses” drives the economy. ...
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness
In the previous section we considered “Useless Dissatisfaction” and...
Mommy Cheerist: Do parents have a moral obligation to their children to be happy?
Do parents have a moral obligation to their children to be happy? First,...
Fun
I was recently reading “The Dangerous Book for Boys” by Gonn...
Don’t Berate, Educate!
The son refused to clean up the mess. The Daddy yelled, “How...
AWE you? Or AWE you not?
To take stuff “for granted” is to be stagnant. To be stagnant...
Are you some sort of wise apple?
Nature thrives through giving and receiving. In order to inhale, we...