Parenting Tactics ← Mommy Warriors

Are Today’s Teens Materialistic?

May

2013

When I was a kid, I worked my butt off doing chores around the house and spent my weekends at a minimum wage job. I cut the grass, shoveled snow, painted the deck, cleaned the pool, you name it, whatever had to be done around the house, it was the job of the kids. My dad only showed us one time how to do something and then we were on our own to figure it out. As a young teenager I knew how to change the oil in the tractor, re-shingle a roof, tile a bathroom and even sheetrock and spackle. ...

Homework without Tears

Mar

2013

I used to think I was the anomaly, that some how my 9 year old was the only kid who cried over having to do homework. I used to think that I was doing something wrong, that I was somehow creating more stress for him or putting too much pressure on him. That all changed when I was reading the latest “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” to my daughter the other night and saw a blurb about how Gregory’s mom had a reward chart on the wall that was entitled “Homework without Tears”. What’s this? I’M NOT ALONE!!!! Okay, albeit I ...

Trying to Stay Calm When Things Get Frightening

Feb

2013

I’ve always believed that my kids feed off of my energy. If I’m in a good mood, they feel loved. If I’m in bad mood, they think they did something wrong. And if I’m stressed over something, they get worried. So when we had a very frightening experience Monday on a flight home, I tried desperately not to show my terror. I’m not a great flier. People can try to convince me all they want how flying is the safest form of travel, but it still doesn’t change the fact the two best moments when I fly is when ...

Do We Compliment Our Kids Too Much?

Jan

2013

When I was growing up my mother was a big complimenter. “Honey, you did such a nice job. You did great. You’re so smart. You’re so amazing…” My dad, on the other hand, rarely complimented me. “93%? Why wasn’t it 100%? Are you satisfied with that? Is that really your best? Not bad. Now what are you going to do?” In the end, my dad’s reaction did a lot more to push me to try harder than my mother’s compliments. My husband’s boss is one of three brothers, all of whom are at the top of their field. One brother ...

Teaching Our Kids to be Someone Others are Thankful for

Nov

2012

As I prepare for Thanksgiving, I was planning on doing our usual tradition of going around the table and asking everyone to name someone or something for which they are thankful, until I read the article, “What’s Better than Gratitude,” at PsychologyToday.com. The article reports on two studies conducted at the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania where they took a group of people and randomly assigned them to list either things they were grateful for or things that they had done that others might be grateful for. In follow up behavior the latter group showed more signs ...

When It’s Time to Confront Your Child’s Weight Problem

Oct

2012

It’s a shocking statistic, but over 31% of American children are overweight, and almost 20% are obese. That is 1 in 5! Despite the statistics and the plethora of information on healthy diet and weight loss, the numbers just keep going up. And with young kids, the people ultimately responsible are the parents. It makes you wonder, what is going on? Are these parents in denial? Do they not care? Are they not strong enough to say “no” to their kids when it comes to another helping of food? It is easy to simply label parents of overweight kids as ...

Family Bonding Through Community Service

Oct

2012

We’ve started a new “thing”. When I say we, I mean my family, and when I say “thing” I mean activity. Our new thing is a monthly day of family community service. It changes month to month, and the kids can decide which “thing” they want to do, but the requirement is that we ALL do it and that we do it together. The kids weren’t thrilled with this idea at first, I must admit. My daughter declared immediately, “I’m not doing it.” I just ignored her. When she makes proclamations like this she’s usually just looking for a debate. ...

Sugar and Spice, but Not Always Nice: One Woman’s Quest to Put an End to Mean Girls 1

Oct

2012

Mommy Warriors Interview with Dana Kerford – Founder of GirlPower We hear it over and over again. Boys are so much easier to raise than girls. Boys are basic. Their needs are obvious. Their school conflicts are usually resolved quickly. Girls, on the other hand, are complicated. They’re emotional and sensitive. Their school conflicts can last weeks, months, years, and because these complicated beings are trying to have friendships with other complicated beings, all hell often breaks loose. Dana Kerford, founder of GirlPower, teacher and mother, is making it her life’s mission to help girls around the world navigate ...

You Can Lead a Kid to Nutrition, But You Can’t Make Him Eat

Oct

2012

Everyday I fill my kids’ lunch boxes with a variety of healthy items; sliced apples, carrots, snap peas, besides the usual pasta, goldfish, turkey sandwich. And everyday they return home from school with a lunchbox void of all the carbs, but still full of sliced apples, carrots and snap peas. So I wasn’t surprised to read the New York Times Article, “No Appetite for Good-for-You Lunches” informing us of how teenagers at a high school outside of Pittsburg started a protest over the new healthy lunches. You can’t take kids and suddenly deprive them of fat, carbs, salt, and sugar and ...

Our Mommy-Daughter Diary

Sep

2012

I have an 8 year old daughter who is not terribly verbal. When she has a difficult time at school, she often avoids talking about it. When something is bothering her, she finds it hard to open up. And as she matures and has more complex emotions, she is struggling to express things to me. This has been bothering me, so I was searching for a way to help her communicate. Then my friend told me about her mother-daughter journal and I knew I had to try it. Here is how it works. You get a small journal or diary. ...