Mean World Syndrome. NetFamilyNews.org. K-2 Punks. Connect Safely. The Grass Stain Guru. Playborhood. How Children Learn Bravery in an Age of Overprotection. In the spring of 2008, Lenore Skenazy, a resident of Queens in New York City, left her 9-year-old son off at Bloomingdale's in midtown Manhattan, in the middle of a sunny Sunday, gave him a handful of quarters, $20 for emergencies, a map, a Metrocard, and a kiss (I assume) and said he could go home himself.
To do so he would have to take the subway and a bus, on a route he had taken many times before with his mom. When he got home he was pleased as punch. He had been begging for this opportunity to prove that he could get home himself by public transportation, and now he had done it. He glowed with his new sense of maturity. Lenore, who was then a columnist for the , wrote a column about it. Within hours after the column appeared some in the media had labeled her as "America's Worst Mom. " Now, I don't mean to one-up Lenore—whom I got to know and admire at a conference where we both spoke—in the America's worst parent department, BUT.... We said, "OK. " Parenting: Raise Independent Children.
One of your most important goals as a parent is to raise children who become independent and self-reliant people. Certainly, in early development, your children count on you. As infants, they rely on you for nourishment, cleaning, and mobility. As your children grow, they become more independent in these basic areas of living, but still depend on you for love, protection, guidance, and support. As your children reach adolescence and move toward adulthood, they become less reliant on you and gain greater independence in all aspects of their lives. Contingent children are dependent on others for how they feel about themselves. Depend on others to provide them with incentive to achieve. Depend on others for their happiness because they have no ownership of their lives and little responsibility for their own thoughts, emotions, and actions. Reinforced with inappropriate rewards and no limits, and regardless of their behavior. Parents use extrinsic rewards appropriately and sparingly.
Rethinking Childhood. Designed To Move. How To Be A Dad. Games We Played. Little Kids, Big City. The Best Organ Recital You Will Ever See Just watch until :50 at least. I guarantee you will be riveted! And yes — that entire song is this little girl solo on the organ. What To Do With Artichoke Hearts If Google Analytics is to be believed, there is a shocking dearth of information out there about what to do with all those tins of canned artichoke hearts lying around. 25 Ways to Tie a Scarf Puxsatawney Phil said only six more weeks of winter but I know he’s an unreliable meteorologist. 10 Ways 'The Good Wife' Gets Chicago Wrong I’ve only been living here in Chicago for 15 years, so I certainly don’t claim to be a life-long resident-level expert on the subject.
Les Miserables: Before and After Motherhood Les Miserables came to America in 1986 (the year I graduated from high school). A Gift for Dad: A Guide for the Clueless Look, you have to buy a gift for a dad. Ten Holiday Gift Ideas for Teachers Does it really need a preamble? Baby Names of 2012: So Last Week Goodbye baby names of 2012. Free Range Kids.