Establishing boundaries with other parents
One of my key parenting philosophies is to establish clear boundaries with my children so that they know what is expected of them. I've developed friendships with other parents - and some share my boundaries and some have different expectations of their children. My dilemma is whether or not to share observations of a friend's child with the parent.
Read MoreCliques in cyberspace, bullying on Facebook, IM and Social Media
In our home, the computer lives next to the breakfast nook in full view of adults. We have strict control over when and how our children use the computer. But the prevalence of cyberbulling is epidemic with children and teens both as victims and perpectrators. This is cliques taken to an extreme.
Read MoreCliques redux
From 3rd grade to 5th grade, I had very few school friends. Literally - 2. Unlike the Motherlode story from yesterday, no clique-moms were banning their daughters from being my friend. It was authentic dislike - the children in my classes didn't want to be my friend. I can recall how that felt to this day (suffice to say, it's been more than 30 years).
Read MoreCliques and banning friendships
In the New York Times Motherlode, a reader posed a question regarding how to handle a situation where two 4th grade girls, who were excluding her daughter, were instructed by their parents to "ban" the girl when she told the teacher she felt excluded.
Been there. Felt that.
Cancer's in the Family - a how-to guide
I cried this morning on the elliptical machine as I worked out watching Brother's & Sisters on TiVo. One of the sisters tells her family that she has stage-3 lymphoma and the show did a great job of capturing what that's really like for her and her family. I know - I've been on the receiving end of that news a few times. This is Breast Cancer Awareness month - so here's a Top Ten most important things to do when you find out that cancer's in the family.
Read MoreThe Second Baby Surprise
Planned or not, parents know a lot more about what to expect when their second child is born. After all, you did alright with the first one, right? So you know you'll eventually sleep again, someday they'll stop crying and that either breast or bottle will nourish them. You may not believe it, but you are capable of loving another being as much as you love your first - it's amazing.
What's not amazing are some of the surprises.
Child care, mental health and job searching
Motherlode shared two stories on October 5, 2009 - one tragic and one ridiculous - about mothers solutions for temporary child care.
So many parents struggle with how to job search while providing responsible care for their children. In California, childcare easily runs over $1500 per month for an infant - an expense that is out of reach for many families where both parents incomes (if there are two parents involved) are required to support the family.
Almost siblings
Every parent has some script surrounding the close, lifelong relationships that they'd like their children to have. Maybe you have one - my sister has two friends that she's known since she was three and they are still close more than 30 years later. I have one friend I've known from birth.
There's a familiarity and comfort in long term friendships.
Old fashioned fun
It's very cool when something fun also is educational - and when kids come up with the activity on their own. Over Labor Day Weekend, Benjamin wanted a very specific play date - with a schoolmate. They had been talking about getting together to make a lemonade and cookies stand. Benjamin had done this once over the summer with his brother and developed an appetite for generating extra money through entrepreneurship.
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