Is it better to be your child’s parent or their friend? There are many parenting lessons in the movie "Eighth Grade," comedian Bo Burnham’s directorial film debut, which is a squirm-fest tour de force. Eighth grade is a painful life phase and movie Kayla, the main character, allows viewers to experience the self-involved cringe-inducing anxiety … [Read more...]
Modern Parenting: Lessons in Juggling!
Tips for managing time for your children and time with your spouse—while managing your career Modern parenting can seem more like a sprint than a marathon—but a sprint where the finish line keeps moving! You and your spouse are trying to balance work responsibilities and responsibilities to your children, and then there’s your relationship. You … [Read more...]
Warming Up! A Psychotherapist Reviews “Lady Bird”
What gets in the way of warming up emotionally, especially to another person? In the film “Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig’s November 2017 directorial debut, we see a mother and her teenage daughter driving back from touring colleges. They connect emotionally listening to an audio version of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, then launch into a … [Read more...]
Suffering from Post-Election Blues? 10 Tips to Overcome It!
This post is intended to address what some people are calling post-election blues 2016. The post isn't partisan, but deals with psychology. It is about how to deal with things not going as you wish and how to calm your fears, wherever you fall on the political continuum, whether you are disturbed that Donald Trump is the … [Read more...]
“Trigger Warnings” and “Safe Spaces.” Reasonable Accommodation or Coddling?
Trigger warnings and safe spaces. You may be wondering what in the world they are. This August 26, 2016 article in the New York Times about the University of Chicago’s welcome letter to incoming freshmen explains the terms. The article generated 1312 comments from readers before the comment section was closed. There are many other … [Read more...]
Attachment Parenting Goes to College
“Helicopter Parents Learn College Is Time For A Landing,” by Nicole Dieker on www.nbcnews.com is a helpful look at how to adapt attachment parenting to the needs of older children. This ensures that parents launch their children into college life, rather than keeping them as dependent upon the parents as they were as high … [Read more...]
Date Night Ideas For Exhausted Parents
The article below, about creative date night ideas for parents, was originally published on Your Tango, an online women’s magazine, then was picked up and published online by the Good Men Project, Chronicle Daily, Care2 Green Living, among several others (thanks!!!). Did you have an abundance of date night ideas early in your … [Read more...]
“Because You Loved Me”—Co-Dependency or Good Parenting?
A few years ago I was waiting in a doctor’s office and, having forgotten to bring the parenting book I was studying, was at the mercy of Muzak. One of the songs that came on was a Céline Dion hit written by Diane Warren, “Because You Loved Me.” I listened to the words—yes, I was bored!—and was put off by what I heard as sappy co-dependency between … [Read more...]