A Fine Parent

A Life Skills Blog Exclusively For Parents

  • Academy (Masterclasses)
  • Free Training
  • Articles
  • More
    • About This Site
    • Parenting Book Recommendations
    • Gift Guides
    • Contact

Why You Should Cook With Your Kids and How to Get Started

by Katerina Manoff.
(This article is part of the Positive Parenting FAQ series. Get free article updates here.)

Cooking_with_Kids_Main_8688619My four-year-old makes the fluffiest frittata I’ve ever tasted. She also loves preparing sauces and salad dressings, dreaming up her own sandwich recipes, and baking lemon-ricotta cookies.

This might sound extraordinary. But I promise, my daughter doesn’t have any special talent for the culinary arts. And I’m not a professional chef – or even a particularly good cook.

Our “secret” is simply cooking together a few times a month – about two years of mommy-daughter afternoons in the kitchen and counting.

In the United States today, the prevailing views about cooking with kids is remarkably pessimistic.

It’ll take me twice as long to get the food on the table with the kids underfoot.

She just makes such a mess every time I let her help!

Cooking with a toddler? Are you kidding? That’s so dangerous!

Such skepticism is exacerbated by broader societal trends that keep kids out of the kitchen. For one, as children devote more time to ever-increasing academic commitments and organized activities, fewer hours are left to help out at home.

Even adults are cooking less, largely due to busy schedules and the convenience of takeout or ready-to-eat grocery store meals. As a result, many parents consider cooking with kids a complex task best saved for special occasions like holiday traditions or formal cooking classes.

But parent-and-child cooking doesn’t need to be an elaborate production! On the contrary, involving children in routine breakfast, lunch, or dinner prep can have incredible benefits for your entire family.

[Read more…]

Why a “Time Out” Does Not Work, and How to Elevate it To the Highly Effective “Time In”

by Ariadne Brill.
(This article is part of the Positive Parenting FAQ series. Get free article updates here.)

time_out_vs_time_in-main-image-55140239It’s been one of those afternoons. Your child has been acting out over and over again.

You have asked nicely for him to do better. You have issued a warning, and used your best “I mean it” kind of voice.

Hoping your message got through, you get back to what you were trying to accomplish when you hear “Hey that’s MY toy. Give it back!”

Frustration levels reach high alert.

You walk in just in time to see one child grabbing a toy away and the toddler now starting to cry.

That’s it. You’re done. It’s time for a time out.

You set a timer, place your child on a chair and walk away to console the little one. Five minutes later the two are back to fighting again.

What gives?

Why didn’t the Time Out make a difference?

Even though you gave your child a time out as a chance to cool down, things didn’t get better at all.

Your child is now half crying and half yelling. Not only is he mad at the baby, but he is now also mad at you! And is absolutely not willing to follow any of your requests.

Let’s talk about why time out failed…
[Read more…]

Five Arts and Crafts Activities to Teach Kids About Kindness and Compassion

by Leslie Tralli.
(This article is part of the Positive Parenting FAQ series. Get free article updates here.)

kindness-activities-for-kids-main imageKids are naturally selfish – me, me, me and mine, mine, mine. Not surprising: in the early months and years, it is all about them. So how do we teach our kids to think of others and to treat other people with kindness and compassion?

Kindness and compassion are rooted in empathy and stem from the golden rule of treating others how we wish to be treated ourselves.

Some days, though, I can spout the golden rule ‘til the cows come home and yet it feels like it never sinks in. You encourage compassion, you support acts of kindness, and you try your best to demonstrate empathy, and yet five minutes later the kids are arguing over who sets the table more often and wrestling over the Xbox controllers.

“Be nice to your sister!” you say. “Don’t talk that way to your brother!”

“Blah, blah, blah,” is what they hear.

[Read more…]

How to Prepare for The High School Years (Starting Wherever You Are Now)

by Rebecca Hastings.
(This article is part of the Positive Parenting FAQ series. Get free article updates here.)

High_School_Success_Main_11633237I walked into the huge doors of the high school, overwhelmed by emotion. It was all mixed up – joy, excitement, fear, pride, worry, disbelief.

My daughter was oblivious to it all. As she walked beside me she had her own feelings, but she hid hers beneath a cool smile, chatting with her best friends.

We were walking in to her high school orientation. This was her first glimpse at the next four years of her life. It was my first glimpse of how fast time had truly gone.

There are big transitions we face with our kids when they’re little. First steps, potty training, first day of kindergarten. So many milestones in such a short time. As they get older the milestones are harder to see.

There’s driving and first dates and graduation. All of them monumental in their own right. If we rush or blink too much we might miss some of the other things: middle school, first dance, first A, first F. They’re all part of a lifetime of steps on the way to adulthood.

My oldest starts high school in the fall. And this feels like a big deal. Even in middle school I was able to reason through how she’s still a kid and life might be going fast but we’re in the middle.

High school feels so much bigger, older, more like a getting ready for a goodbye. This shift feels complex for both of us. We are doing our best to feel ready. But not by looking at grades and course selection.

Here are 10 things that will help you both prepare for the high school years, no matter where you are at the moment.

[Read more…]

How to Raise a Child with a Strong Sense of Right and Wrong

by Sarah Rosensweet.
(This article is part of the Positive Parenting FAQ series. Get free article updates here.)

Moral_Compass_Main_84483803What would your child do in the following situations?

⇒ Your child sees some kids on the playground laughing at another child.

⇒ Your child sees someone drop money without noticing.

⇒ Your child breaks a framed photo while playing ball in the living room.

We hope they will say something to the mean kids. We hope they will chase after the person who dropped the money. We hope they will tell us when accidents happen and make different choices in the future.

We hope our child will do the right thing when no one is looking.

A child who knows what the right thing to do is, even if it’s hard, has a strong inner compass. Whether we call our inner compass a “conscience” or “having good character” or “strong morals,” we want our child to have an inner voice that guides them to be a good person.

How do we help our child develop this inner sense of right and wrong?

Here are 3 common parenting myths that get in the way of helping our children develop a strong inner compass, and three alternatives to use.

[Read more…]

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • …
  • 41
  • Next Page »

Looking for Something Specific? Search Here…

Disclaimers and Such:
Fair Warning: While none of this is professional advice, it is powerful stuff and could potentially change your life!
This site contains affiliate links. Pictures are either Creative Commons licensed or through Fotolia.
Click here to read our terms of use and privacy policy.