On men froze out by their ex’s

July 15, 2009

A recent blog that included the feelings of a dad who implored moms in split-up relationships to put their own feelings of hurt aside for the sake of their children drew a number of comments. On the one hand, several dads reached out to say that I didn’t adequately address how widespread this issue is […]

Read the full article…

How doing things at which we “suck” can be good parenting

July 14, 2009

I am a terrible surfer.  An absolute beginner as likely to be drinking seawater and getting thrashed as barely standing up, only to fall right down again.  But I’m learning, alongside my twelve-year-old, who is already a better surfer than I, and who will only continue to out-pace me. And I’m having a great time […]

Read the full article…

What Whales can teach us about Parenting

July 13, 2009

Sometimes I find top-rate parenting wisdom in places that ostensibly have little to do with parenting.  A beautiful, moving and profound article by Charles Sibert in the New York Times, “Watching Whales Watching Us” (http://tiny.cc/tQ6SW) obliquely has much to offer us parents. Sibert writes, “The sperm whale… has been found to live in large, elaborately […]

Read the full article…

By the Grace of “X”

July 12, 2009

One of the great things about parenting is that in getting to explain things to our kids we are given opportunity to clarify and articulate our own thinking on matters ranging from why we can’t always just do whatever we want (i.e. have another cookie before dinner, not wear a seat-belt, or run out into the […]

Read the full article…

Mu!

July 11, 2009

As a psychologist I do a fair amount of arm-chair traveling, and I love to hear about my clients’ treks to Nepal, their bike trips through Europe and their adventures in Greece, China, South America and Africa.  I like to hear about it when they meet Barack Obama, and when they do their moving and […]

Read the full article…

Maestro Maazel on the Music of Parenting

July 10, 2009

I was driving home from work the other day, listening to NPR, when a piece about the retiring conductor of the NY Philharmonic came on.  He is now turning to nurturing young conductors at his ranch, and in his remarks about this he referenced parenting as a metaphor for the proper attitude of a conductor. […]

Read the full article…

Anger Management

July 9, 2009

Often a key thing that could improve our parenting is better anger management. A good way to conceptualize anger management is an image of driving a very fast car on a freeway.  Let’s imagine that the signs above the highway say: “Love and Limits—Next Exit” “Irritability—1 mile” “Meaningless Consequences—2 miles” “Uncontrollable Rage—Three Miles” Now if […]

Read the full article…

Barack Obama wants US to be Better Fathers

July 8, 2009

In case some of you dads missed it (I know I did), President Obama said the following at a White House Town Hall on Fatherhood: “If we want our children to succeed in life, we need fathers to step up.  We need fathers to understand that their work doesn’t end with conception — that what […]

Read the full article…

Calling all Sensitive Guys and all Tough Guys

July 7, 2009

Further to yesterday’s post stemming from a facebook interchange on why some dads are not involved, a man posted, “there are a lot of men that don’t feel welcome around their children just because of the relationship the mom has painted for the child about the dad in the past! There will only be successful relationships […]

Read the full article…

Some Day my Prince will Come… and Parent

July 6, 2009

An interesting recent facebook interchange began with a woman posting that she “is frustrated and wondering how can sooo many of ‘our’ men have soooo many children and brag about it yet do nothing for them This is not to those of you that actually do your jobs that actually take an active role in […]

Read the full article…

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →