Parents aren’t always naturals at soothing their children’s fear of doctors or dentists. But there are things they can do to make the visits less upsetting, says Meghan D. Kelly, M.S.Ed., C.C.L.S., director of the Phoebe H. Stein Child Life Program at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. Besides staying calm, keep this advice in mind: Doctor Phobia Strategy...
My dentist was a mother of two teen boys, and I hungered to know what kind of life might lie ahead of me. What I really needed to know was this: How did she keep her teen boys talking to her? Her curious response: skiing. She explained, “I got them into skiing nearly as soon as they could stand. It’s something they love, that I love, that we’ve always done together. It gives us common ground.” Here...
It hit me about two months ago that evenings in front of the TV, video games, and computer at my house had finally gotten out of control. So I came up with an idea: The kids would have to turn off all screens at 9 p.m. and keep them off ‘til bedtime. (To stave off a full-blown revolt, I’d get TiVo so they could catch up with whatever they might miss.) Oddly, it was my husband who argued the hardest...
After finishing up a yearlong work project, Maura Rhodes faced the daunting job of cleaning up her home office. “The place was a disaster. And one of the big things that kept me from getting started were several years’ worth of magazines strewn all over the place,” says Rhodes. So the freelance editor from Montclair, N.J., offhandedly offered to pay her 9-year-old daughter to deal with her magazine...
Why on earth would any parent go camping with their kids? Between the packing, the hauling and the dirt, it’s enough to send you running to the Holiday Inn. But it’s these very same rustic realities that make a weekend or even a week in the woods the perfect glue for a great family bonding experience. “Unlike other types of vacations, you aren’t led around, signs don’t tell you what to do...
Follow my blog with Bloglovin Sniffling, sneezing, puffy eyes — kids’ hay fever misery can be the first sign of spring. Up to 40 percent of all children struggle with allergic rhinitis, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). That’s the proper name for the upper respiratory symptoms caused by either year-round allergens (like mold or pet fur) or seasonal...
