My Third Kid Hates Kindergarten Too!

Remember this guy? This sweet, cuddly, awesome 4-year-old? Well, now he’s a big 5-year-old, and he’s been in kindergarten for about 7 weeks. He started out with an enthusiastic bang, but now we’re dealing with tears and major foot-dragging when it comes to going to school.   I know, I know — I shouldn’t be more »

“Cutoff” birthdays and kindergarten readiness: How to know

Dear Dr. Heather, My daughter turns 5 right before the “cutoff” age for kindergarten – so she’ll be able to attend, but I’m not sure she’s ready. Should we have her start this fall, or wait another year? Sam in Philly Dear Sam, All over the country, parents are going through the same dilemma. For more »

When It’s NOT Bullying

As a psychologist and Parent Coach, I’ve noticed that we’re constantly bombarded with negative messages about our children. It seems that every new headline gives us another reason to worry about our kids. But often, our kids are doing great – it’s we as parents who need a little attitude adjustment! That’s why I’m happy more »

Ready for Kindergarten?

I started BabyShrink when this cute guy had just turned 2. And now look at him — he’s the “big boy” in his pre-kindergarten class.  It was easy to decide that he’ll start this fall — he’s a January-born guy, so he’s already 5. And as the third child of four he’s been waiting to more »

1st and 2nd Graders — When It’s NOT Bullying

Recently, a parent stopped me, worried about a 6-year-old “bully”. The child in question — in my opinion — wasn’t a bully, but rather a fairly typical little girl, testing out her pretty advanced verbal skills in more complex ways. Did she hurt her friends’ feelings? Probably. And did the friend reciprocate by saying something more »

Parenting Strategies When Bad Things Happen — Talking To Preschoolers About Tragedies

The news was on, and our preschooler came into the room. Before we could turn off the TV, he saw a good stretch of footage he shouldn’t have: Shootings. A deranged killer. Sobbing parents. A child murdered. “Why is that lady crying, mommy?” Every ounce of our parenting instinct wants to wish this moment away more »

Why Your 6-Year-Old Is So Awesome — Psychological Development

I recently wrote about 4-year-olds, and why they’re so awesome. No longer toddlers, but not yet “big kids”, they still snuggle like the baby you miss, but have enough independence that they’re fun to hang out with. Not to dis on the 5-year-olds, but SIX is an amazing age. I learned this when our oldest more »

Building Good Financial Values in Young Children

There’s lots of talk (and worry) about money these days, and we’re all thinking about our families’ budgets. My friend and colleague Dr. Brad Klontz talks about financial well-being, and how it doesn’t “just happen”. Like part of any healthy lifestyle, there are skills to be learned, bad habits to be eliminated, and good attitudes more »

How the Economic Downturn Makes Us Better Parents

Families have been hit hard by the recession — I see it every day in my practice. But you’d think that wealthier parents would be having an easier time than they are. Instead, they’re scrambling. Because parents who relied on money to raise good kids had their priorities messed up, and now they’re getting their more »

Kindergarten Haters And Dumb Potty Training Rules in Preschool

We bloggers check our blog traffic to see how many “hits” we’re getting. My software also tells me how you got to me — what you entered into the search or URL line to get to BabyShrink — and this is where it gets interesting. This time of year, I get a lot of searches more »

When Parenting Your Toddler Gets Rough, Remember This…

Parenting a toddler can be one of the toughest jobs you’ll ever have. Then one day, they become….KIDS. And then BIG KIDS. You get the idea. It makes those tough days with a toddler a lot more bearable when you can re-gain some perspective on the whole process. Check out today’s installment of one of more »

Why your first grader probably doesn’t have ADD

One of my pet peeves is the tremendous pressure that schools have been putting on our young children to “perform”. Over the past several years, schools have been ratcheting up their demands for the performance of academic tasks on younger and younger children. But the developmental realities of young children don’t change just because No more »

Did Swine Flu cause Autism in my son?

There’s a lot of confusion out there about illness, the flu, vaccines, medications, and autism. This poor Mom is terrified that her son may have contracted Autism from a bout of Swine Flu. Here’s her email to me: Dear Dr. Heather, Please help. I saw your article on autism, and I am very intrigued and more »

A New Post for a New Year

Those of you who follow me here at BabyShrink haven’t had much to follow lately. The economic crisis has hit my “day job” pretty hard, so like the rest of you, our family is struggling to come to terms with some tough new realities. The end result is — fewer posts. But that doesn’t mean more »

Does your child have food allergies?

Having a child with food allergies is tough — first, there are the obvious safety issues involved. You don’t want your child to accidentally — or intentionally — eat something that may make him sick, or even kill him. Then there are the practical challenges; finding acceptable, palatable food substitutes for the things he can’t more »

Older Kids and Bedwetting

My most recent group of posts on Attachment Parenting have been fueled by a fire that caught me by surprise. And while I do obviously have some strong opinions to share on the subject, I’d like to get BabyShrink back to where I think we’d all rather be…right smack dab in the middle of a more »

Do We Overprotect Our Kids?

Dear Dr. Heather, I have a daycare question about my 7-year-old twins; they go there on school breaks. My question is whether we are overprotecting them. How do you balance between teaching kids to stand up for themselves — and protecting them? Their provider’s eight-year-old son is very big and plays rough. Without tormenting or more »

My Kindergartener Hates School. What Should We Do?

This year, one of our sons is starting kindergarten. Being a second-born, he was “raring to go” to school; he talked about it incessantly over the last few months. When asked if he likes school, he replies, “I don’t LIKE school. I LOVE it!” But the J-Man already knew his teacher before school started; she more »

When Your Parents and Kids Unite Against Their Common Enemy — YOU

Boys and Feelings

Dear Dr. Heather, Danny talks about his son, who is only a year younger than mine, having a propensity for tears. Our son is very similar. He is a budding perfectionist (as his mom was) and gets stormy when he can’t do things right on the first few tries. It really, really bothers his dad, more »

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