How gender stereotypes hurt our kids — and how to avoid it.
I remember watching my daughter Maddie when she was little, as she would rock her baby dolls. Comments like, ‘You’re going to be such a good mommy when you grow up, honey’ would easily roll off my tongue. But with my son Nick, whenever he acted tenderly toward a doll or stuffed animal, I had to remind myself to tell him, ‘You’re going to be such a good daddy.’ After reading Lise Eliot’s Pink Brain, Blue Brain, I’m especially glad I made the effort.
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Tagged as:
boys vs. girls,
Brain Development,
gender,
gender stereotypes,
Lise Eliot,
Play,
research,
video
Recent research may make your family’s food woes a littler easier to digest.
One study, from University College London, that looked at identical and fraternal twins, suggested that some children are genetically predisposed to shun new foods. Continue reading
Tagged as:
Babies,
elementary school,
Food,
kindergarteners,
nutrition,
picky eaters,
preschoolers,
research,
Toddlers
Putting annoying adolescent behavior in perspective
One of the most useful parenting techniques I ever learned was reframing. The idea is to relabel behavior in order to gain a more constructive perspective, thereby shifting from "I think I may have to kill you" to "I understand that what you did may be out of your control." Continue reading
Tagged as:
adolescents,
Brain Development,
David Walsh,
research,
teens,
Toddlers,
video
Be careful what you say about your party days
It’s no secret that your teenager’s peers can affect his or her decision to drink underage. But what if the influential teen is you-at age 16? As part of a science talent search, 17-year-old Chelsea Jurman, of Roslyn Heights, New York, surveyed 123 of her classmates. Her results suggest that teen attitudes toward drinking and their drinking behavior correlate with their perception of their parents’ teenage alcohol use. Continue reading
Tagged as:
alcohol,
peer pressure,
research,
teen drinking,
teens
I remember watching my daughter Maddie when she was little, as she would rock her baby dolls. Comments like, ‘You’re going to be such a good mommy when you grow up, honey’ would easily roll off my tongue. But with my son Nick, whenever he acted tenderly toward a doll or stuffed animal, I had to remind myself to tell him, ‘You’re going to be such a good daddy.’ After reading Lise Eliot’s Pink Brain, Blue Brain, I’m especially glad I made the effort.
