#child-development

#child-development

I should have said 'I don't know' more often. That woman's nine words unlocked something in the room. Suddenly everyone wanted to talk about the exhausting performance of parental certainty they'd maintained for decades.

You need to raise the children you have-not the ones you would have liked to have. This statement captures the essence of effective parenting: accepting your children's inherent nature rather than imposing your idealized vision upon them.

The design of classrooms, childcare facilities, community centers, and public spaces directly shapes how sound is perceived, how communication unfolds, and how inclusion is experienced. Acoustics, spatial configuration, lighting strategies, and material choices can either reinforce barriers to participation or foster environments that support diverse auditory experiences.

Distress tolerance is the perception and ability to tolerate emotional discomfort without allowing it to derail your actions (or your relationships). When we believe we can make space for challenging emotions, our behavior isn't focused on getting rid of them. This then opens us up to responding in ways that align with our values.

We know from the vast amount of research on spanking that it simply does not work. It is not only ineffective for correcting children's behavior, but it is also harmful.

For many children, sharing is emotionally loaded. We like to think it is a simple skill that we can teach our children sometime in their preschool years. And it can be. But it can also be a real challenge, especially when a child has little opportunity to practise the skill.

When "Toy Story" premiered in 1995, the enemy was plastic. In its latest chapter, it's pixels. More than 30 years after Woody worried about being replaced by Buzz Lightyear, the franchise is ready to take on a bigger threat: the screen. The official trailer for "Toy Story 5" was released on Thursday and shows the toys vying for Bonnie's attention against a frog-themed tablet named Lilypad.

Wondering if day camp is right for your family? Here are eight great reasons to sign your child up for day camp today! Day camp is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child. It's often a child's first step toward independence and provides an environment intentionally designed for children to explore, discover, and learn about themselves and others. Below are eight reasons why day camp is so beneficial for both your child and your family.

I really wish I could give you THE answer. Regrettably, thousands of years of human knowledge on this point has served up only this: It's a dang crapshoot. You have created two unique humans and sent them spinning off like tops into a very complex world. They may fight like cats and dogs as kids and become thick as thieves as adults, or they may be little buddies as kids and maintain (at best) a cool civility when forced to interact at weddings and funerals.

What makes me even crazier is that I know they can listen. I know this because they do all the time, mostly when they aren't supposed to. I can't tell you how many times I've been having an adult conversation with my husband and/or friends and my two children-who haven't listened to a word I've said all day-suddenly have very thoughtful and detailed questions

Growing up, I heard it constantly: "Oh, you must have been so lonely as an only child." People would look at my friend Emma with this mix of pity and concern, as if she'd been raised by wolves instead of loving parents. They'd ask if she wished for siblings, assuming her childhood was some tragic tale of isolation and imaginary friends.

Boycotting is a form of collective action in which people intentionally choose not to support a company, institution, or system because it causes harm. For adults, boycotts are often tied to politics, capitalism, and historical trauma. For children, however, the conversation does not need to begin there. In fact, starting with politics often misses what kids understand best. Start With Humanity and Fairness

What many reception teachers say they did not sign up for was spending large chunks of the school day managing toileting, feeding and basic self-care because growing numbers of children are arriving without those skills in place. New data points to a widening gap in England and Wales between what parents believe school ready means and what classrooms are actually experiencing

In October 2024, my husband and I welcomed our first child into the world. I took a six-month maternity leave, which was provided through my senior user experience researcher job at Microsoft. During that time, I decided to turn it into a more extended career break. I resigned from my position, and my employment formally ended a few months later.

When a young child pulls their hair, picks their skin, or bites their nails to the point of injury, it's natural for the adults in their lives to want to focus on stopping the behavior. Parents want to prevent their child from experiencing harm, and clinicians want to help the child gain control and relieve their parents of worry. But with body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), especially in young children, control is rarely the place to start.

While screens aren't exactly new - I mean, almost everyone's grown up watching television - they're not quite the same as they used to be, either.

Let's talk about meltdowns and temper tantrums. Arms flailing, feet stomping, the full body drop-to-the-ground moment. For toddlers, the image is all too familiar. For those of us who have older children, we take a sigh. But are tantrums just for toddlers? No, they aren't. The tantrum meltdown isn't just for kids. It's also an experience many teens, young adults, and adults experience on the regular. They just look a little different now. Let me explain.

But what happens when the parent is the source of the fear? That's the paradox at the heart of disorganized attachment. The very person who should be a safe harbor becomes, unpredictably, a source of alarm. For example, a mother lost in her own grief for years, staring through her infant with a trance-like look. Or a father, struggling with depression, jerks away when his toddler reaches for a hug, because he has no energy for hugging.

Camilo grew up surrounded by adults, yet without a stable father. His mother moved from one relationship to another, each new man arriving with promises of permanence and leaving with silence. By the time Camilo reached adolescence, he had called five different men "father," and none of them stayed. What formed inside him was not only grief, but confusion about what authority, protection, and masculinity were supposed to look like.

Children can take Christmas far more seriously than we imagine. For adults, the "naughty or nice" idea is a throwaway line we can repeat without thinking. For a seven-year-old, however, it can feel like a contractual clause with terrifying consequences. I hear many parents, including one parent of a seven-year-old this year say their child is suddenly frightened that Santa won't come because they "haven't been good enough".

As a child and teen therapist, I see families navigating meltdowns, sibling conflict, and unexpected tears, even over the holidays. Parents asking me, "Why does my teen act out all of the time?" or "Why does my 5-year-old have big meltdowns?" has led me to explore more about what is going on in the brain at every age of development.