Many power struggles, temper tantrums, and other discipline issues could be avoided if parents knew one thing: how their child gets energy.   This has to do with your child’s inner world. While the idea of temperament is not new, there are new ways of looking at it that make parenting easier, more fun, and focus on kids’ strengths. Barbara Probst, author of When The Labels Don’t Fit: A New Approach To Raising A Challenging Child (Three Rivers Press), and I share the same strength-based philosophy. Here are her tips (for …

Hey, Moms—
Here’s a great e-mail that is circulating through the Momosphere. While I have no idea who originally wrote it, I do know that it definitely rings true for many of us. Any thoughts?
Job Description
This is hysterical. If it had been presented this way,  I don’t believe any of us would have done it!!!!
POSITION: Mom, Mommy, Mama, MaDad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging 
permanent work in an often chaotic environment. 
Candidates must possess excellent communication 
and organizational skills and be willing to work 
var iable hours, which will …

All moms are liars. Okay, maybe not all. But most are. Especially the ones who talk smack about other mothers. You know the ones who sneer, “Did you SEE her child freaking out in the park? Hellllooo! Has she ever heard of “discipline? What she needs to do is get control!” That kind of judgment usually means two things. First, it means that this mom is probably afraid of her child doing exactly the same thing. Second, it means that she probably judges herself as harshly as she does other …

When you’re stressed and you want to throw in the motherhood towel, it’s nice to know you’ve got friends you can call. After all, nobody knows motherhood like another mother, right? When your son divebombs off the couch and lands on that expensive vase from your mother-in-law (you didn’t like it anyway, did you?), and then your daughter has a meltdown of her own, other mom-friends can ease your pain.
Or can they? It’s important to know which friends are “activity friends” and which are “heart” friends. Both are essential. And both …