1 min read

Amanda Bynes Hospitalized, Forced To Undergo Mental Health Evaluation

After months of bizarre behavior, Amanda Bynes has been hospitalized and held for mental evaluation in California. The 27-year-old was taken into custody by Ventura County police officials who responded to a disturbance in a Thousand Oaks neighborhood Monday night. What was the disturbance? Apparently she set a fire in a stranger’s driveway. According to TMZ, the former Nickelodeon child star was found standing near a small blaze carrying a red gas tank.

4 mins read

Autism and Interacting with the Police

Autism and Interacting with the Police This happened recently: https://news.yahoo.com/13-old-boy-autism-allegedly-201119829.html So, what’s a parent with a teenager on the autism spectrum supposed to think of what happened here? What do I think? First, I’m terrified. Second, I’m angry. Third, I’m confused. Why am I terrified? That could have been my child. My child does occasionally…

4 mins read

Halloween Tricks (for Parents)

As we head into Halloween, I want to offer a few cautions based on 18 Halloweens as a parent. First: Feed your kids dinner BEFORE they go Trick or Treating. This took me five years to learn. Children will not eat peas and chicken after 20 Reese’s peanut butter cups. Second: Please do not limit…

4 mins read

The Grave Importance of Saying Positive Things To Your Kids

This says something about me, and life via social media today overall, that as an alleged “parenting expert” (I can hear my three teenaged kids snickering in the background), I get some awfully fantastic parenting advice via strangers on FaceBook. Case in point: on Friday, March 4, which coincidentally marked the 19th anniversary of the…

5 mins read

Helicopter Parents – And Their Longterm Consequences

It’s bad enough being a kid with helicopter parents. They can hover over your childhood and adolescence, warping the normal process of growing up, and inflicting enough damage for decades of therapy. In October 2015, the website Reddit asked readers what was the “worst or most embarrassing” thing their parents had put them through. The…