Last Sunday, I sat with a group of parents watching our nine-year-old daughters play the first basketball game of the season. Next to us, a young boy, maybe five years old, sat playing on an iPod. No headphones. It was very loud. It was very annoying.
About Leslie Morgan Steiner
Halloween Hysteria – How Parents Can Enjoy Halloween
Sometimes, it seems like American parents, in our quest for perfection, specialize in leaching parenting of every ounce of joy. We try so mightily to protect our children from danger, disappointment, and emotional pain, that we ironically miss the true risks to our kids’ long-term happiness. Take Halloween. Many historians believe Halloween originated not with…
Why Your Kid Needs A Summer Job
When I was in college, I spent two long, hot summers wrangling teenagers at a 350-acre organic farm in Pennsylvania. The camp focused not on swim tests or tie-dye, but instead the goal was developing kids’ leadership and communication skills. Like most sleepaway camps, this camp drew children largely from cities, kids whose families could afford…
The Summer Juggle – Tips For Working Parents
Few times of the year are more exhilarating for kids than early summer. No school! Swimming! Camp! Kick the Can! Popsicles! All life’s bounty in a three month period. But for parents, the excitement is often replaced with…dread. And stress. And frustration. Especially for working parents, the summer juggle, with its constantly changing schedules, can…
Finding A (Last Minute) Summer Camp
Time to slap your forehead – Memorial Day has come and gone, summer is here, and you still haven’t made plans for your kids. You’re not a bad mom. Or dad. It’s surprisingly hard, especially for working parents, to plan a kid-centric summer, when the primary factors aren’t “fun,” but staying within budget, while also…
Vacation For One
Warm weather is on the horizon. This means parents are starting to think about ideas for a fun summer trip with the kids. The beach? Disney? Camping? But are any of you thinking instead: it would be nice to go on vacation…alone? One mom, Lauren Apfel, wrote about this vacation-for-one concept for the Washington Post.…
Something Crazy Happened at the Denver Airport Over The Weekend
Something crazy happened at the Denver airport over the weekend: two young girls were barred from boarding a United Airlines plane. Not because they were potential terrorists. But because they were wearing leggings. With major television networks and newspapers weighing in, this incident became news across our nation. As, in some ways, it should be.…
Pets and Lowering Kids’ Stress
Finally, a parenting topic my own kids will agree I know something about: kids and pets. I live with three children, four cats, and one dog. I’m a lifelong animal lover myself. But the real reason my household includes so many pets: they’re essential to good parenting. There are few moments more validating in the…
Why Your Daughter Needs A Self-Defense Class
I have two teenaged daughters. I’ve worked in domestic violence advocacy for ten years. I am a woman myself. Yet I’ve never taken a self-defense class. Until last weekend, when I spent two hours with 10 fifteen year old girls and a female instructor who had a black belt in karate and years of self-defense…
What If Your Kids Don’t Agree With Your Politics?
Do your kids agree with your politics? Do you expect them too? Are parents crazy, or justified, to think they should? If not, how do you resolve political conflicts as a family? Of course, we all want our kids to share our values. We created these kids, after all. It seems inherently parental to pass…