A few weeks ago I sent an email to YPM subscribers about Juneteenth, and how I see the connections between parenting and power, and one of you wrote back to me: I as a white parent am exerting power over my white child. How does this connect to racism? I understand modeling how…
Read Full PostLast week I published a long podcast episode on why we shouldn’t read Dr. Louise Bates Ames’ Your X-Year-Old child books any more, which got quite a big response from listeners. In this blog post I’ll briefly summarize the main points of that episode and then answer the question I received most often via email…
Read Full Post“On average, authoritative parents spanked just as much as the average of all other parents. Undoubtedly, some parents can be authoritative without using spanking but we have no evidence that all or even most parents can achieve authoritative parenting without an occasional spank.” Perhaps you won’t even believe the origin of that quote: it’s…
Read Full PostIf you’re like most parents, you find yourself asking ‘why, why, why?’ on a daily basis. Sometimes you’re referring to your child’s behavior–‘why did he decide to lick the floor at the grocery store?’ Other times, you’re likely asking yourself about your own behavior–‘why did I just lose my mind about an unfinished bowl of…
Read Full PostHave you ever observed a child setting a toy car at the top of a ramp and watching it roll down over and over again? What is it that enables a child to do this for 45 minutes at a time when they won’t sit and listen to a story for more than five minutes?…
Read Full PostI’ve been wanting to write about anxiety since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March, and although several months have passed, anxiety remains a major issue for children. Children (and adults) of all ages are anxious about all the upheaval in the world – from COVID to conversations on racism – and these fears aren’t the kind…
Read Full PostIf you identify as White and read my recent blog post on 57 Privileges of White Parents (which is now longer than that thanks to readers who got in touch and added more ideas), you might have come away surprised (shocked?) by the privileges you have, you might be wondering “well, now I know this,…
Read Full PostA few months ago I was invited to speak to parents at a very nice preschool in a very nice neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area for a panel discussion about school choice. I was invited because a parent at the school had listened to my podcast episode on white privilege, and wanted to…
Read Full Post