Avant Parenting Archives
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Avant! Welcome to my parenting blog archives
As you can see by the dates below, this blog is no longer being updated. However, there’s lots of good stuff here, much of it as true now as when it was written. Please feel free to browse, or follow these links: One last piece of parenting advice: Enjoy today even if it’s a rough…
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Rain Days, Game Days
Have I mentioned that I was dragged into homeschooling kicking and screaming? You see, I started on this for my daughter’s sake, not for mine, and for her sake I’ve been noticing lots of things about my parenting. Case in point: games. I remember vividly when a parent related to me once said, “I don’t…
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My Funny Valentine
My son turned ten. It’s pretty momentous to add a digit to your age. But despite the fact that it is basically an artificial milestone, I think it has been really interesting to see how he’s changed in the last year. The “tween” phenomenon is largely a marketing ploy. But there is definitely something going…
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Nature Therapy
I just finished writing an article for Growing Up in Santa Cruz about non-drug alternatives for treating behavioral problems in kids. It was a fascinating subject to read about. I have a personal stake, given that we have chosen to work with our daughter’s problems by trying to find the root of them rather than…
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Jumping in Head First
I was always a very good student, so it didn’t occur to me to figure out how I was learning. I guess I figured that whatever I was doing, I was doing it right. I did notice that I didn’t do things like most other people. When I was in college, it was fashionable for…
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In Defense of “Bad Kids”
When I was a child, I was small, shy, prone to uncontrollable crying and giggling, and very smart. In other words, I was a great target for bulies. I grew up in the Midwest, and at the time, the going wisdom in the schools seemed to be that “kids will be kids.” Unless a child…