by Stacey
Believe it or not I still read parenting books. I know that some people take this to an extreme, reading the advice of far too many so-called experts, but I have found that a few good ones can actually be very helpful. Parenting is hard. I don’t mind asking for input now and then.
The […]

by Stacey
Background noise from television can disrupt preschoolers’ efforts to sustain attention while playing with toys. According to this Reuters article on MSNBC.com, researchers report in the current issue of the journal Child Development, this disruption can happen even if the little ones don’t pay much attention to what’s on the TV.
In a controlled setting, […]

by Stacey
It finally happened: Sascha started walking! He’s still pretty wobbly and when he needs to get somewhere fast, his preferred method is still the scooch, but he’s definitely upright and taking steps. Of course he waited until we’d already met with the physical therapist and had him evaluated for treatment before he decided to […]

by Stacey
Okay, this has nothing actually to do with parenting, but right now, as we speak, the cherries are among us. Especially here in Washington State, you can’t shake a stick without hitting someone selling bursting pints, pounds, and bags full of the most delicious cherries. (Of course shaking sticks at people is not okay. […]

by Stacey
One in four late talking toddlers will continue to have language problems by age seven, according to new research out of Western Australia. This article in Science Daily says that the project, called LOOKING at Language, analyzed the speech development of 1766 children from infancy to age seven, with particular focus on environmental, neuro-developmental […]

by Stacey
A fascinating new study in the journal Cognition shows that three and four-year old children attune to those who provide them with reliable information. According to this short piece in the NY Times Science section, preschoolers spontaneously keep track of the trustworthiness of those around them.
“Humans make mistakes,” Susan A. J. Birch of the […]

by Stacey
Here’s one thing we learned from the Dalai Lama’s visit last week to Seattle. Enlightened people do not glare at parents whose children are being fussy on airplanes. Enlightened people sympathize with such parents and offer respect and admiration.
According to this article in the Seattle Times, the Dalai Lama flew from Tokyo to […]

by Stacey
One of the most heated debates among parents involves the safety of vaccines. In recent years, some parents have warned that vaccines caused their child’s autism, a claim that federal scientists have refuted. But the recent news of the government’s compensation to the family of 9-year old Hannah Poling may move the debate into […]

Cross-posted at MotherTalkers
by Stacey
One of my favorite things to do is to listen to my four-year old son Sage talk to himself when he’s busy doing something. He totally uninhibited, talking about what he’s doing or pretending he’s hanging out with some of his imaginary friends. Often it happens when he’s concentrating, like building train […]

by Stacey
One day my house will be empty of children. They will live somewhere else. My husband and I will see them occasionally. This is unimaginable to me, and yet I know it is true. Most of the time I don’t think about it. I’m too busy filling cups with watered-down apple juice or searching […]