by Admin | Jan 28, 2013 | Preteens & Teens, Raising Boys, Raising Girls
Last weekend was my son’s first middle school dance. He came home from school at the beginning of the week excited at the prospect of attending the dance. He thought about what he was going to wear and bought his ticket. The night of the dance, I heard the blow...
by Admin | Jan 21, 2013 | Parenting Skills
Did you know the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude lives right here in Northern California? Not Berkeley, but good guess. Robert Emmons, Psychology Professor at UC Davis, has been studying the varying benefits and healing powers of gratitude for 11...
by Admin | Jan 14, 2013 | Parenting Skills, Sleep, Toddlers
Is your little one having sleep issues that are causing your entire family to lose sleep? Does he resist going to bed at the appointed hour—8:00 pm—or does he wake up in the middle of the night for several hours? When he wakes up, does he refuse to go back to bed?...
by Admin | Jan 7, 2013 | Occupational Therapy, Special Challenges
Sensory processing refers to the ways in which the brain receives, organizes, and responds to sensations to which it is exposed. These sensations include sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and movement. When the central nervous system ineffectively processes sensory...
by Admin | Dec 31, 2012 | News
We would like to wish you and your family a very Happy New Year! Stay tuned for our next post on Monday, January 7th, 2013: ‘Children & Sensory Processing’
by Admin | Dec 24, 2012 | Parenting Skills
As a mother and a mental health professional, I have been shaken to the core by the events in Newtown. I imagine you have as well. How do we cope with such an uncertain world? One place to start is to highlight the goodness that has transpired at a horribly dark time....
by Admin | Dec 17, 2012 | Parenting Skills
In 2010, the San Francisco Giants were 6 ½ games back in their division in August. This year, they were neck and neck with the Dodgers mid-season, when the Dodgers made multiple blockbuster trades. Next thing you know, one of the Giants’ best players gets...
by Admin | Dec 10, 2012 | Preteens & Teens, Raising Girls
At a recent workshop I did with 7th grade students, I was struck by how difficult it is for girls to communicate directly with each other about hurt and angry feelings, and how often this indirectness contributes to the problems that erupt between them. The girls in...
by Admin | Dec 3, 2012 | Discipline & Behavior, Parenting Skills, Raising Boys
Boy play is noisy, boisterous, physical, aggressive, and spontaneous in nature. Dads** understand this play and may intuitively provide these outlets for their rough-and-tumble kids. Research (Lamb, 2000) shows that moms are associated with food, comfort, security,...
by Admin | Nov 26, 2012 | Adoption/Post-Adoption
Parents Place celebrates National AdoptionMonth with this moving story. Walking slowly into a dimly lit foster home bedroom to meet her for the first time, I noticed a faint smell of mold typical of older homes. My eyes took a moment to get used to the darkness. The...
