"I sometimes tell the children I teach the truth about adulthood. I say, 'The best thing about being a grown-up is that you can eat ice cream any time you want.'

Their parents usually laugh, although I sometimes get a glare, but the kids always nod earnestly because I’m simply confirming what they already know. Most children, most of the time, want to grow up."

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"When parents complain, 'He doesn't listen to me' what they really mean is that their kid doesn't do what they want them to do when they want them to do it. Believe me: they are listening to you. They are almost always listening to you. You just might not like the choice they made after listening to you.

Of course, some of the time, they simply don't understand us, they're not ready to 'get' what we're saying to them, like when I talk to young two-year-olds about knocking down other people's block constructions, but more often than not they are listening, then choosing something else."

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"If there is any one thing that people ask or write me more than anything else, it's something along the lines of, "I've tried everything and nothing works." I'm talking about universal parenting aggravations like getting kids to eat their vegetables, take a nap, or participate in household chores. And these are important things. Not only do we want our children to be healthy, rested, and responsible today, but these behaviors represent the values of good health and responsibility that, if we can only "instill" them, we know will serve our children throughout their lives.

While I try to be more sympathetic than this with individual parents and readers because I know they wouldn't turn to some guy on the internet wearing a red cape unless they were truly at the end of their rope, my answer to their dilemma is really quite simple: Quit trying."

Read the rest of this great post on Teacher Tom's Blog.

“'I can’t do anything right!'
'Nobody likes me!'
'I’m the worst kid in the world!'

​As parents, hearing the children we love make such viciously self-critical comments is heart-breaking. Our first instinct is to rush to contradict them. “That’s not true, Honey!” we exclaim. Trying to reassure our kids, we quickly marshal example after example of their talent and specialness. But the more we tell our self-doubting kids, “You’re wonderful!”, the harder they argue, “I’m terrible!” No matter how sincere and well-meaning our pep talks are, they just never seem to sink in when our children are struggling with low self-esteem."

Read the rest of this great article on Psychology Today.

"Surveys show that something like 70 percent of Americans believe that children, at least sometimes, deserve to be spanked. Just writing that sentence makes me sick to my stomach: all those big adults hitting kids. Even worse, some researchers tell us that over 90 percent of preschoolers are spanked by an adult at least once in any two year span, and 30 percent of children one-year-old and under have been spanked. Who could hit a baby?

Spanking is hitting. Hitting is violence. Violence is morally wrong and I believe that the US should join the 48 nations that have made spanking illegal."

Click here to read the rest of this great post on Teacher Tom's blog.