Don’t forget this secret to great parenting: children are real people on the inside, just like you and me. They gravitate to people who believe the best of them, give them time to learn, and do not repeatedly remind them of their mistakes and shortcomings. People of all ages like to be asked, not told. They appreciate it when their needs are taken

... See more

Cultivating a long attention span

Whatever he’s doing right now, that’s the most important thing. So I encourage him to keep doing it as long as possible. I never say, “Come on! Let’s go!”

We’ll go to the beach or forest, and make things with sticks and sand for half a day before he’s ready to switch.

Other families come to the playground for twent... See more

Rather, understanding the ramifications of unconsciousness and becoming aware of its consequences can motivate a person to embark on the penetrating self-examination that’s required to become an effective parent. In this your children are your allies, as they repeatedly mirror aspects of your unconsciousness, affording you opportunity after opportu

... See more

Children, in particular, have suffered a grievous decline in just the goods that are most important to them: adult time, energy, and company. The child-rearing work that men and women and an extended family did a hundred years ago, and that women did thirty years ago, has to be done somehow by someone. The scientific moral is not that we need exper

... See more