Children of all ages love to push their parent’s buttons. Child development experts and psychologists assure us that these power struggles, irrational tantrums and contradicting behaviors are part of typical development, especially for toddlers and teens. Trying to control your kid, spouse, the Giants, the Apple store guy or anything…

Searching for Meaning, One Year Later by Jill Ceder LCSW One year later, we continue to ride the rollercoaster of emotions caused by Covid-19. We are all impacted by the pandemic. It has been called a “collective experience.” Most collective experiences bond people together — in joy or in sadness…

The 8 Best Parenting Lessons I Learned From Watching My Nanny When choosing a nanny, it is so important to find someone you trust, respect and whom you can communicate with. Your nanny is on your team; helping to nourish and grow your children. Many parents are stuck on the…

Most toddlers go through periods where they’re trying out new behaviors. They are both testing your reaction and learning about the world around them. Our instinct as parents is to tell them “no” and to stop the behavior immediately, either because we think it’s wrong or other people think it’s…

As we all know, the first birthday is really a party for the parents and you might as well schedule the party during naptime. But you aren’t celebrating any old birthday that happens every year. This first year is a celebration of survival. Surviving a time when you really thought…

A boy in my son’s preschool said some nasty comments to him this morning. I knew it was just a power play by an older kid who craves attention, but I became enraged and then sad. This was not the first time I had witnessed children making other kids feel…

Growing up, I was one of the lucky ones. My dad coached my Little League teams and ate dinner with us every night. He was present and involved; making every effort to be the type of father he did not have himself. …

The “mini me” complex. We are all guilty of it at some point. We become parents, and a minute later we are projecting all over the nursery. “My poor child has the same fat legs as I did.” “My child is as stubborn as I was.” “My child will be…