The unknowing way we fail our children. One of my closest friends frequently talks about wishing she could have a “do-over” as a parent. Her grown children are highly accomplished—two are lawyers, and another is the CEO of a corporation. Despite their achievements, however, my friend is convinced that she made mistakes by monitoring and… Read More
Understand the difference between showing up for and overprotecting your child. Part of growing up is learning how to handle uncomfortable situations and setbacks. This is how children become confident, independent adults. But overly protective parenting can reactively deliver children from challenging circumstances that help them develop and mature. Call it what you will—“helicopter,” always… Read More
Could the right incentive convince you to have a baby, or another baby? Despite changing norms around family planning and parenthood, the stereotype that “two children make a family” remains deeply entrenched, with many families saying it is still their preference. Yet, birth rates in the U.S. and other countries continue to decline, approaching record… Read More
We are living in a new era, one in which family as we knew it (mom, dad, 2 kids) is being redefined in myriad ways by changed social and economic factors. Today’s parents are re-defining family. Across the United States, and in countries such as England, France, China, Korea, and Canada, one-child households have become… Read More
PHOTO Credit: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash The influences on mothers today are mostly ingrained from their own childhood memories and abetted by comments on social media, from friends, and other women in your child’s playgroups. The result for many women is a constant striving to be the perfect mother. This likely means bending to the opinions and… Read More
Report after report predicts fewer babies as a result of the pandemic. Most base their findings on the large number of women saying that they plan to put off having babies or have fewer of them. If you have one child and are on the fence about having more children, you may want to consider if or why… Read More
Many young Millennials are moving back home in the COVID-19 era. In this guest post, Wilfred Farquharson IV, Ph.D., director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic at Stony Brook Medicine in New York, shares advice for families readjusting to having adult kids under the same roof with their parents: The pandemic has ushered in a time of… Read More
Originally published in Psychology Today magazine FAMILY HAS ALWAYS been a lifeline, and the coronavirus has led thousands of young adults to grab on tight. Whether just out of college, newly furloughed or laid off, or a few years into their first jobs, sons and daughters have returned to their parents’ home to wait out the… Read More