Parent Co.

I gave birth in a crowded NYC hospital seven months into the global pandemic, so my postpartum stay was…lowercase-t traumatic at best. Those few days in the hospital after giving birth were some of the worst I can remember. (And that’s after interviewing multiple friends, reading every article, and creating multiple type-A documents to prep.) When my husband’s parents picked us up, they said we were white as ghosts, like we had just returned from war.

Growing up, I was an indoor kid. I wanted to read books from the corner of the couch, drive my Barbie camper through the living room, and hide away on the top bunk to write in my diary. This confused my mother, who grew up with four brothers and a sister as part of a generation that roamed the neighborhood in gangs of siblings from dawn until dusk. For years, she urged me to go in search of bigger and better things outdoors.

The answer to most things can be found in the pages of a book. Whatever situation you face in life someone else has been there before you. Often they'll have written a book to help you through it. Parenthood is no different. Many of the books I read when my son was a baby, were very prescriptive. Unfortunately, my son hadn’t read the books himself and failed to respond in the way good babies should. Then one day I ordered a copy of “Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids” by Dr Laura Markham.

So much sleep advice out there is about how to fall asleep, how to get to sleep, or how to stay asleep. That advice is valid, but if you’re parenting a young one, it’s probably for a different time in life. (Although it's never too early for the soothing support of the Ingenuity Baby Dream Machine.) I went from occasional sleepless nights– tossing and turning in anxiety before I had my son – to going into an immediate unconscious stupor at every possible chance after I had him.

Reading not only has Teaching your child about World War II or how to do double digit addition is important. But those are limited facts and skills. Teaching your child to love learning offers them a lifetime of discovery, far outside the classroom. Here are 18 easy ways to foster a love of learning in the midst of everyday life. physical and emotional benefits. There is concrete evidence that it helps brain development and academic growth as well.

The start of a new season or a new year often inspires us to set goals, refresh routines and embrace change. For children, however, “new” can feel exciting and overwhelming all at once. Whether it's starting a new activity, welcoming a babysitter or even trying a different bedtime routine. The good news? With a little preparation and the right tools, fresh starts can become confidence-building moments that help your little ones grow, adapt and thrive.

1 | When your kids complain that all their friends celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah is barely considered a holiday, regale them with the story of the brave Maccabees, some Greek war, and the miracle with the oil, which you looked up on Wikipedia that morning.

In a season saturated with commercialism and consumerism, it’s easy to lose the meaning of Christmas. Children make never-ending lists of toy requests, and parents are swamped with seasonal obligations, activities, party preparations, gift-buying, and more. We incorporate traditions like trips to tree farms, cookie baking, and evening drives to gaze at dazzling arrays of lights strung across awnings.

Adjusting to a new sleep routine can be a challenge for toddlers and preschoolers, especially when rest time starts happening in a new environment. Whether your little one is beginning their preschool journey or moving to a new classroom, sleep is one of the most common transitions families navigate with their child care provider. Just like potty training or learning to share, rest time is a skill that grows best when parents and educators work as a team.

For many of us, winter means traveling – and not always the fun kind. When family is far away, we may feel we owe it to them to tote their grandchildren, nieces, and nephews through endless security lines so that we can spend the holidays together. Or perhaps they come to us. Sure, it's fun to host, but it's exhausting; we may require an actual vacation once the guests are back home. Maybe this is the year to do things a bit differently.