By: Joe Newman There’s a reason parents tell one another that it’s no longer the “terrible twos” but the “terrible twos, threes, fours and fives.” When you combine the natural characteristics of an already willful child with the empowering parenting methods being used today you get children with extremely strong, sophisticated, and resilient omnipotent identities. […]
By: Joe Newman In last week’s blog I wrote about the emotional crisis a child goes through during the rapprochement phase. In this week’s blog I will focus on the parent who is also going through a difficult identity shift during this time. Once a child begins the rapprochement crisis, a parent’s role changes. She […]
By: Joe Newman Two-year-old Jacob is charming but needs constant attention. The parents are taking turns following him around. Jacob is curious about a dish of olives and his father puts one in his mouth. Jacob doesn’t like it and spits it back into his father’s hand. Now the toddler decides the olives must go. […]
By: Joe Newman In my last blog I said that our culture had swung its emphasis from teaching children that respecting others (parents, teachers, community members, etc.) to teaching them that respecting themselves was most important, and that either extreme was unhealthy for children. This swing was a natural reaction to generations of authoritarian parenting. […]
By: Joe Newman I was excited to see not only Julie Gamberg’s article railing against my time-out blogs, but also the ensuing conversations. She did a good a job of capturing the sentiments of the child-centered parenting movement, and in so doing laid open its many fatal flaws. Yes, time-outs ARE the new spanking! Parents […]
By: Joe Newman I get a lot of questions about using time-outs during transitions. For instance, when you’re trying to get them dressed and out the door to school, or you want them to clean up their things and get ready for dinner. In other words, time-outs are a lot easier to use during activities […]
By: Joe Newman With the rain coming down and school being out for the winter break I’ve had a chance to watch a bit of TV. Today I came across the The Miracle Worker with Anne Bancroft playing Helen Keller’s teacher Anne Sullivan. I was reminded of how many timeless parenting lessons it offers and […]
By: Joe Newman In my previous blog I laid out the basic steps for effective time-outs; make them short and frequent rather than long and seldom, use a neutral tone and take the emotional charge out of it, insist that your child self-regulate (stop crying) before the time-out begins, and make taking the consequences you […]
By: Joe Newman *Note from the Editor– With so many resources and books about parenting, discipline, and behavior, it’s a challenge deciding on which area to focus. Each month, behavior consultant Joe Newman will concentrate on a theme, with December’s being The Modern Time Out. Please feel free to ask him questions, start a discussion, […]
