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Aug
22
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 Do you look to your teen’s style for your own clothing choices — or do you know moms who do? A Temple University Fox School of Business study found that mothers are more likely to buy what their teen daughters buy, rather than vice versa.
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Archive for the ‘Parenting Styles & Roles’ Category
Blog Posts by Barbara Greenberg
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May
16
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Each mother knows in which areas she is faltering — or rather, not thriving. But so what if we don’t prepare homemade organic foods representing all food groups despite the fact that yes, some of our Mrs. Perfect Mom Pageant colleagues do. And big deal if our kids by age 8 are not already excelling in some artistic or athletic endeavor, resulting from years of professional training initiated at age 2. So what if our kids don’t always brush teeth before bed, wash hands before mealtime, or respectfully greet the elderly neighbor. But yet, how do we really measure a woman’s degree of “bad mother-ness?”
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Apr
26
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On the last day of spring break, I finally managed to pull an activity together for my son. For the whole rest of last week, he sat watching T.V., playing video games and listening to books on tape. (Bad mom.) At dinner at a neighbor’s house recently, our son (who is 8) put his face in the plate and ate pasta from it like a Golden Retriever. Guess we’ve been lax in the manners department. (Bad mom again.)
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Mar
30
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As parents, we all find ourselves saying things that we never thought we’d say. Here are five phrases I personally think we should avoid if at all possible: 1. “Because I said so!” Just ask yourself the following: How does saying this build your relationship? Having a relationship means being real — and being relational. I think it’s important to be mature as parents and walk through issues with our kids – we’ll only earn trust and create safety for them by doing it. You have nothing to lose.
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Mar
11
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Now that I have entered my fourth decade of life, I feel I’ve finally “arrived” and life has thrown me so many curve-balls, I feel like I’ve earned the equivalent of a PhD from the “School of Hard Knocks.” Five years ago, my life began to unfold like a soap opera. I did not sign up for it and realized immediately that I had two choices: adapt and plow through, or shrivel up and perish. I chose the former. I had three tiny children at the time, and was pregnant with my fourth. They needed me to be strong. My husband needed me to hold it together. So I considered myself a soldier training for battle. I pressed on through years of darkness…and I still am. (Want to hear more about Darah’s tragic, yet inspiring story that’s made her a survival expert? Click here to listen.)
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Feb
22
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Do you fall into the “helicopter” mom or “free-range” parent category? While I consider myself more of free-range parent, the current debate between the two camps over issues of safety, creativity and independence are worth talking about. I’ll give you a real example from my life. Today I noticed my 26 month-old daughter disrobing and removing her own diaper. I had to stop her just short of wiping and changing herself. My first thought was: If she’s willing to clean and diaper herself, what the heck is she still doing in these things anyway?
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Jan
13
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A recent article in the Wall Street Journal called Why Chinese Moms are Superior has the blogosphere on fire. In it, author Amy Chua maintains that Chinese mothers’ methods of parenting her children — including no playdates, no choice over extracurricular activities, no TV or video games, no sleepovers and no dating — raises more successful, academically superior kids. Ms. Chua’s two daughters are not allowed to get anything less than an A in all of their subjects except for gym and drama. Her other methods of discipline include telling her kids they are garbage and “shaming” them into getting better grades and, in one case, badgering her youngest daughter for hours until she learned a difficult piece on the piano. | |||
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Dec
07
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People are always asking me, “How do you do it?” They want to know how I manage to take care of 3 children with mental health issues, work full time, take care of household stuff, etc… My answer, clearly, is that I really don’t know. But I do have one open secret — I take a bubble bath every night. Does that count? I think it does!
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