Praise Junkie Anonymous

Perhaps it began when parents and teachers began displaying the famous "101 ways to praise a kid" poster in homes and classrooms. Maybe it started as an innocent effort to reward children for positive behaviors. Possibly it was the result of the infamous prize box that began popping up everywhere, from home to the Sunday school class to the dentist's office.

However it happened, excessive praising of children is big business in today's world, potentially creating a generation of "praise junkies"...(to read more, please go here)

A Discussion with the Creator of MomAdvice

This morning, while a particular little girl watched a bit of Meet Strawberry Shortcake, I was able to participate in a phone interview with Amy Clark, founder of MomAdvice.com. I love me some MomAdvice, mainly because they have free printables that I actually use in real life (as opposed to other printables that I think I might use one day and end up discarding along the way). Amy was super fun to chat with, sharing the details of a little contest she is helping Kenmore appliances with this Fall. To read more about our conversation, head over here...

As for the little girl watching Strawberry Shortcake, she did really well with staying quiet in the living room. She only came into my bedroom once to give me an update on Strawberry and her pals and was easily silenced with a package of fruit snacks.

Discussing difficult world situations with young children

As our country pauses today to remember the attacks on our homeland eight years ago, curious young children may approach their parents with questions regarding the events of 9/11 (to read more, please go here)