By Sierra Filucci,Executive Editor, Parenting Content, Common Sense Media| | Mom of two
How's this for a scary statistic: Studies show that kids as young as 5 say they don’t like their bodies.
Common Sense Media's survey of body-...
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November 24, 2015
What Would Madeline Do? Talking to Children about the Paris Attacks
“They smiled at the good. They frowned at the bad. And sometimes they were very sad.” – from Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Millions of people have viewed the poignant video, showing a grief-stricken father in France talking to his son about...
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November 05, 2015
The Surprising Way My Son Earned His Smartphone
“But Mom, everybody else has one!“ What parent hasn’t heard that line a trillion times? But no mind, even after much begging and pleading, I stuck to my guns and said no.
The item in question was a smartphone—and my 10-year-old son wanted...
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October 26, 2015
Open Your Ears and You'll Open Your Eyes
Yep. On occasion, I yelled at my kids. Sometimes I let them talk me into buying them things that they really didn't need because in the moment, it was simpler than any other kind of negotiation. (Hey, I was a tired, working, single mom!) I doled...
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September 17, 2015
Excuse Me, But It’s Time to Role Model Good Manners for Our Kids
A friend remembers her mother trying to teach her and her sibling good manners at the breakfast table when they were young. “What’s the magic word?” their mother asked before sliding pancakes on their plates. The younger sister thought and then...
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August 06, 2015
Family Camping—A Breath of Fresh Air for Kids
It’s late afternoon. I’m writing this sitting in a lawn chair in front of a campfire, part of a tidy arrangement of tents and RVs. Above me is a canopy of trees. “Next door,” a mother and her small child are curled up in a chaise reading together...
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July 29, 2015
What I Learned Today about Monsters, Recess and Waiting
I had some fun drawing and making art with a classroom full of enthusiastic 2nd Graders today. I showed some of my art and they showed me some of theirs and then I even got the chance to sniff some of their "smelly markers." It was a good...
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June 22, 2015
The Hidden Benefits of Hidden Pictures
There is something universally appealing about puzzles, no matter what our age or particular passion: jigsaw puzzles, word searches, mazes, Sudoku, or any of the puzzle-type games we have stored on our phones. The best puzzles are challenging but...
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June 10, 2015
A Short, Sweet Season of Childhood
When I was a toddler, family legend goes, another child tossed my lovey, a ragdoll I had named Monica, into a small barrel of trash that had just been lit. Before any of the adults present could stop me, I reached in and snatched my doll from the...
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April 15, 2015
Teaching Your Kids to Write Handwritten Letters: It’s Like Sending a Hug in the Mail
I’ve always thought that receiving a handwritten letter is like getting a hug in the mail.
I’m one of probably a handful of people who are truly excited—who even know—that April is National Card- and Letter-Writing Month. I’m in an even...
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