Another week at library story time. We’d been coming for years, and still my youngest wouldn’t sit on the rug with the other children. Instead he sat, frozen on my lap, not clapping, not singing. “He’s a boy.” That was my mother-in-law’s answer anytime I voiced my concerns. But it wasn’t just story […]
Social Anxiety on the Playground
Anxious to get playing, my daughter quickly finished her cheeseburger before stashing her shoes in the little red cubby. I watched as she raced another little girl up the steps to the tunnel slide. My son watched with me, having finished his food a little bit ago. He sat as close as he could […]
The Parenting Phrase I Want to Ban
Upset and angry and unable to handle the emotions flooding through him, my son had just hit his sister before racing to cry in his room. “What’s wrong with you?!” was my husband’s automatic response as our son ran down the hallway. I cringed at his wording. “What’s wrong with you?” Those four words seem […]