In her essay "Now is the Season of our Malcontents," Jessica Lahey writes thoughtfully on summer camp drop-off, and how it relates to important milestones in childhood development.
Lahey writes:
"To grow in the ways they need to grow, children have to do it on their own, and usually away from their parents, sometimes overnight, sometimes for days or weeks or even months."
She cites psychologist Michael Thompson, who wrote "Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow." He writes that there are some things parents can't do for their children, no matter how much they want to.
We cannot make our children happy.
We cannot give our children high self-esteem.
We cannot make friendships for our children or micro-manage their friendships.
We cannot successfully double as our child's agent, manager, and coach.
We cannot create the "second family" for which our child yearns in order to facilitate his or her own growth
It is increasingly apparent that we parents cannot compete with or limit our children's total immersion in the online, digital, and social media realms.
We cannot keep our children perfectly safe, but we can drive them crazy trying.
There's been a lot of change for dads in a short period of time. Today they work as many hours as previous generations, but do three times the childcare and twice the housework as dads a generation ago. In this interview, Scott Behson, PhD, author of "The Working Dad's Survival Guide" talks about how working dads can create a more balanced life of family, work, and self, and how employers can help make it happen.
With a few practical tips and strategies in place, you can stay on top of your other responsibilities so you don’t feel overwhelmed by too many changes at once.
Being a new parent can feel lonely. Here are some ways to get out there and make new friends - and nurture your existing relationships (even while exhausted).
ParentCo.
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