Educating Our Children

When my son was born, I smugly assumed that I would do better. I assumed that no child of mine would ever be the terror of the playground. However, inexplicably, as my son turned two, his sweet and mellow disposition gave way to aggressiveness...

I woke up to the sound of my daughter screaming at her little brother. "Why did you do that?" she repeated. "Tell me! Why did you do that?" Then the door slammed...

So here I sit at my youngest daughter's siddur party, my digital camera poised in one hand, and my other hand wiping away a stray tear...

If I denied my baby adequate exposure to bubbles and clapping songs before he learned to roll over, I would irreparably hinder his chances of getting into Harvard...

Frustrated and wounded by her rejection, the boy clenched his fist, leaned back, and belted my daughter right on the nose...

The hardest part is not relying or resorting to a solution that may appear harmless, is cheap, convenient, easy, mobile and works. Kind of.

Many modern parents have a fear of being the big bad wolf, the scary disciplinarian who drives his or her suppressed children straight into the arms of a therapist...

It seemed absurd, and yet, when I looked into my son's droopy brown eyes, I understood that this "non-invitation" was a genuine disappointment...

It was the Rebbetzin Chana who gave the Rebbe the foundation of his life's mission, and the ability to identify with all the hardships of those around him...

A child's world may seem simple, but it is where the complex task of forging an inner value system takes place...

I held his hand until he went on the school bus; I kissed him and then sent him on his way, alone. The whole time he was in school, I found myself thinking of him, worrying about him, praying for him. The phone would ring and I'd grab it...

Coke? My father was buying Coke!? My mother was an avowed health food nut, and Coke was not a part of our household staples. My father responded with a conspiratorial wink. I knew that look well...

This was the first time I had ever come to the Western Wall with a family member. In the past, I had only come alone. But now I had brought my daughter with me, and a deep sense of comfort welled up in me...

I think when children start answering the question of Jewish identity, they feel a need to categorize each person, and every object. Jewish or not Jewish? I may be Jewish, but are my shoes? My goldfish? What about the President of the United States?

Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz expressed their desire to have Avi remain in a Jewish day school environment. They were afraid, however, that his learning and behavioral challenges were too great for him to be in a dual curriculum school...

Many parents are reluctant to allow their kids to spend time outside unsupervised because they fear "stranger danger." Yet the strangers can already be in our homes

Doing good without believing in reward is the flip side of doing good only for reward: in the one case, good is constrained to the metaphysical; in the other, it is limited to a crass physical expression...

When we tell our children to run an errand for us, are we teaching them "responsibility" or are we teaching them how to transfer responsibility?

They have hardly finished surveying aisle one, the ‘nothing’ aisle with bored (board!) games and long flat boxes for children who forgot how to play with toys, when Little Boy has a brainstorm...

It was a fundamental shift of mindset: we had always assumed we would delegate educational decisions to trained professionals, and enrich our children’s lives around the edges. Now, we were it...