My oldest child has always enjoyed playing with dolls, dressing up in costumes and having tea parties. I have a feeling that things are about to change. She will enter the fourth grade next month. From what the teachers at school tell me, this is the year when playground games end and drama begins. Tether ball tournaments turn into gossip sessions. Swinging on the monkey bars is replaced with rounds of “My friend likes you. Do you want to go out with her?” Innocence is abandoned at the roadside as the kids head for the bright lights of the highway …read more

The grass is always greener, the neighbor’s house is always nicer and the neighbor is always skinnier on the other side of the fence, right? How many times a week do you find yourself feeling unsatisfied with your appearance? Maybe you wish for a smaller waist, bigger breasts, or wrinkle free skin. We are all guilty of feeling this way and it is okay. It is just human nature to want to improve ourselves. Verbalizing these feelings in front of our children, however, can be detrimental to their own self esteem. Even non-verbal clues may give a child the wrong …read more