parenting | PulseonParenting

Kids Behaving Badly = Bad Parenting?

Sep 01 2015

“SHUT UP!” As a kid I marveled at how two words like shut and up, harmless when they stand separately, could join up to become so hurtful. Like when hydrogen and oxygen come together, these words become something very different from their component parts. And when my son bellowed “SHUT UP!” to an acquaintance, mortification didn’t begin to describe our reaction. It seemed the world stopped spinning. Proverbial crickets chirped so loud that our ears were ringing. The stunning paralytic effect of those two words kept us from swooping in and immediately rectifying what had gone terribly wrong. Our reaction, or…

It’s Time to Return to School: Should I Vaccinate My Children?

Aug 11 2015

It’s hard to believe it’s time for our kids to return to school. Today was “Fall Check-In Day” (aka Registration Day) for my kids. Not being Kindergarteners, or otherwise new to the school, our paperwork process was pretty straightforward. But for new families, registration can be a seemingly insurmountable pile of blank forms and information. I remember those days…especially when I had three sets of vaccination records to dig up and then transcribe to official school documents! But I’m taking a long time to get to my point. Given it’s that time of year to get school health records in order, and given…

Physical or a Feeling. What is Truly a Home?

Aug 06 2015

Your house is small and dirty. (So there.) That statement was the trump card another child played in his argument with my oldest son (apparently over legos). The six-year-old couldn’t have understood the “grown up” interpretation of his words, the comparisons made by adults in attempt to “win” in the material world and therefore life itself. But neither could my 10-year-old son comprehend such craziness. He was, not surprisingly, hurt by the critique. Small and dirty implied his world was inadequate, that the place his father and mother provided for him was, well, small and dirty. When my son told me…

The Holly Story and Nothing But the Holly Story

Jul 29 2015

It came in an oversized white rectangular box. I was ten, maybe twelve, and beyond the tradition of hunting for Easter eggs. And I was certainly “over” my belief in the Easter Bunny. But my grandparents, who held the secular rituals of Easter dear, still gave gifts. Thus the rather simple box laying in my lap that morning several decades ago. I was startled to find what was inside; it appeared to be a dismembered stuffed animal. I was startled, and am afraid I let out an “Oh!” or some similar exclamation because the sight was a bit disturbing: long,…

Jul 21 2015

Everyone notices when someone sports that gorgeous sun-bronzed skin from a sunny vacation. But my family? The people who get sunburned through car windows? We return from a week away and people look at a quizzically and say, “Where did you go, again? Submarine cruise?” I honestly could kick myself for not buying stock in a sunscreen manufacturer before we had kids…given their genetic legacy I knew they would be more sun-sensitive than a field of solar panels. Most of us use more sunscreen in the summer than any other time of year. And most of us don’t think…

Jun 24 2015

When my husband told me that video games are good for hand-eye coordination (and therefore improving his career skills), I figured he was just vying for a Wii (or was it an Xbox? I’m pretty clueless on the difference). I didn’t buy it, literally or figuratively. Because I still can’t tie a sailor’s knot despite my hours of playing Pong and Pac Man back in-the-day. And yet, yet, despite that skepticism on the positive value of playing video games, I allow my kids to have daily access to their iPods. Is there guilt? Yes. Do I allow them more time than I…

Jun 16 2015

It’s summer. The local library has reading programs for toddlers, high schoolers and everyone in between. We parents know our kids should practice their reading skills for cognitive development, vocabulary expansion, and fluency . But the people who, believe it or not, study, the benefits of reading have much more to say about why not just our kids, but also adults, should indulge in a good read. Real Simple published an article in 2014 about this very topic, just in time for those summer reading programs. Some of the details may surprise you: 1) Ahhh, Oohhmm. Reading for just six minutes a day…

May 13 2015

A year ago, I wrote about whether or not to homeschool my older son and his brother and sister (How About Homeschooling? Part One and How About Homeschooling? Part Two). In those posts, I described my concerns, thoughts and feelings and was pleased to receive some wonderful feedback from readers. To all of you who shared your perspectives and positive experiences with educating your children at home, I thank you for providing food for thought. But I knew my husband and I were going to need more information before making a decision…and that meant sending our kids back to public school…

One Tough Mother

May 06 2015

I didn’t plan it this way. But two weeks ago I realized this post, which I drafted specifically for Mothers’ Day, would be PulseonParenting.com’s 100th. Hitting the century mark with an entry honoring moms feels like good karma. And I want you, all who have been reading PulseonParenting, to be a part of the good vibe. Moms can handle most anything parenting throws their way…in fact, I’d put money on it that you all are Tough Mothers. I’ll bet you have posted your most heroic, vulnerable, gross and/or hilarious maternal moments on Facebook or Twitter or your own blog. But…

I’m Driving With Kids, Guess What’s In My Glovebox?

Apr 29 2015

This week: a post on the lighter side inspired by a recent family road trip to California. It was great fun and the kids did really well riding the 2,000-plus miles. Which, pardon the pun, is a true milestone. My kids are in grade school and at this wonderful age teachers send makeup work along and this helps pass the time. It does so in theory, anyway. Friends named Pixar, Mad Libs and Motel Swimming Pool were indispensable as my husband and I bribed the kids into getting homework done. So in a nutshell, UN-caliber negotiations and movies and…

My name is Heidi Black and I have it all... Maybe not in the traditional sense of the phrase but I do feel I have it all: three beautiful, healthy children, a devoted husband and father and the privilege of being a Domestic Engineer. (I used to call myself a SAHM but that just doesn’t fit when my day is filled with coordinating 5 schedules and preplanning their execution, all up to a week in advance.) And now, indulging in a not-so-secret desire to write, and following the advice “write what you know” I am ready to share what I have learned from this ironic life journey and along with you, discover answers to those many questions related to parenting.

Tag - parenting

Kids Behaving Badly = Bad Parenting?

It’s Time to Return to School: Should I Vaccinate My Children?

Physical or a Feeling. What is Truly a Home?

The Holly Story and Nothing But the Holly Story

Are Chemical Sunscreens Safe?

Video Games, the Priming Effect, and Kids

Why We Need to Read

Why I Won’t Homeschool My Kids

One Tough Mother

I’m Driving With Kids, Guess What’s In My Glovebox?