Let Kids Just Play
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 Posted in Main essay, Play & creativity, School & scheduling | 3 Comments »Both of my kids’ teachers this year put articles in their back-to-school information packets about leaving kids with some unscheduled time. You know, bus schedules, info about field trips and the parents club, and by the way: please, please ...
The Happiness Habit Tracker: Backbone of Our New Routine
Friday, August 21st, 2009 Posted in Changing bad habits into good ones, Discipline, Main essay, School & scheduling, Self-discipline | Leave a Comment »I love the Fall, the start of the school year. I always have, and I think it is because I love the new beginning it represents, plus the opportunity the school year brings for a new routine. But ...
Getting Back in the School Year Routine
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 Posted in Changing bad habits into good ones, Discipline, Empathy, Main essay, School & scheduling, Self-discipline | 2 Comments »"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony." —Thomas Merton Summer is coming to a close...Summer is a time of lovely things that look like bad habits once school rolls around again: sleeping late, ...
Ten 2008 Tips for Raising Happy Kids
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 Posted in Changing bad habits into good ones, Conflict, Family meals, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gratitude, Kindness, Main essay, Materialism, On Life & Being a Parent, Optimism, School & scheduling, Video | 2 Comments »Replace Your Kids’ Annoying Behaviors with Happiness Habits Some of the most irritating things our kids do (whining and tattling come to mind) are nothing more than bad habits, and as we all know, bad habits are tough to break! ...
How much “screen time” is too much?
Monday, September 22nd, 2008 Posted in Main essay, School & scheduling, Screen time | 29 Comments »When I was pregnant with Fiona, my friends, all childless themselves, thought it would be funny to write an advice book for my husband and I. (No one knew that I would, ironically, go on to be someone who ...
7 Ways to Foster Creativity in Your Kids
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 Posted in Growth & fixed mindsets, Main essay, Play & creativity, School & scheduling, Success, Success & failure | 4 Comments »Many people assume that creativity is an inborn talent that their kids either do or do not have: just as all children are not equally intelligent, all children are not equally creative. But actually, creativity is more skill than ...
Back-to-School: Play and Academic Success
Monday, August 18th, 2008 Posted in Discipline, Play & creativity, School & scheduling, Success | 9 Comments »[Note: If you subscribe to get postings by email, I apoligize for the emails you got this weekend. We’re still trying to figure out why they went out (clearly my area of expertise is NOT why feedburner does what it ...
Raising Happy Kids on Summer Vacation
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 Posted in On Life & Being a Parent, School & scheduling | Leave a Comment »Happy summer! I hope all of your families are settling into a summer routine that is more lazy than crazy. Personally, I find it really difficult not to super-schedule my kids into a different camp each week now ...
This blog is about science-based parenting advice. I'm a sociologist and the executive director of UC Berkeley's 
Appearances on ABC's "View From the Bay."
