Comments for Parenting By Trial and Error

Comment on Review: LeapPad cartridge games: Pet Pals 2, Pixar Pals & LeapSchool Reading by carrie

carrie — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:21:14 +0000

We had same problem with pet pals 2 so I returned it, not sure of a solution, but wonder is this only a problem with the cartridges or does it still happen on downloaded apps or games of the same name? My son did like this game so it was a shame to return it, would download it instead if the freezing wasn’t a problem.

Comment on Bathroom Bullying by James

James — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 10:55:00 +0000

I used to get bullied heaps in highschool, especially in the bathrooms. The other kids would put my head into the toilets and flush it regularly.

Comment on I blame Facebook by Rosey

Rosey — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:35:35 +0000

It’s great! Totally fun!

I’m glad you posted, I was wondering where you were and then this popped up in my email. Happy to see you posting.

Comment on How much time should we spend playing with our kids? by tracy

tracy — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:46:50 +0000

I feel that kids are like sponges. The richness of a child’s imagination comes from everything that comes to their senses. Play teaches imagination, social skills, leadership skills and the ability to love life. Play is not simply “entertainment” . I don’t understand why so many of you think that the sole purpose of playing with your kids is to “entertain” them. That is simply not true. I know for a fact that my kids are far more creative, social, and interested in reading and cooking and doing their homework than so many other kids because of the time that I have spent playing with them and teaching them. The benefits of play and teaching will give them tools to help them have an awesome time becoming independent and be better prepared to lead others in the future.

Comment on How much time should we spend playing with our kids? by Trisha

Trisha — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:50:29 +0000

Lisa, I also have just one, and it seems she is always asking for me to play with her. She just turned 4, and I, up until recently when I took an on call job, was a SAHM. I find it a nightmare some days trying to take care of all that I need to do and fit 15 minutes of “playtime” in. Like a lot of people my mom didn’t play with me either b/c I had 3 older sisters one handicapped with brain damage from a car accident.
Guilty of not playing as often as she’d like and feeling bad too. I take her places for children playtime almost daily. I do like doing things like swimming, hiking, baking, reading, just not dollies and dinosaurs.
I feel like I AM a bad mom because of it, even though I probably am not. I am also an older mom, and wish now we would have started earlier, for many reasons one of which is the sibling thing. I don’t have a scrap of energy after a day of playing, cleaning, cooking… I don’t know how moms of multiples do it…

Comment on Review: LeapPad cartridge games: Pet Pals 2, Pixar Pals & LeapSchool Reading by Summer

Summer — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 22:23:12 +0000

Santa surprised my daughter with a leappad 2 and she is in love with the Pet Pals 2 but it continues to freeze up when she is at the bathtub scene. I feel so bad for her because she is putting so much effort and time into this game. When it freezes up we cannot even turn it off unless we pull out the battery to turn the power off and then she must restart the game. Looking on google we see others are having issues with the game freezing. Anyone know of any fixes? Thanks in advance!

Comment on How much time should we spend playing with our kids? by Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 03:01:52 +0000

I struggle with this issue a lot as we have only one child, a son who is 3 1/2. We don’t have family in the area, we are business owners, (DH is about to leave his corporate job of nearly 20 years to run our business full-time), and to be perfectly honest don’t know a lot of other ppl in our age range (38-44) with very young children. We are not the kind of parents who leave him with anyone, in fact, we have rarely gone out alone at all since he’s been born – a DRASTIC change from the 5 years we had together married before having our son. Don’t get me wrong, our boy is our hearts – we could not imagine our lives without him – he has changed us immeasurably. I am sure I just put too much guilt onto myself because my mother not only didn’t play with us, she was a pretty crappy mom in general. It was really interesting to read everyone’s perspectives on this, I’d love to hear from other parents of onlies…

Comment on How much time should we spend playing with our kids? by Geri Fowler

Geri Fowler — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:05:29 +0000

I totally agree with you. As children we played by ourselves and usually outside. My grand children refuse to play unless an adult does so with them or they expect to be entertained constantly. This does not allow the adults to do their own work/chores. And the screamming and whining if you do not entertain them is unbearable. This behavior drives a wedge between the adults in the home. Yes,read to them,cuddle,or play a board game,but please,make them understand they are to play by themselves. Great article. Thank you. My children played together or alone. I always had time for the chores and getting ready for work without children preventing me from doing so. All was well. Our home was not chaotic.

Comment on How much time should we spend playing with our kids? by Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:53:56 +0000

Dear Crazy in Tx…..why did you marry a woman with children if being part of the family isn’t what you wanted? When you marry someone with children they are a HUGE part of the equation. NO, it is not your responsibility to entertain all of the time, but it is your responsibility to be present. Everyone needs their personal space, but let’s get real, is it any kind of marriage for her or the children if you are climbing into a “man-cave” all the time? I think if it were me and my children I would seriously be reconsidering your commitment to family. Maybe you should try someone without kids.

Otherwise, this page was very refreshing to me. I am a stay-at-home mom and I have one 4 year old son and one 3 1/2 year old step-daughter. They are half brother and sister. I tend to let them play together a great deal of time on the weeks that we have her (2 a month) and then I feel bad because my son doesn’t have anyone to play with on the weeks that she isn’t here. I think that it gives him alone time as well as one-on-one “mommy” time. I just always have a tendency to wonder if it’s “enough”. BTW, I am very attentive to both he and his 1/2 sister.

Comment on Needed: Input from nail biters! by David

David — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:09:29 +0000

My son seemed a little on edge when he was biting his nails around us, gulity in a way. This upset me so I sat him down and simply explained that it isnt a problem if he wants to bite his nails, it isnt like he is doing drugs or anything. Any way whether good or bad he is so much more relaxed and bites his nails more now and they are noticibly shorter than last month. How is Cody doing? Would be interesting to see how they compare with January