Discipline

mailbag

“My kids secretly pinch one another, how can I stop this?

From the mailbag: "Dear Mama Bear, I have two young children who generally get along well, but sometimes get really mad at each other and pinch each other when I'm not looking.  How can I get them to stop this habit? Thin-skinned in Washington" Dear TSiW, Sigh.  MamaBear assumes this has been going on for […]

Continue Reading
moosep

When the SH*T hits YOUR Hairbrush and Other Parenting Insanities

It was an adventure like no other, y'know? Sigh…. Yes indeed, Mama Bear was happily ensconced in her bathroom, pulling on her karate gi and otherwise making sure her outwards persona didn't frighten small impressionable children (immediately, that is). Life was joyous!  Glorious!  All that remained was that MamaBear had to brush out her long […]

Continue Reading
mailbag

“My child runs away from me at the mall. Help!”

From the mailbag: "Dear Mama Bear, My 5 year old boy Jerry is so stubborn and he has a mind of his own!  Whenever I call him at the mall, he giggle and runs in the opposite direction.  What should I do? Signed, Confused" Dear Confused, This is one of the spine-tingling joys of being […]

Continue Reading

No Dear, The Rapture Does NOT Mean “No Chores”

It's morning time and let me tell you, MamaBear is more growly than a high school teacher that's beset by the lawyer parents of students who missed the entire year but still expect an A. Last night, HB1 insisted to me that he would remember his chores (in this case, bravely tackling the sink dishes).  […]

Continue Reading

Easy Tip To Ensure Your Child Always Remembers How Much You Believe In Them

Wow. Today MamaBear got blindsided by Honorable Boy #2's continuing lack of self-confidence…and turned on a dime to deal with it. Here's how. It all started when Honorable Boy #2 casually left his plastic strings scattered about on the kitchen floor. Now, it's true that MamaBear was *not* born with the neatness gene (compared to […]

Continue Reading

Time-Outs Are Just Plain Stupid

Every time I hear a parent telling their child, "you're going to be in (gasp!) TIME OUT!", I cringe. What an incredibly stupid idea. I mean, just consider what exactly a time-out does. I think some parents have this blissful idea that children will think on their transgressions and realize quite how wrong their actions […]

Continue Reading

The Easiest Way To Deal With Tantrums In Stores

Mama Bear is generally very good-natured indeed.  Just ask her cubs. But….. There ARE something things guaranteed to really frost her petunias, y'know? If there's one thing that makes Mama Bear growl with extreme frustration and dismay, it's seeing the hordes of horribly-behaved little spoiled twits out there in retail stores who throw screaming tantrums […]

Continue Reading

Dealing With Stupid Lying Part 1

I guess that every child goes thru lying every now and then. Thing is….HS2 is going thru it more than, say, Barney attempts to inhale small children on a daily basis. As you can imagine, this gets 'way frustrating 'way quick! However, dealing with it is not as easy as MamaBear would prefer.  I would […]

Continue Reading

Free Lined Paper!

Does your kid ever run out of paper? Did you know you can print lined paper for free? HB2 just finished choosing to do a half-buttocked performance on his kitchen chores, so MamaBear decided that a useful consequence would be to write these three paragraphs. What he did wrong. Why he chose to do it […]

Continue Reading