Cultural expectations shade and color the images that parents- to-be form. The baby product ads, showing a woman serenely holding ...her child, looking blissfully and mysteriously contented, or the television parents, wisely and humorously solving problems, influence parents-to-be.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In families children tend to take on stock roles, as if there were hats hung up in some secret place, visible only to the children.... Each succeeding child selects a hat and takes on that role: the good child, the black sheep, the clown, and so forth.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Children, randomly at first, hit upon something sooner or later that is their mother's and/or father's Achilles' heel, a kind of b...ehavior that especially upsets, offends, irritates or embarrasses them. One parent dislikes name-calling, another teasing...another bathroom jokes. For the parents, this behavior my have ties back to their childhood, many have been something not allowed, forbidden, and when it appears in the child, it causes high-voltage reaction in the parent.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The colicky baby who becomes calm, the quiet infant who throws temper tantrums at two, the wild child at four who becomes serious ...and studious at six all seem to surprise their parents. It is difficult to let go of one's image of a child, say goodbye to the child a parent knows, and get accustomed to this slightly new child inhabiting the known child's body.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Parenthood brings profound pleasure and satisfactions--the unparalleled pleasure of caring so intensely for another human being, o...f watching growth, of reliving childhood, of seeing oneself in a new perspective, and of understanding more about life.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Understanding child development takes the emphasis away from the child's character--looking at the child as good or bad. The empha...sis is put on behavior as communication. Discipline is thus seen as problem-solving. The child is helped to learn a more acceptable manner of communication.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Often, when there is a conflict between parent and child, at its very hub is an expectation that the child should be acting differ...ently. Sometimes these expectations run counter what is known about children's growth. They stem from remembering oneself, but usually at a slightly older age.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There is nothing intrinsically better about a child who happily bounces off to school the first day and a child who is wary, watch...ful, and takes a longer time to separate from his parents and join the group. Neither one nor the other is smarter, better adjusted, or destined for a better life.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »