Particularly in the early years of the child's development, parents may get different opinions from professionals who view the chi...ld in different settings. A pediatrician seeing the child in a busy office diagnoses "attention deficit disorder"; a nursery school teacher who observes the child in an unruly classroom calls him "hyperactive" ... a psychologist or psychiatrist ... decides he's very active but not "hyper" and talks of emotional and family problems; while a neurologist, meeting with the child on a one-to-one basis,... says he is "normal."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
A family's responses to crisis or to a new situation mirror those of a child. That is to say, the way a small child deals with a n...ew challenge (for instance, learning to walk) has certain predictable stages: regression, anxiety, mastery, new energy, growth, and feedback for future achievement. These stages can also be seen in adults coping with new life events, whether positive or negative.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Grandparents who want to be truly helpful will do well to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves until these are ...requested.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
All adults who care about a baby will naturally be in competition for that baby.... Each adult wishes that he or she could do each... job a bit more skillfully for the infant or small child than the other.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Families need families. Parents need to be parented. Grandparents, aunts, and uncles are back in fashion because they are necessar...y. Stresses on many families are out of proportion to anything two parents can handle.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
A pregnant woman and her spouse dream of three babies--the perfect four-month-old who rewards them with smiles and musical cooing,... the impaired baby, who changes each day, and the mysterious real baby whose presence is beginning to be evident in the motions of the fetus.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Attachment to a baby is a long-term process, not a single, magical moment. The opportunity for bonding at birth may be compared to... falling in love--staying in love takes longer and demands more work.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »