More Good Days - Parenting Blog

In 2023, Pew Research Center published a survey of 3700 parents asking what it’s like to parent in the United States today. Here are some of the results: Their Experience of Parenting Parenting is an important part of their identity – the most (30%) or one of the most (57%) important aspects to who they are as a person. The percentage who say it’s the most important range – 35% of mothers say…

The Pew research center asked 3700 parents “compared with how you were raised, are you trying to raise your children in a similar way or a different way?” 43% say they are raising their child similarly to how they were raised. 44% say they are trying to take a different approach. Interestingly, fathers are more likely to say similar (47%) and mothers are more likely to say different (48%). Along…

I have been teaching parent education classes for 30 years, and have taught expectant parents and parents of kids from birth through elementary school. Sometimes the same family would take many classes, but I also had many I only taught for a short time. But, next year, I’ll be working in a program as their sole parent educator across all age levels, where the hope is that most families will…

photo from https://kingcountyparks.org/tag/movies-at-marymoor/ Whether you’re looking for outdoor movies to enjoy those warm summer evenings, or indoor movie clubs for those hot summer mornings when you really just need some A/C, or a drive-in movie, here are some options in the Seattle / King County area for summer 2026. Kids’ Summer Movie Clubs As you may remember from your own childhood,…

When you’re looking for child care, the choices can feel overwhelming. Here’s a five step process to help guide you through narrowing down your options. Learn the Basics Figure out exactly what you need Gather your options Research your top choices Make the decision Then, once you’ve found a provider, there’s an on-going step… continuing to evaluate whether it’s still meeting your needs,…

For an infant or young toddler, your options for child care providers include family or friends, nannies, au pairs, family child cares, and child care centers. Let’s look at each: Family, Friend or Neighbor Care Many children are cared for by grandparents, aunts/uncles, or family friends – this is actually the most common form of child care. This care might be provided in the child’s home or…

In a meeting yesterday, I learned something that was a new idea to me: teaching kids that when another child is doing something they don’t like, they should “Talk, Walk, Squawk.” I have learned that it is a fairly common “bullying prevention strategy” taught to elementary school students. I think the method would also work well with preschoolers, but I would never present it as bully prevention…

This post is the text of a handout I created for orientation at my co-operative preschool (I’ve added links for learning more), so it talks about how we do things in our classroom, but all of these 12 principles apply to parents and teachers in all settings. Respect! Let’s commit to a fundamental belief that everyone here (kids and parents) is doing the best they can given their developmental…

Check out my recent post on sound books for the big picture on interactive books where kids press a button to play a sound. This post focuses on some great music-themed sound books. (Pressing a button starts a song, pressing it again stops the song.) At the bottom of the post, I have a video, where you can hear a sample of what each of these books sounds like. Disclaimer: Pirouette Kids sent me…

At my toddler class and preschool, I have children who speak lots of different languages at home: including Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Hindi and diverse Indian dialects. I speak a little Spanish, French and German – enough that I can count to ten, and name some colors and some farm animals. That means that I can sometimes talk with children in their home language. I’m now trying to…

Sound books are interactive picture books aimed at young children. They have buttons you press to hear a sound (like a dinosaur roar, first words in various languages, or farm animal sounds) or a song. There can be anywhere from 3 – 30 buttons per book. They combine a book reading experience with a “press a button to make something happen” toy, so are fun for kids. Benefits and Uses Some…