The Ultimate Game Of 'Pick Your Battles'

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Parenting: A Balancing Act For the past five years I have been attempting to stay carefully balanced in the center of a parental seesaw. On one seat rests my children's independence and creativity -- this side is strong and heartily managing its position. On the opposite side sits obedience and respect for authority, which is desperately attempting to gain momentum. I teeter in the middle, trying to keep both harmoniously balanced, not wanting either to fall. My toddler is constantly testing the seesaw's equilibrium point by forcefully jumping on independence's seat and refusing to budge. When she does this I sometimes feel the need to creep in the opposite direction, inching my way towards respect. Like many toddlers, my 2-and-a-half-year-old has a favorite outfit that, given her druthers, she would wear morning, noon and night. For Maisy it is a pair of pink zip-up pajamas covered in rainbow polka dots. She affectionately dubbed these her "pink candy pajamas" and whenever she dons them she never fails to offer anyone in the vicinity the "candy" of her choice. Why Parents Are Sending Kids To 'Secret' Preschools Octomom Poses Semi-Nude For Cash For Trayvon: What Parents Must Learn From This Tragedy Can Madonna Really Be Blamed For Her Daughter's Bad Habits? Why I Would Never Write About An Overweight Daughter BLOG POSTS Leah Singer: The 'Joys' of Mother-Daughter Shoe Shopping I did NOT expect the overabundance of expensive light-up sneakers and sparkly, strappy heeled shoes. Sophie's a 4-year-old preschooler, not a finalist for a children's beauty pageant. Signe Whitson: What Parents Can Do When Bullying is Downplayed at School No family should find themselves all alone when navigating the dangerous and destructive waters of bullying in school. Steve Ressler: Does Winning at Work Mean Losing at Home? Does having a child mean that a parent needs to pass on a promotion -- or give up time with a child in order to advance his or her career? Beth Kobliner: What 5th-8th Graders Need to Know About Money It's always a treat to speak at schools, where I can connect with children I don't know and who haven't been inundated with my money mania. Here are the five money lessons every kid from 5th to 8th grade should know. Jowita Bydlowska: Are you a sMotherer? The Über Mom sat in the kiddie pool with her Miracle (thankfully, that wasn't the kid's name) and blathered on about the little girl's birth, her habits, her vaccinations, her diet and her pee-pee.

MOST POPULAR ON HUFFINGTONPOST.COM Aggressive Parents Force Egg Hunt Cancellation What 'Mad Men' Changes Mean For Sally Draper Mom Who Wrote 'Worst Vogue Article Ever' Signs Book Deal ON FACEBOOK To Eat Placenta? Or Not To Eat Placenta? Moms of Boys Are Jealous Shrews, So Here's a Contract for Your Son's Future Wife For Trayvon: What Parents Need To Learn From This Tragedy

If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please safely unsubscribe.