takoma cover


Takoma Voice

Silver Spring Voice

Print Archives

 

News

Columns & blogs

Voice Box

Photos

 

Calendar

Business Directory

Classifieds

voiceshop

 

Advertise

Pay your invoice

About the Voice

Contact the Voice

E-mail Lists

 


Special Sections

Arts & Entertainment

Best of the Best

Health & Fitness

Home & Garden

Hometown Resources

Real Estate

Restaurant reviews

Summer Camp Guide

 


Columns & blogs

Biz Buzz

Citizen Bill

Drama Queen

Easy Gardener

The Eclectic Ear

Editor's blog

Fashionista

Granola Park

Green Voice

Heart of Parenting

Inside Blair

Kids' Voice

Photos

Profiles

Parents' Voice

Question of the Month

School Scene

Silver Spring: Then & Again

Silver Sproing

Sin of the Month

Sligo Naturalist

Sustainable Gardening

Takoma Archives

Talk of Takoma

Takoma Pork

takomasilversports

V-Tube

Voicebox

voiceshop

Vox Poetica

Voz Latina

World on a Plate

World View

 

The independent voice of Takoma Park and Silver Spring, Maryland, since 1987


Emory Luce Baldwin, LCMFT, is a mother of two teens, a family therapist and certified parent educator with offices in Takoma Park as well as through the Family Encouragement Center in Kensington.


July 2009

Family Vacations

Dear Emory,

In a few weeks, we’ll be going on vacation—and I still haven’t recovered from last year’s vacation trip! Everyone started off so excited, but then it all went downhill. The kids were whiny and complaining much of the time, and my partner and I had a hard time without becoming whiny and complaining, too! This year, our kids are another year older (they are now 7 and 10) so maybe it can go better. Do you have any suggestions for how we can try to make our vacation fun for everyone?
—Apprehensive on Aspen

Read more...


July 2008

Kids and computers

Fifteen year old Matthew is at the 14th level of his online game. He got there by spending more and more time online, building alliances and raising his score. Along the way, he has also strengthened his planning and strategy skills…but his parents are becoming concerned, because he is now spending most of his waking hours online, and he overreacts furiously when they suggest that he join them for dinner, help out with some chores, or even go out to a movie with friends.

Read more...


June 2008

Keeping kids busy

Kids who are always on the go from one thing to another have precious little time to day-dream, to hang out with their friends, or even to just unwind. I have heard more than one over-busy young teen ask, “Isn’t this supposed to be a fun time in my life?” When I asked them what they are missing, they wistfully talk about longing for more time to just hang out in their backyards, to get together with friends, or even time to just read fun books.

Read more...


May 2008

Limits With Love

Good limits are like the walls of a house—they help children feel safe and cared for. Much of what seems like a child protesting against limits is really the child testing the parent, not the limits.

Read more...


April 2008

Parenting with courage

Courageous parents are not looking for short cuts or “drive-by” parenting! Courageous parenting requires thoughtfulness, self-control, and creativity. Not surprisingly, these are all of the qualities we are asking our children to develop as well.

Read more...


March 2008

Trust

The late humorist, Erma Bombeck, once wrote a funny essay about entertaining our dinner guests the same way we talk to our children. “Get your elbows off the table, Jim, and please don’t talk with your mouth full! Emily, I remember you were telling me what you learned the other day about growing roses. I certainly hope you are taking your studies seriously, because you’ll never be really good at gardening unless you work hard. Oops, Jim, you spilled some of your wine! Tsk, tsk, I’ll wipe it up for you…that was certainly careless of you…EMILY! No more interruptions or you will be sent home! Mike hadn’t finished what he was saying yet! Go ahead, dear, finish telling us your story…”

Read more...


February 2008

Century of the child

In many ways, the beginning of the 21st Century is a fortunate time to be writing about parents and children. More than 100 years of research has given us a tremendous amount of information about children and how they grow and learn. We now know how children’s brains develop, how they learn language and motor skills, how they discover social skills and how they learn to understand the differences between “right” and “wrong.” By now, we should have kids all figured out, right?

Read more...


January 2008

The perfect child

Marcus makes straight A’s in school, yet he often procrastinates on starting his assignments and then works until late at night to complete them on time. Angelina loves her friends dearly, and she always lets them choose what movie to see or which mall to go to. If they ask her what she wants to do, she lies and says, “I don’t know…” and “we can do whatever you want to do.” Robbie is a good kid who tries very hard to please his parents, but they are asking more from him than he can realistically do at his age, and he can’t keep up with their expectations—sometimes, his frustration becomes despair, and he lashes out with snarling ferocity. Sophie is the oldest of three kids in her family, and she likes being known as the “smart” one in her family. Her two younger siblings are also very clever, and therefore Sophie criticizes them and makes fun of them at every opportunity.

Read more...


Previous columns:

Magical thinking (repeat of September)

October 2007

Magical thinking

September 2007

Little monsters

August 2007

The second born child

July 2007

The first born child

June 2007

Your teen and Internet porn

May 2007

Good enough parents, good enough kids, good enough families

April 2007

Have faith in your child—right now!

March 2007

Fearful parenting

February 2007

Responding to revenge

January 2007

Games parents play

December 2006

This is going to hurt

November 2006

"It's time to wake up!"

October 2006

News flash: Sometimes children are not interesting to adults

September 2006

Are we having fun yet?

August 2006

Finding one's own sense of balance

July 2006

The importance of being a father

June 2006

Don't worry about it!

May 2006

Who is responsible for this mess?

April 2006

Parenting your one and only child

March 2006

Getting through the tough times

February 2006

"How many times do I have to tell you?"

January 2006

The real gifts of the holidays

December 2005

Parenting with a light touch

November 2005

Family Meetings

October 2005

Becoming a "Mistake-Friendly" Family

September 2005

The Parent-of-Teen Metamorphosis

August 2005

Raising Kids with Courage

July 2005

Fighting for a Place in the Family

June 2005


 

double your dollar
friends of the voice
arts banner
health fitness
home garden
camps
 
reclaimed frames
advertise in the Voice!
takoma foundation
impact silver spring
 
 
 
 

SHOP
LOCAL!

Support your
community
by using your
Hometown Resources
& Business Directory

A

Accounting & Taxes
Apartments
Architects
Art/Graphics
Attorneys
Auto

B

Builders

C

Candles
Catering
Child Care
Cleaning
Clock Repair
Computer/Internet

D

Dance
Driving School

F

Florists
Framing
Funerals

G

Gay/Lesbian
Groceries

H

Health:

Acupuncture
Audiologist
Chiropractic
Eye Care
Fitness
Internal Medicine
Massage Therapy
Naturopathy
Nutrition
Past Life Regression
Pediatrics
Shiatsu,Reiki
Wellness
Yoga

Home:

Builders
Carpentry
Cooling
Door and Hardware
Electrical
Exterior Design
Fireplace
Green Services
Handyperson
Hauling
Heating
Interior Design
Painting
Paperhanging
Plumbing
Remodeling
Stonemason

I

Immigration
Insurance
Investment Help

K

Kids

L

Landscaping
Life Coach

M

Martial Arts
Mortgage Loans
Music

O

Organizing Services

P

Parenting Support
Pets
Piano Tuning & Restoration
Printing
Psychology & Therapy

R

Real Estate

Religion & Spirituality:

Christian
Humanistic
Interfaith
Judaism
Mindfulness
Quaker

Restaurants

S

Schools
Slipcovers
Snow Removal
Stained Glass
Summer Camps

T

Tree Service

U

Upholstery

W

Watch / Jewelry Repair

HOME CLASSIFIEDS RESOURCES BLOGS CALENDAR ADVERTISE CONTACT US
Takoma Voice / Silver Spring Voice
P.O. Box 11262 • Takoma Park, MD 20913
301-891-6744

Copyright © 2009, Takoma Publishing, Inc.