ArcaMax

Q: I have 6-month-old and 32-month-old boys. The older one — well-mannered, easygoing, very affectionate — attends a preschool program three mornings a week. This is his second year there. Last year, he cried every time I walked him in but stopped within minutes. This year, I have to use the carpool line. When a teacher tries to get him out ...Read more

I can count on one hand — OK, maybe two — the number of parents who’ve told me that letting a child speak with a therapist has produced a positive outcome. One might dismiss a few such reports, but not hundreds of them. Most reflect a similar theme: to wit, a tendency on the part of said therapists to take the “side” of the child in a ...Read more

My previous column concerned so-called “gentle parenting,” which is naught but a retreading of the parenting propaganda that has gushed relentlessly from the mental health professional community since the late 1960s. When the propaganda began, the aim was two-fold: first, to demonize and delegitimize parental authority; second, to create ...Read more

What is “gentle parenting”? It did not take much investigation for me to conclude that it is merely a rebranding of the same old, same old parenting babble that America’s mental health establishment has been grinding out since the late 1960s.

Mental health professionals began demonizing punishment some 50 years ago, and sure enough, I ...Read more

“I feel your pain” passes as a virtue, but it is anything but. However well-intentioned, it is the gist of codependency.

When someone else is in a state of emotional pain, it is one thing to empathize, understand, have compassion, offer to give support, and render practical assistance. It is quite another to feel the person’s pain. In ...Read more

Q: My almost 4-year-old daughter is generally well-behaved except for screaming and running away from me when we leave a store, the library, etc. before she’s ready to go. She pulls away from me and runs. If we’re already outside, she often puts herself in danger. I have spanked her and sent her to her room when we get home. When I punish ...Read more

Q: I recently changed my almost 4-year-old son’s preschool. My son, once fearless, has become reluctant to simply get out of the car in the morning and go into the school. There’s always a teacher at curbside, welcoming the kids. At his old school, he’d just get out of the car and go in. Now, I have to walk him in, then he doesn’t want ...Read more

A 4-year-old – I’ll call him Popeye – had a habit of hitting other children in his preschool program. His teachers tried various approaches, including rewarding him with a treat on days when he didn’t hit. That backfired, as such silly approaches to discipline nearly always do.

At wit’s end, Popeye’s mom asked my advice, which I ...Read more