By: Kristen Berthiaume PhD Every Time You Go Away… Helping Your Kid Deal with Separation Anxiety My thanks to Hall & Oates for the title (you’re singing it in your head now, aren’t you? Sorry about that…). Separation anxiety is a normal part of development that typically occurs in infants...

By Kristen Berthiaume: Remember those quizzes we took as teenagers (“Are you a huge flirt?!”)? The ones in magazines geared towards grown women that we probably shouldn’t have been reading in the first place? Let’s take one now, shall we? Are You a Great Mom? If your kids ate breakfast today,...

By Kristen Berthiaume: No, this isn’t an article on the pain and suffering caused by living in a split Auburn/Alabama household, although I’m sure there are some cases out there of HDSD (House-Divided Stress Disorder). No, you see – it’s February – the month of love. So what better time to...

By: Kristen Berthiaume It’s been over a month since the horrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and many of us parents are still feeling pretty powerless. We send our kids to school each morning with a big hug and silent prayers that it’s just a normal day. Fortunately, there is more that...

By Kristen Berthiaume: Happy New Year!  Don’t we all love the “starting fresh” feeling that comes around now?  We’ve survived the holiday craziness and have but to enjoy a night out (or, for many of us, in) to reflect on the past year and plan for the next 365 days.  And, with that planning...

By: Kristen Berthiaume As parents, we want to pass on our values and beliefs to our children and we do this in a variety of ways everyday.  Many of us may worry about our kids hearing opinions we strongly disagree with and this is never more likely than at election time. A quick perusal of any Facebook...

By Kristen Berthiaume: On a daily basis, your family encounters dozens of problems – from what to wear, to what to eat, to whose turn it is to clean out the litter box.  Most problems are easily addressed with a little discussion or you pulling rank and making a decision for everyone.  However, sometimes...

By Kristen Berthiaume: Even if you’ve tried to prevent it, your kids have probably heard something about the shootings that occurred overnight Thursday in Aurora, Colorado. If they have, they’re probably pretty confused and disturbed – aren’t we all? Here are some tips for helping your child...

By Kristen Berthiaume Books to Use When Talking to Kids About Feelings and Stuff This month, instead of a regular article, I’m highlighting some of the best children’s books I’ve found to start conversations about expressing feelings and handling problems. These are all books I’ve used in my...

We all know kids get sad. At my house, it happens 20 times a day in response to all kinds of injustices: not getting to push the elevator button, having to turn off the TV, rain when we’re headed to the pool. And, yes, even spilled milk. For most of our kids, the sad moods pass like fast-moving cloud...