Author: Chien Liu

Few parenting moments are more unsettling than catchingyour child in a lie — particularly the first time, whenit arrives earlier than expected and feels like a signof something going wrong. The research on children andlying tells a more nuanced and more reassuring storythan most parents expect. This article covers what the research shows about whychildren…

If you have ever watched two toddlers playing side by side —each absorbed in their own activity, apparently ignoring eachother, yet clearly aware of the other’s presence — you havewitnessed parallel play. It is one of the most characteristicfeatures of toddler social life, and one of the mostmisunderstood by parents who wonder whether their childis…

Independence is one of those qualities that almost everyparent wants for their child — and one of the easiest toaccidentally undermine with the best of intentions. Theimpulse to help, to step in, to solve, to smooth the pathahead is one of the most natural impulses in parenting.The research suggests it is also one of the…

Shyness is one of the most common temperamentaltraits in childhood — and one of the most frequentlymishandled by well-meaning adults. The instinct topush a shy child toward social situations, to encouragethem to “just say hi,” to reassure them that “there’snothing to be scared of” — is understandable. Theresearch suggests it is also often counterproductive. This…

If your child feels things more intensely than most,notices things others walk past, melts down in loudor busy environments, and seems to be affected byexperiences that other children shrug off — you mayhave encountered the term sensory processingsensitivity without fully understanding what it means. This article explains what sensory processingsensitivity actually is, what the research…

Death is one of the topics parents most dread discussingwith their children — and one of the most important toget right. Most parents know they should say somethingwhen death enters their child’s life. Few know exactlywhat to say, when to say it, or how to say it in a waythat genuinely helps rather than frightens…

Kindness is one of those qualities that almost every parentwants for their child — and one of the least understood interms of how it actually develops. Most parenting adviceon the topic amounts to “model kindness” and “praise kindbehavior,” which is not wrong, but is far from complete. The research on how kindness develops in children…

Self-esteem is one of the most discussed conceptsin parenting — and one of the most misunderstood.The popular version of the concept, which dominatedparenting culture from the 1970s through the 1990s,suggested that self-esteem was the key to virtuallyevery positive child outcome, and that the primaryway to build it was through praise — telling childrenthey were special,…

If you have read anything about parenting styles,you have probably encountered the term authoritativeparenting — often described as the gold standardof parenting approaches, the one that researchconsistently finds produces the best outcomesacross virtually every measure of child development. But what does authoritative parenting actually mean?How does it differ from authoritarian parenting —a term that sounds…