Has screen time use increased for your 2 to 5-year-old? You are not alone! Parents, it is so easy to be hard on yourselves for using screen time with your child more often as a calming strategy, reward, break, etc. as COVID-19 caused us to work from home and simultaneously provide childcare. How could you not implement more screen time? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) develops recommendations for media use and screen time for children. Here’s what we know: For toddle

Our lives are much different from what we are used to in many aspects. The way we learn, how we spend time with others, how we get essential items, and how we communicate have each shifted in some way. We often smile when we see a stranger when we walk into the grocery store, we raise our eyebrows when asking a question, frown when we are upset or expressing empathy, and so many other expressions that share how we feel. 93% percent of our communication occurs through non-verb

For much of the year 2020, parents have had the unique (and stressful!) opportunity of front row seats to their child’s learning environment. Many students began this school year virtually, but some families are back in the classroom or are making the transition to in-person learning in the next few weeks. Parents and caregivers may no longer be involved in every moment of their child’s school day. As students come home from their day at school, parents/caregivers are often c

There are a variety of reasons why kids might feel anxious to go to school, and the anxiety may present itself in many ways. Sometimes you can see physical or emotional signs, and other times it is not so obvious. They may present with stomachaches, constant headaches, migraines, or they might refuse to go to school, appear withdrawn or disengaged in class, or struggle with forming relationships. No matter how they present, there are two important facts to acknowledge: 1) the

Since the pandemic started, we have been inundated with advice about physical health, mental health, parenting, safety, and more. While it is pretty easy to understand and follow safety advice such as washing your hands, it can be much harder to determine whether your self-care, coping, and parenting strategies are really benefitting you and your family. Sometimes, we try something we read about online and it goes wrong, we try it at a bad time, or we don’t quite do it the ri