All posts tagged "Parenting"

  • When you think you have failed as a parent

    Let’s face it: parenting is, has been, and always will be the most difficult and important job in the world!  Parenting can be a very rewarding experience when things are going well, but when things go awry,...

    • Posted February 2, 2024
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  • The trouble with “tracking”

      Now that school is back in full swing and family members are spending more time apart, you’re not alone if you’re feeling some separation anxiety. And what better way to alleviate the anxiety than to be...

    • Posted October 4, 2023
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  • Beyond school: Is homeschooling the right choice for every family?

    I had the pleasure of chatting with Kimberly Gawne, educator and founder of Star Students, about the benefits (and potential concerns) of homeschooling. Perhaps you’re homeschooling already or thinking of doing so. Many people were introduced to...

    • Posted October 4, 2023
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  • What to do if you don’t approve of the person your child is dating

    If your child is of dating or marrying age, you may relate to the impact that their choice of partner has on you. If you’re a fan of the Indian or Jewish matchmaking shows on Netflix, for...

    • Posted June 7, 2023
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  • Six important skills your preschooler learn through play

    •  Language development •  Small-muscle development •  Large-muscle development •  Emotional development •  Social development •  Mathematical thinking As your child’s first teacher, it is important you understand what he is learning when he plays. To do...

    • Posted May 31, 2023
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  • High-Tech flirting: How to talk to your teens about sexting

    Isn’t it wonderful how computer-savvy kids are today? But there’s a flip side to all the high-tech gizmos that have become such a huge part of our everyday lives. It’s called ‘sexting’- the sending of sexually explicit...

    • Posted April 26, 2023
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  • These 1,000 yen Daiso earbuds taught my child to shop with logic.

      My 8-year old daughter Dana came up to me to ask if she could get a pair of AirPods. “Almost all the kids in my school own one,” she adds. AirPods 2 costs around 19,800 yen...

    • Posted March 12, 2023
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  • Paying attention to your ultradian cycle boosts your energy levels.

    You may have heard about circadian rhythms, the sleep/wake cycles that occur every 24 hours. They’re important to your body’s energy use, but there’s another type of rhythm — ultradian — that has an even bigger impact...

    • Posted March 7, 2023
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  • Too much screen time?

    Toddlers best absorb the world around them by what they see. Here are tips on how to stimulate your kids’ minds and ensure their well-being. Screen addiction One study in the United States claims television still remains...

    • Posted March 7, 2023
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  • The most loving way to say ‘no’.

    I share lots of advice about toddler behavior because I know many parents find discipline issues intensely challenging. I was one of them. With my first child, especially, learning to recognize and respond effectively to her tests...

    • Posted January 22, 2023
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  • License no longer required for e-kick scooters in Japan starting July

    With the growing number of electric kick scooters in Japan, the National Police Agency will introduce new rules to take effect from July 1. The newly revised road traffic law enacted last year wasn’t supposed to go...

    • Posted January 19, 2023
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  • Bus operators: No need to fold twin strollers to hop into a Toei bus.

     A blog by former Japanese national team volleyball player Kana Oyama telling her followers the pains of using Toei Bus services with her twins, created quite a stir among other concerned parents. The growing reluctance to take...

    • Posted January 3, 2023
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  • Japanese families describe 2022 as a year of ‘happiness’.

    If you have to describe 2022 in one kanji character, what’s it going to be? This was the topic of an annual online poll involving 202 young Japanese moms and dads conducted by Karada Note, a company...

    • Posted December 20, 2022
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  • People need people.

    People. People who need people are the luckiest people in the world. This, according to Barbra Streisand but I believe it to be true, too. It doesn’t matter how old we are, most people feel comforted when...

    • Posted November 14, 2022
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  • Study explained: An 8-min wait before crib transfer works for baby’s uninterrupted sleep.

    Just when you thought your baby finally falls asleep in your arms, he wakes again and starts crying when laid in the crib. Sounds familiar?  A baby waking through the night, demanding your full attention can be...

    • Posted September 14, 2022
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  • Babies and Preschoolers acquire literacy skills when you read to them.

    Back in the old days, children of the ’50s and ’60s weren’t introduced to reading until they began primary school. As the number of mothers joining the workforce gradually increased, so too did preschools. Parents in Tokyo...

    • Posted September 8, 2022
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  • Teen stress in the Tokyo international community

    Would you be surprised to learn that close to 50% of adolescents in the Tokyo international community experienced a problem they felt they could not speak to anyone about? Would you expect that concerns about the future...

    • Posted August 24, 2022
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  • The Secret Language of Parents

    It was pretty darn close to my little guy’s bedtime. Actually, I just wished it were. Hubby and I were exhausted after a long day of chasing him up and down the street as he biked à...

    • Posted August 23, 2022
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  • Raise Financially Savvy Children

    A couple of months ago, I picked up a pretty cool item from the liquidation shelf at a store: a large lidded glass jar featuring a coin slot and digital display– a bank that counted your money...

    • Posted August 23, 2022
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  • When your child has flown and then comes home

    This weekend, after five years (minus “school” holidays) of my now 23-year-old daughter living away from home, she is returning from University and I’m preparing for it. In anticipation of accommodating her growing needs, a couple of...

    • Posted July 22, 2022
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  • What to do if your tween wants to date.

    Nine-year-old Alec Greven’s handwritten pamphlet, How to Talk to Girls sold like cupcakes at his suburban Colorado school fair. Then, it became a New York Times best-selling book. Packed with newbie dating advice including, “Some pretty girls...

    • Posted July 22, 2022
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  • How to set up your Google Family Link to monitor your children’s online activities.

    Google Family Link is a parental control app. The application allows parents to restrict content, see what apps to approve or disapprove, restrict screen times, and websites they can open through the browser. In order to access the...

    • Posted April 4, 2022
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  • Your pre-pandemic life is gone for good. Covid is here to stay.

    The unexpected emergence of the Omicron variant in November taught us a lesson-that nature isn’t bringing back our pre-pandemic lives. They have been replaced by virtual learning for schoolchildren, working from home, and limited mobility. Last year,...

    • Posted February 19, 2022
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  • The rate of COVID-19 transmission from mom to baby is low.

    Up until now, what we know about the placenta is that it keeps the fetus safe and fed. However, Boston researchers recently revealed its findings in the American Journal of Pathology that it also protects the baby...

    • Posted February 4, 2022
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  • Bedtime fail: Daughter interrupts the prime minister of New Zealand’s at-home livestream

    New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was livestreaming about important public health revisions to Covid-19 restrictions when she was interrupted by her three-year old toddler who was supposed to be in bed.  She said,  “mummy”? “It’s bedtime, darling,...

    • Posted November 10, 2021
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  • New dads who take 6 months paternity leave are losers, says private equity investor

    Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale, an American venture capitalist is under fire for making a provocative response to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s tweet who took a paternity leave to care for his newborn twins. “Any man in...

    • Posted October 29, 2021
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  • The pandemic is taking a toll on moms in Japan.

    A recent survey conducted by Japan’s Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. reveals that a number of people in Japan particularly child-rearing women, are feeling stress during the pandemic. The online survey held from July 14-27 involved 5,640...

    • Posted September 7, 2021
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  • Feeling Nearly Normal

    For the first time in 15 months, I hugged a friend. It felt nearly normal. For many, before going in for a once normal embrace, it’s becoming routine to first qualify whether or not each has been...

    • Posted July 12, 2021
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  • When is the right time to go back to work after having a baby?

    Having a baby is exciting, exhausting, and expensive. At some point between midnight feedings and mountains of diaper changes, you will need to decide when or whether to return to work. This choice is often fraught with...

    • Posted February 9, 2021
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  • Japan to stop giving child benefit to high-Income families

      Currently, Japan  pays a ¥5,000 child allowance as benefit to a family of 4 where husband earns an annual income of 9.6 million yen or higher and wife stays at home full time with two children....

    • Posted February 3, 2021
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