Category Archives: Conflict with Friends
Real Housewives of New York Mommy Manners Drama
Watching a Real Housewives of New York marathon last night, I felt sympathy for Alex, who struggled over how to respond to Jill’s comments about her children humping a stranger’s leg. Alex was clearly caught off guard by the comment as she wasn’t there when the incident took place and her husband failed to [...]
Also posted in What a mean thing to say Tagged mama drama, mean moms, parenting, parents, real housewives of new york 1 Comment
Just Say NO
We have a friend who can’t say no. Candy for breakfast? Well, just this once. One more T.V. program? Sure. Two more? Oh, all right. A new toy? If you finish your dinner. Constantly saying “no” to our kids can be exhausting. Most of us pick our battles and give in on occasion. The problem [...]
Diagnosing Developmental Delays in Other People’s Children
We all love our friends and want to be there for them. Sometimes this can take the form of feeling it is our duty to tell them if we observe concerning behavior in their child – like walking on tip toes, or avoiding eye contact or lack of impulse control. We somehow fear that they [...]
Also posted in Judgement Days Tagged advice, developmental delays, how to ruin a friendship, jodi sternoff cohen, mommy manners, my mommy manners, parenting, Parenting Police Leave a comment
Is it ever ok to tell another mom that something is wrong with her parenting?
If your friend doesn’t ask, is it your place to tell her parenting or her child need improvement? Most of the stories we have heard on this topic, do not have happy endings. Take, for example, our friend Mindy who was devastated when her old friend Jessica gave her an earful about her son, [...]
Be careful about over-sharing
When we have a bad day or a bad parenting moment, many of us share it with our friends. We regale them in our worst moments to vent, get it off our chest and have someone tell us that it really isn’t that bad. But we forget that those intimate details can linger in [...]
Also posted in Judgement Days Tagged advice, discipline, jodi sternoff cohen, judgment, mommy manners, my mommy manners, parenting styles 1 Comment
The Blame Game
Beth had a friend over for a play date and the kids were having a great time running around in the backyard. When it was time to go, the moms called them inside. The friend’s child, clearly still excited from running around outdoors starting running through Beth’s house yelling loudly. Beth, a relaxed mother of [...]
Clash of the parenting styles
You love your friend. You have so much in common: music, hobbies, religion, political leanings, clothing styles, careers before popping out kids. But when it comes to parenting, even our closest friends can surprise us with their discipline choices. Our friend Sam is still recovering from behavior she observed while dining with her high [...]
Love the friend, hate her kid
You love your friend, but you could do without her kid. Maybe she is out of control, teases your children, mouths off to you, or perhaps she breaks things then lies about it. Whatever the case, it can be awkward and uncomfortable when you don’t like your friend’s children. Our friend Lisa used to drive [...]
Sticky Sugar Situations
There are a few really touchy topics in parenting…. Breastfeeding, co-sleeping and SUGAR. What is it about sugar that makes us so crazy? In most situations, we scarcely notice or care what parenting choices our friends make. But if they even think about giving our child chocolate milk, we might just blow a gasket. I [...]
Also posted in Sticky Food Situations, Uncategorized Tagged bad mother, jodi sternoff cohen, mom, mommy, my mommy manners, other parents feeding sugar, sugar 2 Comments
Can Friendships survive children?