A message from Doc Pop We have all asked our kids, “What did you do in school today?” only to be told that age-old lie, “Nothing.” Of course, what they really mean is either “Nothing significant to me” or “Nothing that I want to talk to you...
A message from Doc Pop Welcome to fall! Just because we are innovators doesn’t mean that we don’t follow a good trend when we see one. Case in point: our fall catalog. It’s slimmer than our catalogs of the past—so much so that printers have nicknamed it...
For this post, I want to share one of my favorite weeks from my book Doc Pop’s 52 weeks of Active Parenting with you. Be on the lookout for more Doc Pop’s 52 Weeks posts to come, and if you like what you read, consider...
“Why?” Because I’m your father/mother and I said so! If you recognize that this age-old parenting retort is a poor answer to a good question, then you are tapping into one of the most important ways that humans can use their intelligence: to understand the...
The increasing number of mass shootings, often labeled “hate crimes", is profoundly disturbing to most adults. The impact on children and teens is probably much greater. Whether the shooting occurs far away or closer to home, it’s a parent’s job to act as a filter...
I’ve heard about attempts to reach millennial parents with electronic tools such as parenting apps. And apps can certainly be useful. But there is a limit, and let’s face it: There is a lot of casual parenting education out there. Too many people have children,...
by Michael Popkin Research from De Montfort University in the UK showed that parents who praised their children five times each day saw an improvement in the child’s behavior. A “Five Praises Campaign” was even launched to help parents learn to be mindful of the need...
by Michael Popkin On May 14, 2019, my wife, Melody, and I became grandparents of an 8½ pound baby boy. Our daughter, Megan, whom some of you may remember as the ten-year-old girl reciting the Ages and Stages poem in our earlier version of Active Parenting:...
by Michael Popkin, author of Active Parenting of Teens and Teens in Action Hearing a good review of the new movie Booksmart on my drive home the other day, I thought I’d check it out for myself and was not disappointed. The humor was clever sometimes and...
Courage is such an important character trait in today's complex world of choices that it forms the very foundation upon which a child constructs her personality. Here is a poem I wrote a while back exploring the struggle between Courage and Fear. (Click to download...
