Toddlers and Twos Blog

But this controversy raises an important question many moms of toddlers face: Should I continue breastfeeding my child? It's a very personal decision. If you're weighing the choice, be sure you're addressing the questions you need to consider about extended breastfeeding.

Whether you've nursed for four weeks or 4 years, we'd love to hear your advice on successfully nursing or weaning your child. Share them with the community.

There are several common reasons that young kids begin (and continue) taking off their clothes. Figuring out why your toddler is doing this is the first step to dealing with a toddler who strips.

Of course, we started my oldest out with the big box of 64, so to say things got messy would be an understatement. We'd be picking bits of paper off the rug and out of her secret hiding spots for hours after one of her "coloring" episodes. Even as someone who's pretty lax about toddler messes, those crayon papers drove me mad. I didn't stop them, though. After all, maybe it built fine motor skills. It certainly kept them happy and independently entertained for amazingly long stretches of time.

The real downside was the question of what we should do with the remains. Not only were the crayons naked in the end, they were usually riddled with nail marks and broken into bits. I kept those sad little pieces in a Tuperware bowl until I found something to do with them. My favorite two projects: make new crayons out of old ones and create crayon window art.

The window art project is the perfect Mothers' Day craft. The heart-shaped piece shown here was created by my oldest son last Mothers' Day for grandma. Needless to say, she loved it.

What are you looking forward to this Mothers' Day? Share your parenting joys with us!

Knowing this, I was very careful about the advice I offered a reader who recently asked whether she should use disposable training pants when potty training her granddaughter. She writes:
I'm about to start potty training my 25-month-old granddaughter. I can't decide if I should start by using pull ups or move straight onto the panties.

Read my response and share your own potty training tips with other readers.

From politicians taking sides on the SAHM/Working mom "war" to everyone with a Twitter account weighing in on celebrity mom advice and recent parenting books, I feel like much of the country is over-analyzing what it is I do every day.

Surprisingly, the only time I don't hear anyone talking about these things is when I'm with other moms. I don't think that this in any way says we don't care about issues like the price of day care or whether we're raising babies to feel secure. But on a day-to-day basis, the moms I know are too busy to get caught in the media hype. The frenzy around some of these topics reminds me of high school dramatics -- like the time I cried when I saw my yearbook picture. Surely the fact that this lasting portrait was so hideous was worth getting excited over...at least for a day. After that it was time to focus on the actual fact of graduating.

That's how I feel now: I need to get on with the business of raising my kids. I don't really have the energy to spend on debating whether that person over there is more right than the other person over here. I believe that the time I spend today planning activities and talking with my toddler is going to do more good in the world than anything else. To those who say that I should be concerned about reinventing modern motherhood to be more fair to moms, more effective for children, and more fun for all: I agree. But I am going to start with my own house. Today we're breaking out the playdough (with all the accessories) and turning everyday junk around the house into toddler "toys."

What little ways do you find joy in motherhood? Share your stories with the rest of our readers.

I'm assuming that this is all tongue in cheek, especially since Jim Taylor, Ph.D., should be quite familiar with the fact that children without involved parents face truly significant problems such as substance abuse and, in severe cases, reactive attachment disorder.

But even if this is just a "Ha ha...I'm not totally serious here" piece, I'd like to recommend that Dr. Taylor stick to his day job and drop attempts at comedy. It's not really so funny to hear one more expert making parents worry that they are doing something "wrong."

He brings up the fact that almost all parents yell , and, Dr. Taylor explains, "the research shows, that yelling is not good for our children." Well, yes, severe "psychological aggression" (psychologist speak for yelling and other non-physical behavior management techniques such as threatening to spank) has been shown to be harmful to children. This is according to a 2003 paper published in the Journal of Marriage and Family (where, I think, Dr. Taylor gets his stats on the topic). But other experts such as psychologist George Holden, Professor of Psychology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, see a golden lining to moms yelling at their kids. In an interview with TODAY Moms, he said that kids who are yelled at by their parents can learn an important lesson about dealing with negative emotions.

I'm not so sure about that expert fact either (especially when it comes to yelling at a toddler). I personally know I yell too much and I am working on cutting down on my outbursts.

In the meantime, I try not to be too hard on myself when I have a yelling moment. I also think that the way you treat a yelling episode is important. One way I try to lighten the impact of my yelling is by recruiting my older kids to help me not get so crazy in the morning (because mornings are especially hard for this yelling mom). They know they need to move to get out the door on time, but they also have been told to tell mom when she's rushing them too much and when I am basically getting "too yelly." I've been honest with the two of them (ages 4 and 5) that I don't like to yell and it's something I try not to do. I think if they see that we all struggle with problems and help each other with our short fallings, then they will learn another important lesson - we all need each other and we all love each other even if we're not perfect.

Actually, the best response to Dr. Taylor's argument I've seen was posted by Julie Ryan Evans on The Stir. She asked readers to tell her what they would outsource as a parent. My pick - worrying! I'd pay someone to do all the fretting for me any day.

And keep in mind: there is more than one way to celebrate a birthday. What's important is making time to reflect on the amazing things that have happened over the course of one short year.

In fact, I cringed each time I heard the swish/swoosh even though my own toddler was far from harm, quietly playing in our Playzone, a gated toddler space that we use to give Little Guy some time to play independently.

Unfortunately, the Playzone isn't a guarantee that he'll be completely safe from risks. There are other dangers to watch out for when you create a secure play space for young children. And, of course, this was a reminder that I need to review my childproofing checklist now that Little Guy is getting older and bolder.

Home accidents are just one area that fills parents of toddlers with worry. There are also playground scares, developmental delays, food allergies, and a million other things that make me feel powerless.

It would be useless for me to say, "Don't worry" - especially since I worry so much myself. But I do want to give you all a virtual hug. Bumps, cuts, and illnesses will happen. Tragedies do exist. But I really feel that worrying less puts your child at ease and can help him stay calm and therefore safer.

So the best thing you can do: Stay well informed, do what you can to keep your child safe, and then focus as much energy as possible on today's little joys, smiles, and laughs.

So following our nice little sunny spell, the weather in our area turned cold once again and all my kids came down with colds. But in between giving my toddler doses of acetaminophen, I was dreaming of beach weather and wondering what I would be able to do with Little Guy in the coming months. He's still not so steady on his feet, but he loves being outside. So I started thinking of all the wonderful ways we'd be able to have fun this season and into summer: blowing bubble, taking long walks, and other outdoor fun.