Half Full: Science for Raising Happy Kids

If you're a parent, these last few weeks have been devoted to helping your kids begin a new school year. My son, Luke, just started his second year of preschool, and it hasn't gone smoothly.

Each morning he whines and moans about his horrible situation, and after dropping him off, I internally whine and moan, convinced I'm a horrible parent who surely should be sending her child to a better, funner, more likeable school.

But I just got my weekly email from Half Full: Science for Raising Happy Kids, and as always, it made me a happier parent. This week's article is about the importance of letting children experience pain and difficulty, and how it can help them grow.

Now, just as any parent understands the joy and challenges of back-to-school season, we all know that there are a million books, websites, magazines, products and lecturers out there with opinions about how to raise kids. It's great, but it can be overwhelming, too. What I like about this particular blog is that all its advice is science-based.

The person behind the blog is Christine Carter, a sociologist and the executive director of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. And she's a mom. As she says in her online bio, she was doing all this research, and realized it would be great if parents could use it.

So what will you have access to? Articles about praising; handling public bad behavior; marriage success; the dangers of threats and bribes; and how to foster resiliance, gratitude, kindness and optimism. And much more, all in a friendly, down-to-earth tone.

As for Luke? I'm hoping that suffering through preschool gives him some grit!

—Alina Larson

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