Ellen Birnbaum: And the most challenging part of being a parent of a preschooler is the transition from the infant/toddler parent to the preschooler parent.
Ellen Birnbaum: So, in an early childhood classroom, children are taught this wonderful Maria Montessori coat flip.
Ellen Birnbaum: So, right now there seems to be an emphasis from parents and from the culture for children to assume skill sets that they don't really need.
Ellen Birnbaum: Nancy was talking about having the courage of your convictions.
Ellen Birnbaum: When Nancy and I first got the opportunity to write the book, we were struggling with what should come first.
Ellen Birnbaum: Predictable routines.
Ellen Birnbaum: Nancy and I, a few years ago, realized that there were a whole group of other people involved in the lives of children that we were not including in the messaging.
Ellen Birnbaum: The other thing is to really understand a child's pace.
Ellen Birnbaum: And your children might be different.
Ellen Birnbaum: I love this one: Listen to your teachers all of the time.
Ellen Birnbaum: The other thing that comes up a lot is watching how adults handle children's frustrations.
Ellen Birnbaum: Another thing we've been talking about so much is--you're all in a cooperative, creative kind of work here--and when we're watching children in classrooms,
Ellen Birnbaum: So we know because we both are committed and believe that a play-based, early childhood, nursery school, or school, is how children learn best.
Ellen Birnbaum: You know, in the book, when we went to research toys because our kids were pretty old by the time we wrote the book, and we went into a toy store.
Ellen Birnbaum: It was a horrifying moment.
Ellen Birnbaum: I was gonna say that one of the best class trips that our children go on each year is they go to Central Park and they dig for worms in the Spring.
Ellen Birnbaum: Well, I was getting dressed for work one morning and there was a wonderful program on NPR about this couple, who were going on trip with their children.
Ellen Birnbaum: One of my favorite memories of playing with my kids is creating tents in my house.
Ellen Birnbaum: Helping children problem solve and be resilient, teaching respect for others, the difference between right and wrong and the importance for taking responsibility
Ellen Birnbaum: And if the days seem endless, the years fly by.
Ellen Birnbaum: That's great.
Ellen Birnbaum: Good for you.
Ellen Birnbaum: I wanted to speak to your point about entitlement because I think if you're fortunate enough to have the ability to send your children to these quality programs
Ellen Birnbaum: Well, I have a grandchild at a very high-quality daycare.
Ellen Birnbaum: Where are they gonna land?
Ellen Birnbaum: The other thing is when they're there, you need to be here.
Ellen Birnbaum: Setting a bad example, yeah.
Ellen Birnbaum: Of course.
Ellen Birnbaum: Guess what.
and Mel Birnbaum, these are names that, if you were in the early days, you would know who these people are.
Double that for Adam Birnbaum on the piano, Yasushi Nakamura on the bass, Jake Goldblas on the drums,
And I walked into the store-- Ellen Birnbaum: They were laughing.
And here you have the audience participating as Birnam Wood is storming the castle.
I'm Nancy. Ellen Birnbaum: And I'm Ellen.
Nancy Schulman: VHS. Ellen Birnbaum: VHS.
home. Ellen Birnbaum: I think we end with the two most important things that, as a parent, if you do nothing else, you need to do these two things.
Could not function. And so Birndorf quarterbacked her to function, I'd say.
mechanical. There's still the thing that Birnbaum does, that mythologists do, that people who discover new facts and
Female Presenter: I'm very excited to welcome Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum to Google today.
But we're here today because I actually saw Elise interview Dr. Birndorf at the In Goop Health Summit in January in New York City.
Like you, I grew up in a pre-Google world of Birnbaum's books and-- They're old, huh?
My, our--we didn't have these children together--but my older-- Nancy Schulman: Ellen Birnbaum: child and Nancy's older child were very self-regulating.
I'm so excited. It's definitely my honor and privilege to introduce our two guests today, Catherine, Dr. Birndorf of the Motherhood Center, and chief content
And the reality that women everywhere are struggling, and then the whole-- the psychological part came in through Birndorf