Meet the editor

Nicole Schwartz

Speech Language Pathologist

M.A. CCC-SLP, TSSLD

Focus: Speech and language development

A little about Nicole Schwartz

Nicole is a speech-language pathologist and mom of two. She writes about the everyday moments of parenting, with practical ideas informed by her professional experience.

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Stories by Nicole Schwartz

Her toddler skipped his nap. Then the whole family melted down.

A missed nap, a cookie negotiation, and a plan for getting back on the same team.

Theo wanted the cookie and did not want the cookie, both at the same time, at full volume.
His mom Jess stood in the hallway holding his shoes, watching her two-and-a-half-year-old scream about a cookie that did not exist yet, and thought: this day has gone somewhere I don't know how to follow.

The potty was the problem. Then it became a place to play.

A parent's honest potty-training update, and the small change that opened a door.

Leo could hold his pee for hours. Jamie found that out the hard way: every trip to the potty became a fight. Leo screamed when Jamie asked him to sit. Eventually, he wouldn’t even look at it.
Jamie had started with an intensive potty-training plan. They brought Leo to the potty every 30 minutes and tried keeping him there until he peed. Leo simply held it longer.