We all know one - a grouch.  Today is a good day for them.  It's Do a Grouch a Favor Day.  Sometimes people are grouchy because, well, because they're grouches.  But sometimes people are grouchy because they've had a bad day and that's how they cope with it.

If you know a grouch, try doing something nice for them today.  If your child comes home from school in a grouchy mood, see if you can lighten that mood by doing her or him a favor. Patiently listen to complaints about the day (without providing a lesson on behavior), or provide a special treat that you would not usually give your child after school, like a piece of cake or a cookie, or some candy.  Or give your child a homework break. If homework usually comes before dinner, give your child the option of waiting until after dinner.

Maybe you can make your grouch her favorite meal for dinner or even go out for a special treat. There is no limit to what you might do as a favor to your little grouch.

But if you're the grouchy one, challenge your kids to find a way to do you a favor!

Valentine's Day is a fun day, not just for sweethearts, but for everyone!  It's a great day to think about the love we have for everyone in our lives: our children, our siblings, our parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and our friends.

Looking for ways to celebrate the day?  Check out these ideas for Valentine's Day fun!

February 10th is Make a Friend Day.  It's a good day to reflect on gifted children and friendship.  It's not unusual for gifted kids (and adults) to be quite happy with one or two very good friends. They don't need a large group of friends.

However, gifted kids in grade school are often seen as social misfits because they don't strive to make friends with everyone in their class or because they don't have a large group of friends. Of course there are plenty of gifted kids who do have lots of friends.  What we want to remember is that having only one or two close friends is not a sign of a socialization problem.

If you're wondering about your child's friendships, you might find Miraca Gross's article on Gifted Children's Friendships both interesting and enlightening.

Over the last few years, we've heard story after story about kids being bullied at school and most of us have been led to believe that the bullies are the kids at the top or at the bottom of the social totem poll.  It's either the popular kids picking on the social misfits or the misfits picking on whoever they can manage to pick on.

However, sociologist Robert Faris recently published a study that suggests that bullies are not from either of those groups. What his study found was that the bullies come from the middle of the social totem pole. Nirvi Shah discusses this study in the article "Study Disputes Myth of School Bullies' Social Status."  It's not that no bullies come from the top or bottom, but that's the exception, not the rule. Faris thinks that the reason most bullies come from the middle social group is simple: they see aggression as a way to gain social status.

As a former student of psychology and sociology, I found that fascinating. It's like the aggression we see in the animal world when one male challenges another for the alpha role. If you're at the top, you don't need to challenge anyone for a top position.  If you're at the bottom, you're too far down to have a chance.

Maybe this study will get people to stop eying gifted misfits suspiciously, waiting for them to aggressively attack their social "betters."  If you're interested in reading the study, it is available as a pdf file from the American Sociological Association Web site.