Mary Pols

Mary Pols is a movie critic for Time and writes for Marie Claire UK, the San Francisco Chronicle, NPR Books, Parents, and other publications. She lives in Maine with her son, who is 9. She was awarded a Knight Fellowship in 2005 and is the author of the memoir Accidentally on Purpose, published by Ecco in 2008.

Help the competitive child win more than the game

5 tips for positive and healthy outcomes that don’t squash their competitive nature.

Bet you it’s good to be competitive

Is my child too competitive?

Can you make a child’s natural inclination work to his (or her) advantage?

Unpopular... in elementary school?

"Unpopular" wasn't a word I expected to hear, so young, and from my own son. I felt less equipped to handle the struggle over popularity than any parental challenge so far.