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When you were growing up, did you ever wish that your parents were happy? Did you feel safe when they were happy and peaceful?
My mother was rarely a happy person. Most of the time she was anxious, angry and felt overburdened, even though I was her only child. She rarely laughed and was often ... Views: 2074
Every small child loves to play. “Playing Pretend”, or role playing, can not only be educational, but also one of the cheapest games a child can play. Creative play such as role playing can not only teach your child about the world, but can also teach you a lot about your child.
What Are the ... Views: 709
I think the most important thing you can do as a parent is to sponsor good self esteem in your child. If a child believes in themselves and feels good about themselves, they can do most anything.
One way to sponsor self esteem is to help children to occupy their free time in ways that are ... Views: 664
Rick travels by his neighborhood schools everyday without giving them a second thought. He is 30 years old and has two children ages three and one. He is not concerned about the schools' atmosphere now because it does not affect himself or his family. He is a manager in the accounting department ... Views: 515
One of the issues for boys as they pass from childhood into manhood is the need for a strong role models.
Today, with so many relationship breakdowns and longer working hours, fathers can easily become shadow figures. Boys without strong male influence will, inevitably, find their own role ... Views: 607
Fasten your seat belt and get on the diversity train!
Experts agree that bullying not only exists in every school and community in our country, but it is also escalating at a frightening pace. Bullying, defined as strong preying on the weak has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. as ... Views: 1264
Focus On Teen Strengths:
Turn What You Love about Your Teen Into a Strong and Lasting Friendship
Oh, that Emma, thinks Mum. I can’t believe her. She’s only 15 and all she does is play video games. She used to be so active. Now she won’t try out for sports or join a club at school… She won’t ... Views: 1293
If your child has frequent health and/or emotional problems, consider that a lack of sleep may be all or at least part of the problem.
Every function in the body is affected by sleep. And for a child, the risks of sleep deprivation are much more serious than simply waking up in a grumpy mood. ... Views: 734
Have you been tripped up by any of these situations?
Nap Trap #1: "My baby wakes up the instant I put him down." He shouldn't fall asleep in your arms in the first place. Remember the rule: to bed semi-awake.
Nap Trap #2: "My baby refuses to nap." Typically, the problem is timing. A baby won't ... Views: 19943
Few things are as rewarding as seeing your child glow from the inside out. And it happens when children have a high self esteem: when they know themselves to be unconditionally accepted, when they feel both loved and lovable, and when they feel a sense of belonging and self worth.
Here are ... Views: 985
The First Few Years Of School
As a preschooler, your child was well behaved and didn’t exhibit any particular problems. Next your child enters school, perhaps Kindergarten, and then Grade one. Slowly issues with some classes and subjects appear. Maybe they are thought nothing of in Grade one, ... Views: 772
Effective parenting involves good character development- that is, raising kids who have a sense of ‘other’ rather than a sense of entitlement. It also means raising kids with a moral compass that helps them work out right from wrong. Kids usually pick up this moral compass from their parents ... Views: 1019
Think about this for a moment: Is it really possible to love your children without loving yourself, or to love yourself without loving your children?
The answer is no.
If you are ignoring yourself to take care of your children, this is not loving to your children or to yourself. While being ... Views: 2376
When you reflect on your role as a mom, what objectives seem most important to you? Very few moms would disagree that it’s important to try and raise our children to be loving, happy and responsible adults. Although we all have different ideas on how we’re going to do that, there is a general ... Views: 2389
Allow me to paint you a picture. You and your teen talk about issues and rules as they come up. While you have disagreements that you resolve, you never have fights where one person wins and the other loses.
Sound impossible? I raised two kids that way and now I am going to share seven steps to ... Views: 518
When my son was 18 (and had finished school), he moved into a flat with two of his mates. They were boys we'd known throughout his high school years and the flat was only ten minutes from home - but I cried for two weeks!
It just seemed to me that a major part of my life was over. When your ... Views: 732
There is one part of family planning often forgotten when deciding to have a family. That is, what are the preparations you need to make NOW to produce a financially wealthy child?
Most of the road-blocks to wealth are developed as a baby. These are responses to two basic environmental ... Views: 512
Let’s make June Awareness Month!
June can be a very busy month as we celebrate and honor our fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers and other significant male/father figures in our lives. We anxiously anticipate the arrival of summer along with the brightest and longest day of the year, the air is ... Views: 757
Tom Cruise joins Madonna in abstaining from TV
Tom Cruise has come out of the closet. The world-famous actor does not allow his adopted children, Isabella, 13, and Connor, 11, to watch TV, except for movies on weekends. He joins superstar Madonna in parenting decision that will benefit his ... Views: 813
HELENE ROTHSCHILD, MS, MA, MFT, is a Marriage, Family Therapist, intuitive counselor, author, teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker. Visit http://www.lovetopeace.com for more free articles, free newsletter, and a Personal Success online course. 12 Keys to Successful Parenting
AN OPEN LETTER ... Views: 1240
Gaze into your child’s eyes and you will discover the true essence of life. Being a parent is the most miraculous and rewarding gift a human being can be given. I can remember the pure ecstasy and bliss that filled my heart when I watched the birth of my twin boys, Matthew and Alexander. A ... Views: 832
It was a typical evening in our home. Arguments from my teenager, opposition from my preschooler – family dynamics that were driving me crazy. I don’t remember quite what sent me over the edge. I do remember reaching my limit. We’ve all been there. However, this time, for me, was different. ... Views: 691
As a new mother or father, one of your priorities should be to develop good sleeping habits for your newborn baby. It is important for your baby to learn how to sleep on his or her own. The transition from sleeping with parents to sleeping on their own can be demanding and take some time. Of ... Views: 531
One of the many problems for children exposed to domestic violence, is that for some, it comes to be included amongst their own interpersonal management strategies.
Children exposed to domestic violence learn the use of violence as a strategy to mediate their needs and wants. They see the ... Views: 2034
Assessing Change
You’ve been for counselling and you are not sure if it is working. Part of you feels nothing has changed and another part feels like something is different. You are probably right on both counts.
Most folks when seeking change look for dramatic differences. When results are ... Views: 628
It was one of those landmark days when nothing could go wrong. The day began with our regular "morning hugs," my boys got into the bathtub without whining, there were no spills at breakfast, my little girl and I played diving Barbie in the tub for an hour and I still got everything done that I ... Views: 743
Family rules are for everyone in the family. The rules you establish for your family’s benefit are the single most important aspect of helping your child learn right from wrong. The purpose of family rules is established so that both parents and children have consistent guidelines that help ... Views: 589
Children, like teens, like to feel personal power. Power is mostly the ability to influence some aspects of our lives by the choices we make. Giving a child a choice is the most powerful way to build personal power and self-esteem for your child’s lifetime. Children exert their personal power ... Views: 599
“I love you” are three words all children need to hear often from their parents. Do you want those words to have real meaning to your child? Do you want them to connect one heart to another? Do you want to use these words to develop a level of intimacy in your family that communicates your ... Views: 805
Dear Dr. J
I've been married for about two years. When I first met my in-laws, I really liked them. Joe's mother seemed really interested in me and supportive of me too! Three months ago, we had our son, Brian. It's been pure hell since the baby was born. My mother lives in another state, so I ... Views: 7051
When a Child With Special Needs and Complex Disabilities Surfaces with Behaviour Problems
Some children present with an abundance of challenges involving academic functioning, communication and physical difficulties. Combined these children face a remarkable struggle keeping up with their ... Views: 988
Some parents of teens confuse their parenting role with that of friend. In so doing, they abdicate their parental authority and minimize their ability to provide direction, guidance, limits and structure.
In such cases parents may feel their teenaged son or daughter must like them. The parent ... Views: 714
John was a 43 year-old sales manager at a large company. He’s married and has 3 children, ages 7, 9, and 12. His wife works part-time as a nursing assistant, and they both do as much as they can to parent their children well.
John has developed serious doubts about his ability to be an ... Views: 1356
“What are you thinking? Haven’t we talked about this before?”
My seven-year-old son looked down at the food that had just spilled on the kitchen floor.
He stood statue-still, as children often do after an accident. The words and tone I’d used were having their impact. He braced himself to ... Views: 1217
Kids In a Bubble?
By Allison Janse, Author of The Germ Freak’s Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu
http://www.germfreaksguide.com/offer/index.cfm
As you’re wiping your child’s hands with instant hand sanitizer, you may hear some people say, “When I was a kid we didn’t have sanitizers for ... Views: 490
Parents can help prevent teen driver car crashes
Whenever one gets behind the wheel of a car the process of risk assessment begins. This is why drivers look both ways before entering the roadway. The driver is determining issues of risk before taking action.
Often, the driver is also trying to ... Views: 846
If you spend any time in the parenting section of the library or your local bookstore, you will find hundreds of books on disciplining and raising your children. All the leading experts have their own ideas about what works and what doesn’t. As a parent, you have your philosophy that you ... Views: 874
Recently, on my seven-city cross-Canada seminar tour I was asked by my Calgary sponsor if I would speak to her group, her son's group. I said yes. What I didn't know was her son's group was a group of 10-year-olds in a grade three class in Alberta.
On the way to the school, I designed my ... Views: 3865
I remember the day I brought my newborn son home from the hospital. I had prepared my three other children about his new arrival – or I thought I did! I showed him off lovingly to his older brother, who took one look at him and said, “take him back!” I am thankful that this attitude didn’t ... Views: 827
In a phone session with Gerald, one of my clients, he expressed to me that he was feeling very sad about his son, Luc. Luc, 29 years old, was not doing much with his life, and Gerald was berating himself for how he had parented Luc.
“I should have spent more time with him. I should have ... Views: 2638
The high intensity and shrewdness of marketing is influencing our society and family life in the wrong way. It is shaping our lives by starting on us at a very early age and continually persuading us to want something new. We need to stop and consider what is important in making our lives ... Views: 735
Parental Guilt and Kids with Special Needs
For the most part pregnancies are met with the anticipation of a good delivery and healthy baby. Upon delivery parents do a quick scan of the child checking for ten fingers, ten toes and if unknown, a check of the genitals to determine gender. A ... Views: 492
WHO’S MAKING YOUR PARENTING DECISIONS?
You.... or the Mommy Police?
The Mommy Police? They’re just a fiction--an adult version of the Bogey Man, aren’t they?
Well, maybe they don’t actually inhabit the bodies of the living dead like your mother-in-law, your ex-pediatrician and that ... Views: 657
I’m sure many of you have heard that old Hallmark card adage that goes something like this: Parents give their children two great gifts---one is roots, the other is wings. This is what I address in this article.
As parents, we pray for our children’s safety, health and happiness. We do ... Views: 747
Well, Well – You’re Having Twins!
11 Top Tips On Working With Newborn Twins
“Twins, it can’t be! No one on either side of my husband’s or my family can remember anyone having twins.” I guess my words didn’t matter much because when I heard I was going to give birth to twins, I felt a ... Views: 1658
Children and the Aftermath of Katrina:
From fear to hope
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, many children will be hiding under the covers. When tragedies such as Katrina strike, children, like many of us adults, have no way to understand the unimaginable. It is normal to be frightened of ... Views: 572
Fall is almost here in the Northern Hemisphere, and back-to-school energy is everywhere. The malls are full of harried parents and children in tow, in search of the perfect new outfit for the school year.
By using Feng Shui to give them a bedroom makeover you'll have more impact on your child's ... Views: 714
As mothers, we play so many different roles and most of us do not take the time off that we deserve. Just think about it, we play doctor, cook, chauffeur, teacher, lawyer, and the occasional referee as well.
I bet you can remember the last time you did a load of laundry, the last time one of ... Views: 579
Magazine Messages
There are dozens of teen magazines, but almost all of them are directed toward girls. And although these magazines are theoretically targeted to teens, there's no doubt that they encourage and attract tween readers as well. Four best-selling teen magazines that target girls ... Views: 1017
Parents are losing their self-control to anger. A friend called me today and told me a very troubling story. She told me on a T.V. news program she heard of a mother who was driving with her four year old child. The mother became angry with her child and couldn’t cope anymore with her child’s ... Views: 550