I think sometimes moms get caught up in the hoopla of the research of how to stimulate children’s brains, what to feed kids, how much screen time to allow, how to develop math skills, have the children learn a second or third language, how much physical activity/sleep/playdates etc. to have…and forget what is most important …
Parenting Through Divorce
No doubt about it. Divorce is painful. Excruciating. It rocks a family’s world. And with that then, like it or not, divorce rocks a child’s world. For some kids, it is a welcome relief from the fighting and the stress and the fear that kids feel when their parents are at each other’s throats, metaphorically …
Do you enjoy your kids? Parenting stress–we do it to ourselves
Years ago, the proverbial s*%t hit the fan in our house, and we were all left reeling from what life had thrown at us. I was frantically trying to pick up the pieces, and all the while trying to look like a supportive “put together” mom to my kids. I was driving them to music …
A Life Plumb Line–DIY!
Let’s start off with saying that this is my first DIY blog post…I’ve written over 700 posts and not one of them is a Do It Yourself. But I pulled off a project recently…I mentioned this memory book recently at a couple of workshops and presentations I led to illustrate a point, people asked if they …
FAQ’s about Kids and Dishonesty
Yikes! My kid lies! Does that mean I’m a bad parent? Well…if that makes you a bad parent, then I’m a bad parent, she’s a bad parent, he’s a bad parent–we’re all bad parents if measured by our kids lying. In fact, if kids are being dishonest, it’s a sign that they are growing in …
Attunement vs tuned out
In this age of instant and available communication with most anybody we know available with a few taps, the world isn’t an oyster, it’s a cell phone. Think for a moment. What do you do when: you are caught behind someone in a grocery line who needs a price check that is taking, like, …
Grateful for Gratitude
Refreshed and presented again from our archives…some ideas are just worth repeating! If you knew of a strategy that could make your teen 15% more satisfied with their lives, 15% greater sense of meaning in their lives, 17% more happy and hopeful, and have 13% drop in negative emotions as well as 15% drop in …
Beliebers reflect all of us
So…I’m directionally challenged. The GPS is my best friend in a new city, and even with it, I don’t always get to my destination the first time. I’m not proud of that, but it is what it is, and so I’ve learned to be patient with myself, and allow for extra time. This summer, I …
Increasing our capacity for watching our kids struggle
There are lots of tough jobs out there; I think of the folks who put gas in my van when it’s -45 Celsius (my frozen fingers thank you!), or those who work late and long shifts in hospitals, factories, or riding around in cop cars keeping people safe. I’d also like to think parenting makes the …
FAQ’s about yelling at your adolescent
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh published a study this fall that looked at the relationship between teens being yelled at and their behaviour. The results were inconvenient, to say the least, to parents who use yelling as a form of steering their teenager into appropriate behaviour. To put it quite simply, the study found …