As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce Maynard For many of us, becoming a parent is our… Read more »
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>Suddenly, through birthing a daughter, a woman finds herself face to face not only with an infant, a little girl, a woman-to-be, but also with her own unresolved conflicts from the past and her hopes and dreams for the future…. As though experiencing an earthquake, mothers of daughters may find their lives shifted, their deep… Read more »
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In the ideal family, the basic respect that is extended to adults is also extended to children. Each child is viewed as a unique person in his/her own right; separate from other children, adults, parents and family members. There is an interest in this new individual who is at the beginning of life, and is… Read more »
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One of the things I know for sure as a parent is that I’m constantly being challenged to look at myself—my reactions, my intentions, my foibles and my regrets. Barely a day goes by that I don’t reflect on some aspect of my interactions with my daughter. Many times I feel pleased about our relationship,… Read more »
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For the holidays I gave a Nerf gun to my 8-year -old nephew. He was delighted. It was his first Nerf gun. He took great joy in taking aim at the window, door or any place where he was allowed to shoot. It was the first time I saw genuine spontaneous pleasure cross his otherwise… Read more »
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For most of us, anger can be an intimidating subject. On one level or another, anger causes everyone a certain amount of fear. We’re afraid of someone getting angry at us and we’re afraid when we feel angry at someone else. We are even troubled when we aren’t directly involved and are just observing two… Read more »
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It’s yet another hard subject to explain to our kids, but leaving them in the dark can mean leaving them alone to worry. Help your kids understand financial concerns without making them fearful. My sister and her husband were driving home recently, with their 5-year-old son in the backseat. The two adults were discussing the… Read more »
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What is the Critical Inner Voice? The critical inner voice is a well-integrated pattern of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and others. The nagging “voices,” or thoughts, that make up this internalized dialogue are at the root of much of our self-destructive and maladaptive behavior. The critical inner voice is not an auditory hallucination; it is… Read more »
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“What’s keeping me from feeling?” How could something as natural as feeling our emotions be so difficult? There is a very logical explanation for why we have trouble accessing our feelings and instead find ourselves cut off and detached. Many of us are defended against feeling and to understand why, we have to go back… Read more »
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One of parenting’s most challenging opportunities Often in circumstances where it is necessary for a parent to discipline a child, the parent’s own anger or frustration comes through in lieu of healthy guidance and direction. At these times, we hear words we never thought we’d say coming out of our mouths: “Because I say so!”… Read more »
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