Search Results for: kessler/2009/11/nerf-guns-–-what-are-we-afraid-of/2009/11/nerf-guns-–-what-are-we-afraid-of/2009/11/your-role-in-your-childs-development/2009/06/communicating-with-children

Overcoming Two of Parenting’s Greatest Challenges

…motionally healthy children. Two major challenges are: 1. Being a Positive Role Model for Our Children If you are the primary caregiver, you are by far the most important person in your infant’s or young child’s life. Babies often begin to imitate their mother or primary caregiver parent during their first weeks of life. It’s just human nature for them to emulate their parents’ behaviors; both the positive and the negative. It doesn’t take long to…

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Parents and Self-esteem

Your Child’s Self Esteem Starts With You

…apologize for our mistakes, empathize with their pain, and explain to them how we really feel. The more honest, open, and mindful we make the environment we share with our children, the more we enable our children to be resilient and to move confidently and independently into the world.  …

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The Value of Being Personal with Your Children

…problems on their children or make immature demands on them for comfort or reassurance; rather, it implies parents’ sharing their world with their children and allowing their children to share their world with them.  …

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How to be a good parent: It’s all about you!

…ully in our lives, we will have a profound positive effect on the personal development of our children and on their future. Bruno Bettelheim said, “We need not make any claim to be perfect. But if we strive as best we can to live good lives ourselves, our children, impressed by the merits of living good lives, will one day wish to do the same.” Instead of living their own lives, many parents live through their children. Rather than offering to the…

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How to stop yourself from "losing it" with your child

…etter understand ourselves and make sense of our own interactions with our children. As we become less likely to project our past onto our children, we begin to see them clearly for who they truly are, and in the process, we become better parents. In a poll of 200 people that I recently conducted during a webinar, 100 percent of respondents said they could remember a time when their parents “lost it” with them. Yet, it isn’t always easy to recall…

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Serious scolding at sunset

What You Need to Know About Disciplining Your Child

…Comparisons are not useful or appropriate for motivating good behavior in children. 5) Attempt to control children’s acting out of hostile, manipulative behavior Discipline is an expression of an adult’s concern for a child. An essential component of parental love is offering control and direction. Therefore, the loving parent disciplines a child because the parent cares about the kind of person the child is growing up to be. The adult’s anger is…

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Is Mental Illness a Bigger Threat to Kids than Physical Illness?

…eatment approaches that will help, rather than hurt, the well-being of our children. According to the JAMA article, “Nearly 8% of children have an activity-limiting disability.” Why is this the case? Many of us are concerned about how today’s fast-paced and uber-competitive social and economic climate affects our children. In this culture, kids face an extreme amount of pressure to develop quickly. At younger and younger ages, we aim to prepare ou…

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Avoidant Attachment: Understanding Insecure Avoidant Attachment

…n experiences, they show as strong a reaction and as much anxiety as other children. Avoidantly attached children tend to seek proximity, trying to be near their attachment figure, while not directly interacting or relating to them. In one such experiment, the “Strange Situation” procedure, attachment theorist Mary Ainsworth, observed the responses of 1-year olds during separation and reunion experiences. The avoidant infants “avoided or actively…

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suggestions for parents in the digital age

6 Suggestions for Parents in the Digital Age

…ts of your family life. The power and convenience of technology cannot be underestimated. Turning our back on this tiger may unleash many unforeseen challenges. As parents we must recognize it’s role and cage it when necessary so our children have lives where they can engage constructively with the tiger and know when it is time lock it up for another day….

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How To Bully Proof Your Children by Building Their Resilience

…when our compliments don’t match their accomplishments. Teach Mindfulness: Children must be taught how to calm themselves down when falling apart or feeling aggressive. We can read young children books like The Peaceful Piggy, which introduces them to the benefits of mindfulness and how it can help them develop the ability to remain calm, even in the face of bullying. For advice on teaching mindfulness to children, parents can read The Whole-Brain…

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