Parenting Articles

The child sees the parents fighting till their faces turn red. The parents shout at each other. If arguments and fights are a part of your daily life, the child sees all this and is likely to become aggressive and ill-mannered.

In this article I will briefly describe how to solve bedtime problems when your child is afraid of the dark. There are two approaches to fear. The first is to avoid what scares you (the dark in this instance), the second is to face it with help and reassurance. The first approach seems to lead to a life of being mastered by your fears; the second seems to lead to the possibility of being master of your fears. I know what I want for my child – the latter. If you are like me, the following advice on how to solve bedtime problems due to fear of darkness may be helpful.

Bad behavior. What really makes it bad? How to fix it? How to make my child get it straight? Where to begin from and where to draw the line? Whether to go for rewards just as we used to get as kids, once we depicted good behavior or punishments if done otherwise. However, is that a healthy way to go about it? I remember a mother ranting about her child’s unruly behavior during family gatherings or public events causing them a fair amount of embarrassment. Luring the kid

My cousin Anna is a pediatrician who recently shared with me the experiences she had improvising her office’s waiting room arrangements. As a mother of a 6 year old myself, I could completely relate to the problems they have been facing with their doctor office set up in Sacramento. They have had a myriad of patients accompanied with toddlers visiting their doctor each day. As a pediatrician, she has to make extra efforts to see to that a child is comforted right from the m

As soon as you learn that your teenager is pregnant, you may feel overwhelmed with many mixed emotions. For example, you may feel upset that your teenager has made life choices that have led to this, and you may be worried about how your teen will fulfill her goals while raising a child. Some parents may feel anxious about meeting with the baby father's parents to learn about their opinion about the unplanned pregnancy. Remember that you have several available options to cons

Finding the time to sit down and read aloud with our children is difficult. Evenings are often packed. We get home late from work or activities with the kids. We need to make dinner, help with homework and get our children to sleep. We deserve a little time to ourselves to do email, watch a favorite TV program or chat with our partner. However, by not sticking read aloud in to the family routine, we are missing out on an opportunity to facilitate our child’s life long literacy.

This month our family is experiencing two major transitions. Our youngest child is entering high school and our oldest is starting college out of town, in an apartment with three strangers. Each has brought unique challenges to my children — and us, their parents. Our experiences have reinforced the importance of the lessons we taught our college-bound child and those we need to focus on with our high-schooler. The High School Years Entering high school is simultaneously scary and exciting for teens, because of all the unknowns.

Do you have an angry child? Does he growl like a pit-bull to get his way? Look inside for 5 parenting tips. They’ll give you a power tool for turning your angry kid into a rational child. To get what they want, kids learn to holler at an early age. Babies cry. Toddlers scream, bite, and kick. ...

One of the joys of any parent is when they see their little bundle of, well, joy. There's no feeling quite like seeing your baby playing, giggling, or sleeping. But wait, what if the latter is something that's beginning to give you sleepless nights because your little one doesn't seem to have any plans of sleeping early every evening? This is actually one of the most difficult tasks in baby care - putting him to sleep. Many parents literally lose a lot of shuteye time because

Last week I talked about who and what a bully is. In that article we discovered that there are NO stereotypes when it comes to a bully; they can BE anybody and LOOK like anybody. We also differentiated the difference between bullying and two people fighting or having an argument. This week I’m going to discuss why kids bully. With this knowledge we can change things around, both for the bully and the child being bullied. The biggest misconception about bullying is that it’s about anger. Anger is always a bigger emotion that is covering up a hidden emotion.

I am so sick of the perfect body image. I mean, what's "perfect" anyway? Magazines are photoshopped. Television has flattering lighting. Even that perfect mom you see at the pool probably could list off twenty things she hates about her body. In short, there is no perfect. But you can develop a perfectly healthy approach to your body--in three simple steps.

If someone had told me, when I was a kid, to stare at a screen for 4 hours instead of play outside, I would have told them to stick it where the sun don't shine! I ran a lot as a kid, as did all my friends. We were in constant motion running through the fields, to the woods, over the creek, onto the tennis court, through the pond, under the bridge... It was not the norm to watch TV all day; it was just not done in our household. Being outside was our playground, and we wanted to be moving.

Do you have a partner, a colleague, a friend, a loved one where everything is a challenge and every conversation becomes a competition; where if they don’t get their way, there is hell to pay; where they are relentless in their pursuit; where somehow or other they are always right; where if they lose, someone else is always to blame? Then that person may have a High Conflict Personality (HCP). They may be a High Conflict Person (HCP)

You finally recognize that your adversarial battle isn’t resolving your dispute. You’re draining your resources both financially and emotionally. You don’t believe your former partner would ever negotiate a truce, let alone a settlement. Mediation is discussed and one person says they’ll go but also says they won’t budge on their position. You may feel firm about your position too. What do you do? Go!

Spring Break is here and the kids are off. Many parents begin to panic at how they will fill their child’s time. So, they source out a bunch of outings they can take their kids on. Ah...Now the only down time they’ll have to manage is from dinner till bedtime. “Keep them busy!” is everyone’s motto.

When an adult regards a child's behavior as disruptive, disrespectful, or defiant, the adult commonly complains, "That child needs more discipline." How rare is it that one will say, "That child needs more understanding." Sometimes more firmness may indeed be in order, but even then the root-cause of the problem stems from a lack of deep and accurate understanding of the child.

Bad behavior in children can be incredibly frustrating and upsetting for parents who are trying to manage a difficult child. Sometimes it can even lead to depression. If you are in this predicament right this moment, dealing with defiant behavior, temper tantrums, back-chat or other kinds of problem behaviors, don't give up hope of turning the situation around. There is a unique new set of parenting guidelines available to you that will help you solve your parenting problems

Does your child often get sick or do they constantly whine and cry? Do they bite their nails, act out or often throw tantrums? Then your child may be stressed. Here is a simple guide on how to handle this and change things around for the better. The first step is to stay calm. If you become frazzled, your child's stress level will only increase. You know the scenario - child falls and doesn't flinch...until he hears his mother's gasp.

Have you ever heard of babywearing? I know, it sounds like some rite of passage for a secret society, but it’s really a wonderful nurturing way for new parents to bond with their child and give the little one an emotional and physical head-start on life. Whether you are a first-time parent or you already have children of your own, if you don’t already know about the benefits of babywearing then you will want to continue reading this article. nn What is Babywearing? nBabyw

While most people immediately go to memory loss as a primary deficit of dementia, there are other issues which can create havoc for coping be it by the affected person or support persons. Chief among those other issues are anosognosia, confabulation and disinhibition.

The other day I got a copy of Parking Lot Rules and 70 Other Ideas for Raising Amazing Kids. This guidebook for raising amazing kids contains practical advice for today’s parents no matter if you are single or married. In the hustle and bustle of life it’s easy to allow time and grown-up ...

Your son with Asperger's is refusing to go to school. Your sensory sensitive daughter is constantly testing your patience when it comes to mealtime. Your six year old with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is throwing tantrums like clockwork. Your four-year-old child with PDD is not responding positively to potty training. Is there anything about these scenarios that you can relate to?

People always ask me how I get so much work done. Well, I've given all the typical answers that I thought worked. Things like: "I prioritize and do the most important things." "There are more things that I do NOT do." "I don't get a lot of sleep." "I just use my time very wisely." Finally, after i had gone for a walk with a pair of mismatched socks and folded up a fitted sheet in a big, fat wad before sticking it in the linen closet, I realized what the secret of success really is-- It's got to be SLOPPY!

Numerous children continue to enter the foster care system every day, each with a different background and unique situation. In an effort to provide the proper care and accommodations for the multitude of foster care children that need a caring and stable environment, there are various types of placements that can occur so that all individual needs are addressed. If you are new to the foster care system, becoming familiar with the different kinds of placements can be helpful

As you may recall from your own teenage years, separating from one's parents is a vital, and healthy, part of growing up. All well and good. But the question is this: as your daughters move away from YOU, who exactly are they moving TOWARDS? And more importantly, are those people taking them someplace you want them to go?nnFor various societal and biological reasons, teenage girls run a higher risk of achieving victim status than teenage boys. They are often conflict-avoiding

From this picky eater to YOUR picky eaters, I remember what a hard time I gave my parents at the dinner table. I would hardly eat anything. Especially nothing green. And Meat? Forget about it unless it was chicken. Any parent who has a picky kid not only has a hassle (what to cook? What to serve?) but also legitimate nutrition conce s. With the amount of refined foods that are packed with additives and artificial flavors/colors etc. as well as unhealthy choices overwhelming

Getting up in the morning to make breakfast for your family, pack your kids lunch, rustle up a healthy snack for your partner and yourself, getting kids dressed for school, dropping them to school and finally heading to work - now that is a busy morning. Well, the same is the scene as soon as the parents come home - rush the kids to a ballet class or a football game, make dinner, help them with their homework, spend some time with your partner and finally hit the bed! Is orga

In Part 1 and 2 of this article series, I spoke about eye contact and physical contact being important to making your children truly understand and know that you love them. These two things seldom require real sacrifice by parents, however, the third item, focused attention, usually scares parents when I bring it up because they think it means to spend loads of time with their kids - time they don’t have.

She asked her son, "Did you do your best?" He said, "Yes!" She replied, "Then I'm proud of you." And so began a pattern of copping out that would last his whole life. What if children had parents who instead of asking, "Did you do your best?" asked, "Did you do whatever it takes?" Wouldn't that be a game changer? It wasn't until I was in my 30's that I began reading books about financial freedom, going to weekend courses and listening to motivational speakers. They chang

Does mind reading cause fights in your marriage? Find out how one young couple handled their first spat. Then learn the 3 magic solutions for preventing both mind reading and fights in your marriage. Kids on Marriage 7-year-old Will answered this question, “Is it better to be married or ...

Hey parents! Here’s a hypothetical for you: You come home from a long day at work and start making dinner. You’re excited to hear about your child’s day at school, how their history presentation went and what friends they sat with at lunch. The burgers are done and you bring everything out to the table, but, to your horror, your children have been replaced by zombies! They’re staring lifelessly at their phones. No matter how hard you try, you can’t get them to turn

One of the most important things in a child’s life is consistency. Of course, you could argue that love is more important, or safety, or nutrition and you’d be right in one way! But consistency is a thread that weaves through all of these areas.

Stranger Danger is one of the most important lessons for children to learn. We all know the catch phases like “Don’t talk to strangers”, “Never get into a car with a stranger”, and “Don’t take candy from a stranger.” The phases are simple reminders for kids, but they can make the child insecure and fearful. How can we teach about stranger danger without scaring them or give them nightmares? Here’s some quick tips to keeping your child safe.nn What is a Stran

The most effective way to get someone to do something, especially children, it to model the desired behavior. Nobody likes to be lectured to or be constantly told what to do. Lecturing will quickly send children in the opposite direction. Model healthy interactions with your spouse and other ...

In my book, You’re One in Six Billion: A Confidence Building Guide for Teens (scheduled to be released Fall, 2011), I teach children that there is only one of them out of approximately six billion people in the world. If you take some time to reflect on that, it’s pretty mind blowing to know that there is no one else in this world like you. I use this message to teach children that each one of them has something special and unique to offer the world. The special something that your child has to offer the world, is his or her passion.

In the parent-child relationship, regard your child’s attitudes and behaviors as reflections of your own. The 3-year-old who has been displaying“strong-willed” tendencies sinceearly infancy is most likely portraying the strong-willed character of a parent. While you can look at this as a genetic condition, you can almost always find that relating with the child in certain ways leads the child into more cooperative behavior. Tips for parents of “strong willed” children: Avoid

I know there is a lot of controversy regarding vaccines. I know there are a lot of parents that are afraid of adverse reactions. I know there is a lot of pressure from society and professionals about "the goodness" of giving vaccines to your children. This post will show you how to protect your children from the dangers of vaccines, and hopefully help you make the right decisions. Do you want to know how to protect your children from the adverse reactions of vaccines? Easy..

Summer time is fun time, but it’s also prime time for injuries and accidents. In this issue of Connections, we take a look at preventing and coping with animal bites. In July, we’ll learn about heat stress and other summer hazards. Dog Bites 4.5 millio Americans are bitten by dogs each year, and one in five dog bites results inrninjuries that require medical attention. Children age 5-9 are the most common victims. To prevent dog bites, teach children to follow these basic safety tips, and review them regularly: • Do not approach an unfamiliar dog • Do not run from a dog or screamr

There is growing concern among parents and health professionals that text messaging is contributing to sleep deprivation, with teenagers being the most at risk group of being sleep deprived. Mobile phone ownership amongst children has risen exponentially in the last decade, with around 80% of 12-17 year olds now having their own phones, according to the Pew Research Center, which carried out a recent US survey.rnThe increase in mobile phone access, as well as phone packages t

nAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is sometimes called ADHD. It is a chronic condition and the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder among children and adolescents, and affects between 3 and 5 percent of school-aged children in a 6-month period (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).nnChildren and adolescents diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have a difficult time controlling their behavior in school and social settings. They t

As parents we need to be mindful of not only what foods we choose to offer our children, but also of what patterns and associations between food and emotion we are establishing. Patterns set in childhood can be carried forward into adulthood and possibly lead to problems with weight management or disordered eating. When our children are upset, it is natural for us to want to soothe them. Often, by habit and by memory our own childhood experiences, we may be tempted to soothe with food. Don’t get me wrong, soothing with food is not always a bad thing.

Do you make more positive comments or negative comments to your children? If you're like most parents, you make a lot more negative comments than positive ones. In her book, <u>Building Moral Intelligence</u>, Dr. Michele Borba writes "studies reveal that the average parent makes 18 critical comments to his child for every one positive comment." Really? Could we really be making that many critical comments to our children?

People come into your life for a reason and being in a relationship provides us with undoubtedly the hardest challenges we face as adults as we are seldom taught to truly love ourselves as children, yet we are expected to know how to love other people as adults in very deep, meaningful, life ...

It is a great time as I will be celebrating my thirteenth birthday on the 29th of February. I will catch up with our daughter, who became a teenager last fall, for a little while and yes, then she will leave me behind forever. Most parents experience this grasping for breath in child raising ...

Sadly, it seems as though electronics have somewhat taken away the imagination of our children. Growing up, I didn't have video games or computers but I did have a big imagination. I didn't own a toy kitchen but I made mud pies and pretended I did. I didn't have a big toy house but I had fun building one out of a paper box. I admit, I didn't have the luxury many kids have today but I never complained about it either. Imagination is important for our children's growth. It help

Cross Cultural Conundrums His parents just won’t leave us alone. They drop by unexpectedly; his mother rearranges my kitchen cupboards; they get angry if we don’t visit them every weekend. I want to have a life, alone with my husband! Meanwhile; She is so cold and distant that her behaviour appears disrespectful and I am left defending her to my family who doesn’t understand why I married her. I wish she would get along with my family.

This is an excerpt from Professor Paul Pilzer, author of "Unlimited Wealth" and "Other People's Money"..."One of the questions I am frequently asked by parents, particularly parents who have succeeded themselves but didn't have the opportunity to go to college, is what subject their son or ...

Coping with depression requires one’s partner and family to understand the difference between depression and sadness. Sadness usually refers to a sense of loss, grief or upset in response to an event typically recent in one’s life. While sadness can be intense, it usually runs its course as the person acclimatizes to the impact of the event or otherwise is able to change the conditions related to the event.