Dads are the Key to Assault-Proofing Girls
When I talk with fathers about their unborn children, most of them are comfortable with the idea of a son but are a bit more apprehensive about having a girl. They worry they’ll have nothing in common and or wonder what they conversations will be like. As a society, we’ve put a lot of pressure on moms to take on the majority of parenting, especially the emotional aspects. Often we forget about the incredible impact engaged dads have on their children. In a time of turmoil wit
Are we risking our child’s safety by prioritizing privacy?
Teaching your children to honor privacy leads to healthy boundaries, trust, and respect. The majority of parents begin early by designating a room for their child. Parents decorate the room, which may have once been a nursery, and the room changes with the child. There are rules set up about the child’s room, such as what is allowed in the room and keeping it clean. For teens, their room becomes a projection of their personality. In many families, there’s an understanding tha
When You Lose Someone You Love
Losing a child or someone you love is probably one of the most difficult things anyone can go through. If you have children at home or a spouse who is also grieving, you may find yourself in a position where you need to put on a happy face even when feel miserable. New research has shown that the cause of many illnesses is due to held in emotional grief. In a recent study, researchers worked with couples who had lost a child. They found that when couples tried to avoid discus
Yes, Your Child Can Learn Life Virtues Watching the Super Bowl
When you hear about the NFL or Super Bowl, you don’t usually think about entertaining with your children but maybe you should. The Super Bowl has life lessons that are important for kids. The NFL may not be your idea of a great role model, but the athletes are teaching kids the importance of hard work, perseverance, and respect. These six life lessons are demonstrated repeatedly on Super Bowl Sunday: A dream is just a dream without hard work. The amount of effort it takes to
When Your Child’s Friend is Toxic
Kids don't come with a manual and neither does parenting. For the most part, good communication gets you through the rough times and helps to divert disaster. One dilemma that tends to stymie most parents centers around the friends your child chooses. Most of the time, kids make great choices, but sometimes the friends that choose your child are not great choices. And, for some unknown reason, your child cannot get away from these types of friends. These friends are what I re
Quality Time? - Answers From Children of Divorced Parents
My generation came up with a term to assuage the guilt of breaking up a family. We divorced our partners and then told our children we would be spending quality time with them. We did this for the right reason, seeing their big tears in their eyes as we left. We told ourselves many things, but we forgot to tell ourselves the truth. Kids see quality time as a time to get something or to be with the parent who doesn't live with them anymore. If you don’t believe me, ask any chi
Searching for the Meaning of Christmas Begins at Home
It’s tough being a parent, especially at Christmas. You know your child doesn’t need another gadget or toy to distract them, yet you love seeing the joy on their faces as they open their gifts on Christmas morning. You may struggle with the materialism of it all, knowing there’s more to the holidays than what you place under the tree. So how do you instill the deeper meaning of Christmas in your family so your children’s Christmas memories will be filled with joy instead of “
Keeping Score with Parenting is a Losing Game
Today’s child is more likely to grow up in a family where both parents work full time to make ends meet. Working parents report feeling overwhelmed and stressed, and complain about feeling unable to give their children, partners or friends enough time. The majority of these families have to do it all and that means a balancing act requiring long hours and little sleep. In the majority of surveys women are found to take on most of the household chores and this leaves couples s
Avoiding Parenting Conflicts with Your Partner
Parenting children is difficult, especially when parents have different forms of discipline. Parenting style is rarely talked about prior to marriage, and a couple that doesn’t experience conflict often can become distraught or frustrated when their partner has a completely different discipline approach. Marriage is a process and so is parenting. From the time your children are born your relationship with your partner changes. Although conflict between parenting styles will h
The Importance of Play in Your Child’s Emotional Well-Being
If you take a walk around the neighborhood, you’ll notice the absence of children playing. Many of them are in school, but even on weekends you may find yourself asking where the kids are. Growing up, you may remember playing with neighborhood friends after school, but that’s been replaced with after-school programs and video games inside. Unstructured play time for kids is a thing of the past and that’s unfortunate. Kids need to create and build things; they have to pretend