So much has happened today -- I could write a book. Nothing terrible, but some interesting insights into the workings of peoples' minds when managing children's behaviour and the problems they face.
Where to start -- at the beginning I guess...
I got an email the other day promising a big box of chocolates if I could manage the behaviour of a mini tyrant -- he's 7! Challenge or what? The choice promise was from a fellow professional who advises on attendance, truanc ...
There is so much in the news nowadays about financial hardships in our country. How can our young people not hear about it and wonder how it affects them? I am sure there are many parents wondering exactly how much information they need to share with their children, especially concerning their personal financial situation. I hope that what I have to say will shed some light on that issue and also help with the guilt that I know parents are feeling at not being able to give their kids all the ...
A friend of a friend had her first child leave the nest. She did it a bit too soon, left before graduating from high school to go live with some boy. The daughter did get her GED and fortunately is not pregnant. Despite the silver lining of moving out of a dysfunctional home, the daughter is not making good use of her life. She has no job, doesn't even try for one, lives off her husband's meager income and spends money like its water. As a result there are frequent calls home to mom ...
It Depends on the Child
The first problem with trying to keep bad dreams to a minimum is that different children have different perceptions about their worlds. With very young children (1-2 years old), you may not be able to reason with them very much. Additionally, they may not be able to explain what scared them in their dream. As they get older, it gets easier. Then, you can get more detail from them as their vocabulary increases and they can tell the difference between real and not ...
Allowing your teen to get a part-time job in high school is a tough decision. For some parents, it is a financial necessity. For others, it is a sacrifice that takes the teen out of the house much too often. For most, however, it is more a question of whether or not the teen will get any value from the job or if working early in life takes away from the enjoyment of youth.
The decision you make should be partly dependent on what your teen wants and needs, but that should not be the only ...
Communication is, in many ways, a full-time activity. But as a parent you may not stand back and think about how you speak or listen - the two vital components of communication - to your children. One of the biggest issues I come across as a parent coach is helping parents overcome the barriers and misunderstandings brought about by poor or ineffective communication.
Before you begin radically overhauling your communication style and skills,you need to evaluate how you listen and speak ...
When a child loses their favorite pet, it could be very difficult to help them understand what has happened. Death is not something that every child understands and accepts. If you have a child grieving over a death of the pet at home, then you should help them to get through the grieving phase. Death could be a very confusing concept for children. In fact, you should use this opportunity to help them express their feeling in a constructive and positive way.
When you lose a pet, talk ab ...
There are two basic approaches to parenting. Perhaps the most common one is to relate with the child as responsible for the angry, stressful ways that we parent the child. For instance: "I yell at my kids, it is because they do not listen; I lose my patience because they move too slowly; I lose my temper because they talk back disrespectfully."
The other approach to parenting is to regard the child's behavior as the product of how we parent. For instance: "If my child is not listen ...
Fathers [and mothers], do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
-Ephesians 6:4 (NRSV).
I recently heard again the ages-old story of kids visiting Santa at the shopping centre pre-Christmas. This happens every year. We've all seen and know this picture. The kid sees Santa and approaches, yet at the last moment the kid screams, chin-quivering, and they run away from the weirdo in the red suit. 'Not so quic ...
Time outs for children have become an extremely common "imposed consequence" for just about any and every misbehavior from a child. Many times, however, a time-out for a child is used inappropriately by parents. An inappropriate, less healthy, use of the "time-out" for children is a form of punishment that intends to shame, blame, and/or emotionally banish a child.
Some examples of less than healthy time-outs for children:
"Young lady, you sit in the corner and think about how bad ...
