TOPIC: All Kids
Adventures in Post-Divorce Dating
As part of an article that I’m writing for eHarmony Parenting, I started to research dating for divorced parents. Interestingly, while there have been several studies on remarriage and step-parenting and the general effects of divorce on family- very few exist for dating while divorced.
How Does Your Child Perceive You?
The truth is, whether our kids say it or not, they feel it. Children aspire to become what their parents are. And that’s precisely why it’s critical to be the kind of parents we want to be.
Common Discipline Mistakes Even the Best Parents Make: Part 2
Here are more discipline mistakes made by even the best-intending, most well-informed parents, along with practical suggestions that might come in handy the next time you find yourself in one of these situations.
Ask Hal - Kids and Advertising
You cannot fully protect them from the media onslaught because it is exactly that. Take heart though, for while you can’t fully protect or shelter them, you can equip them. You have the power to teach them to face and navigate the barrage of advertisements they are sure to see in their lives.
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Some of my friends are under the mistaken impression that I never blow it when it comes to dealing with my kids. Those who are closest to me know better. Just because I work for a company called ScreamFree Living and I am married to a family therapist doesn’t mean that being calm comes second nature to me. In fact, if you look at the things I write, my best stuff commonly arises from the many parenting faux-pas that I commit.
The Paradox of Parenting
There is an inherent paradox to parenting, and it confuses us all. It goes something like this: Parents shape their kids, kids shape themselves. Our entire role as parents is to help our kids learn to help themselves. The paradox is that if I neglect them, then they actually become more dependent upon me. If I smother them, then they back away without getting all the skills they need (they just have to get away!).
Identifying Your Personal Parenting Traits
What we are teaches the child far more than what we say,
so we must be what we want our children to become.
- Joseph Chilton Pearce
Moving Day
I am convinced that moving is one of the most miserable experiences in life. Anyone who tells you differently is lying. It’s been several years since we last uprooted, and I had forgotten how horribly stressful it is. Apparently, I had a bad case of moving amnesia because I agreed to this heinous act recently. What’s worse is that we scheduled it to occur during the last week of school. You know, life really isn’t complicated enough in May with all of the class parties, weddings, and graduations to attend. I thought we could use a little more chaos to spice things up a bit.
Steps to Handling Your Anger
Family life is complicated and unpredictable. Expectations, frustrations and responsibilities can create angry emotions in both parents and children. Even if you are skilled at parenting, and even if you are committed to your family, you cannot eliminate the unpleasant situations and intense emotions that occur in all families. However, once you understand where the […]
Get Your Marriage Ready For The Baby Bomb!
It’s been said that having a baby is like throwing a hand grenade into a marriage. A hand grenade? Why the violent metaphor for such a precious, peaceful little thing? They’re so beautiful. They’re so loveable. How can anyone defame such a cutie? But it’s true. Those babies just explode right into our hearts and our lives.
