When someone asks us “Are we having fun yet?” it’s generally said with a sarcastic tone during a time when we are struggling or facing some sort of challenges. But I am not being facetious here. I am asking you this question in all seriousness. “Are we having fun yet?”
Read moreHelping Our Kids Go Back to School Well During COVID-19
As kids and teens are returning to school, emotions are running high. From anxiety to frustration to feelings of uncertainty, students and parents alike are experiencing a roller coaster of emotions. Whether going back to classroom learning in a brick and mortar school building, at home through virtual school, or a combination of remote and in-person learning, education is looking and feeling different than the "before times" of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read moreOur Kids Need Compassion More than Ever
I’m worried about our kids and teens. Listening to stories from parents I’ve spoken to recently, it seems to me that our children are more anxious than ever before. They don’t feel safe. They’re afraid to go to school. It’s more important than ever to listen to our kids. To build empathy. And to practice compassion.
Read moreParenting for Your Child’s Nature: The Insightful Water Child
Does your child appear quiet and withdrawn? Prefers to eat dinner in his or her room rather than joining the family at the table? You may be parenting a “Water Child.”
Read moreParenting for Your Child’s Nature: The Precise Metal Child
Parenting for Your Child’s Nature: The Caring Earth Child
Does your child tend to procrastinate when trying to get his or her homework done? Is s/he often worried, distracted, or becomes indecisive when stressed? You may be parenting an “Earth Child.”
Read moreParenting for Your Child’s Nature: The Playful Fire Child
Is your child the “class clown”? Having trouble controlling his or her impulsive behavior? Acts silly until everyone is laughing? You may be parenting a “Fire Child.”
Read moreParenting for Your Child’s Nature: The Wood Child in Motion
Is your child in constant motion? Does s/he have trouble sitting still in class? Easily frustrated at home? You may be parenting a “Wood Child.”
Read moreThe Positive Psychology of Parenting: Getting to Know Your Child
Have you ever noticed how many shout-outs to moms and dads there are in winners’ acceptance speeches at award shows like the Oscars and Tonys? Often when we reflect on our accomplishments we recognize and appreciate our parents for believing in us, and for really getting to know our nature, strengths, and passions, and for supporting us in becoming our best selves.
Read moreAsk "What's Working?" through Appreciative Inquiry
It’s approaching the end of October. (In some places) the air is cooler, the leaves have changed colors and are falling off the trees. Notebooks have lost their fresh clean smell, pencils are beginning to dull and students’ report cards and progress reports are coming home. By now, most parents have met with their children’s teachers, attended back to school night, and after school routines are fully in swing. Once Halloween comes, the frantic rhythm of the holiday season doesn’t slow down until after the new year.
Read moreSavoring Joy: My "Midsummer Night’s Dream" for Parents
I know what you’re thinking. “Why is she talking about midsummer when school is starting soon? It’s already August!” I know. The stores are having back-to-school sales on clothes and school supplies. And some of us really do start school in August (I just read a friend’s Facebook post that said her son starts school again this week!). That’s the reality. But, I want to give you some perspective, along with a little “positivity boost,” inspired by a dream I had just a couple of weeks ago when the calendar still read “July.”
Read moreThe Awesomeness of Awe
How often are we inspired to experience awe? Not just when we say "awww" when we see a cute kitten, hold a cuddly puppy or hear the adorable coos of a happy baby. The times we feel that intense emotion that's real awe -- when we get goosebumps or feel that special brand of joy when we notice a double rainbow in the sky, witness the miracle of birth, appreciate a magnificent work of art, or listen to the birds sing a melodious tune in harmony with one another. That enveloping feeling that we get when we realize how small we are in this vast universe.
Read moreParenting from a “Who is My Child?” Perspective
Over the years I have read more than my share of parenting books by well-intentioned experts who profess to have the “secret sauce” to parenting. Though I have found many of these books enlightening and sometimes useful, most of these authors take a prescriptive or “how to” approach to raising children — for example, let your child cry it out to learn how to fall asleep on his/her own; put your child in time out to learn how to control his/her inappropriate behavior; don’t help with homework so they can learn how to become independent learners. While some of these “prescriptions” may have some validity in some situations with some children, I take the “how to’s” more as suggestions to try in the appropriate context if I feel they are right for my particular child at a particular time in a particular context.
Read moreBucket Filling to Teach Kids Kindness
Since the beginning of civilized society we have valued kindness as a virtue. The importance of teaching our children the Golden Rule as a basic moral principle -- treat others as you want to be treated -- is deeply embedded in our culture and spiritual practices. We encourage children to be compassionate because it's the right thing to do. But are we helping them make the connection between being kind to others and their own happiness and well being?
Read moreHelping Kids Focus with Mind Jars
As parents, we often are urging our kids to focus. “Pay attention…Concentrate… Finish your homework…Don’t be distracted.” So many of us often hear from their teachers that our children have trouble staying on task at school. How can we as parents help?
Read moreFire Child Water Child: Book Review
As I was reading Stephen Cowan, MD’s Fire Child Water Child, a book that Deepak Chopra called “groundbreaking work,” I kept thinking to myself, “I wish Dr. Cowan had been my child’s pediatrician, and wouldn't it have been great if this book was available when I was raising my son.” The perspective that Dr. Cowan presents does indeed break through our commonly held assumption that when it comes to helping children learn and focus “one size fits all.”
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