Parenting

• Guilt Tripping

  Parents who use shame and guilt as a motivator do so because they believe that the technique is needed to encourage children to change. The idea is that if children can be shamed into feeling guilty, they will change their behavior and do what their parents desire.

• Gardening Projects for Families

  Sometimes when we think of spending time with our children, it is usually spent reading a book, watching a movie or playing sports. Why not think of gardening with the family? It provides involvement between family members and is both educational and fun!

• Your Child and the Emergency Room

  This year, one out of every 2.4 children will be seen in the nation’s 6000 or so emergency rooms. It may be a cold, an earache, a cut, a broken bone from a fall, or a breathing problem. Whatever the illness or injury, an emergency room visit can be overwhelming and even scary to the parent unfamiliar to the inside of an emergency room.

• Chores and What They Mean to Your Child

  In the beginning, we want to be sure that we teach our children the life skills that will allow them to take care of themselves when we are no longer around or not wanted around. But then, we realize that as a lateral benefit, not only is our child learning good housekeeping skills, but also dexterity, task mastery, and self-sufficiency, which leads to a self-actualized child.

• Basics of Respectful Parenting

  Most people parented between the 1940’s and 1980’s were raised with parents who answered most why questions with “Because I said so” or “Because I’m your mother/father.” Old-style parents didn’t see a need to explain what their reasoning was nor did they bother to explain how they had come to their conclusions to their children. Things were the way they were because they were. Thus children were largely told what to do, how to do it, and if they didn’t comply they were punished. They weren’t taught by example how to reason things through and decide between a few options what might work best and why it might work best.

• Designer Children: How Do We Get Back to Basics?

  All over the United States middle class parents are surrendering to the unreasonable demands of their terrorist children. However, everyone knows that giving into terrorists rarely works; in fact, it just increases their appetite for more. Parents, don’t be afraid to take back your power! Children are blatantly letting you know that they are experiencing self-doubts and fears. Nudge them past their negativities and insecurities to emerge from the cocoon into the light of their empowerment. Here are eight tips to invest in your children’s good values and self-worth.

• When Your Child Is Scared and Worried: Dr. James J. Crist Answers Parents’ Questions About Parenting an Anxious Child

  Seeing your child struggle with anxiety and the problems it causes can be difficult for parents. Taking extra time to deal again and again with a child’s worries can be exhausting. You may feel frustrated when, despite your reassurance, your child continues to be fearful. Yet your child needs your continued support.

• Seven Steps to Better Negotiation With Your Child

  You walk in and find your child playing computer games instead of cleaning his room. You asked him an hour ago to clean it. In frustration, you blow up, yelling at him to get his room cleaned up or “else.” He scrambles around picking up dirty clothes and toys. You stomp off. There has got to be a better way, you think to yourself.