The cycle of difficult and challenging things happens in our communities and in our country on a regular basis. Be that natural disasters, political upheaval or personal tragedies. Many of these events may bring up big feelings for your children and emotional responses for the adults in your family.
Read MoreWelcoming a new child is an exciting time for parents and it can be stressful for older siblings. I have a few suggestions for families to help ease the transition and to help set up a loving dynamic between older sibling and the new baby.
Read MoreWe want to give our children everything. But is that a good thing?
Read MoreWe all want our children to be happy. But, how do you teach or encourage our children to be happy?
Read MoreThe sudden seeming changes that come with puberty may trigger worries for kids and teens about their looks and how their bodies have changed and continue to change as they grow.
Read MoreThe New York Times wrote about a small study that found giving kids a two-minute warning before turning off screen time created more turmoil and power struggles between parent and child.
Read MoreMany times throughout the year, our sleep routines change like during holiday times and summer vacation. While it’s wonderful to sleep in on the weekends and during breaks from school, it is better sleep hygiene to keep a constant sleep schedule.
Read MoreSometimes it seems hard to know if we are feeding our children too much or too little. This chart might answer some of those questions.
Read MoreKids can be great restaurant patrons when you help create the right conditions for a successful dinning out experience by giving them tools to manage the wait and choices to help expand their palette.
Read MoreThe death of a loved one can be very difficult for a child or a teenager to fully understand. Parents and other important adults often struggle to find the right language and tone in discussing death, since the adult is also deep in his or her own grieving process.
Read MoreWhat do you tell your child when a close family member is seriously ill? What do you say to your daughter when she has just received a cancer diagnosis? Navigating the emotional minefield of the medical system is hard enough as an adult — how can we best explain it all to kids?
Read MoreWe use praise to help bolster our child’s self esteem. But what we often do is end up rescuing them from the uncomfortable and necessary failures and disappointments in life. Kids need to know that failure is not something to be feared. They need to learn to struggle and work through challenging situations in order to build a healthy frustration tolerance.
Read MoreIn this post-Covid time, iIt seems as though our lives are now lived in two places, the online world and the physical world. It is amazing to have so much information at our fingertips. I strongly recommend that families make sure parental controls are on all your devices.
Read MoreEven though developmentally and emotionally, it’s quite normal for young children to lie, being lied to feels really awful. I have a couple of suggestions on how to set up a family value of honesty and respect.
Read MoreFamily life can be so busy and it is easy to slip into a hurried and/or harried state. I hope some information about the concept of equanimity (much of which comes from the writings of Shizen Young) will help guide you through the ups and downs of the packed weekly routine. Equanimity comes from the Latin word aequus, meaning balanced and animus meaning spirit or international state. In the physical world we say a person has lost balance if they fall to one side or another.
Read MoreMany of our kids are feeling high levels of anxiety in this time after the most intense months of the global pandemic. It’s not only Covid-19 that worries out kids, but politics, climate change, navigating social situations with friends and family changes are just a few things that build up anxiety in their energetic systems.
Read MoreA big part of my parent coaching practice centers on helping parents bring mindful awareness to their relationships within the family unit and with their own emotional state. When we pay attention to what is happening in each moment, we can better address the conflicts and discomfort that cause disruptions in family life.
Read MoreChildren by their very nature are both fragile and resilient at the same time. To help prevent or minimize both big and small traumas of childhood, it is important for the adults to be calm.
Read MoreSome people will want to bring their children along as they march in protest. In some families, teenagers will want to attend the protests without parental supervision. Here are some suggestions to help keep everyone safe.
Read MoreSuggestions on how to add mindful practices to family life.
Read More