Amanda, a preschool teacher in California, contacted me about a column about bullying. “I do agree”, she wrote, “that bullying is a very serious issue but the people that usually need more support are the mortified parents of the bully.” Let’s define bullying behavior. Bullying can be physical, verbal or excluding behaviors that include but […]
Category Archive:
Great parenting tips
Understanding Happiness
Happy. We use this word as though happy is a goal unto itself. An elusive objective, indeed. The meanings of happiness and pleasure are used interchangeably in our world. Happiness and pleasure are not the same concept and to think so is dangerous. Pleasure seeking will not bring us happiness. Conversely, happiness is rarely found […]
An Ounce of Prevention: Handwashing
“My mommy said I don’t have to wash my hands after I go to the bathroom,” one of my preschool students said. How was I going to side step this power struggle? “At school,” I said, “we wash our hands. Do you want to use the pump soap or the bar soap?” Fortunately, for children […]
Helping Your Child Learn To Listen
“You can’t help your child learn anything if you don’t teach them to listen and pay attention. That’s what you have to do first.” I overheard Tricia, a mother of three, as she visited with a father at a parent get-together. Afraid of breaking a child’s spirit, we are sometimes reluctant to “make” a child […]
Using Advent To Teach Patience
The holiday season is officially here. For the three to seven-year-olds in our lives, the excitement and anticipation of holiday events can be excruciating. Developmentally, children of this age don’t have a solid concept of time. Today, tomorrow, next month, next year, in five days—these are abstract ideas to our youngsters. Waiting for Christmas when […]
Finding Seeds Of Appreciation
In our worst traits lay the seeds of our best traits. In those moments when we criticize behavior, we have an opportunity. If we take the time to shift our perception and look for the positive in the situation, we will find a quality to appreciate. In those moments when we might be critical, we […]
Understanding Your Child’s Artwork
A visitor gushed over my four-year-old daughter’s new and quite abstract painting on our refrigerator. “Oh, what a beautiful painting. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I was pleased that my daughter had remembered to say, “Thank you”, to a compliment. I thought she would also enjoy the “non-mom” appreciation. After our visitor […]
Curing The Gimmee’s
Before I reached the checkout counter, I knew what was going to happen. Picking up a few items for dinner at our local market on a Sunday afternoon, I noticed a five-year-old boy with his grandmother, both of them looking a little worse for wear. The boy sported a Red Power Ranger suit with inflatable […]
Teaching Transcendence
Transcendence refers to the universal virtue that consists of the ability to express an appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality. Positive psychologists see these characteristics as being part of 24 personality strengths that create healthy and happy people. The virtue of transcendence helps us create connections to everything in the universe. […]
Letters Of Encouragement
As young parents, my husband and I took a video-based parenting course called “Active Parenting” developed by Michael H. Popkin, Ph.D. Impressed with all the valuable information I was able to put to immediate use, I became an Active Parenting instructor for several years. One of the many “gems” from the course was writing “letters […]