Many parents try to be far better parents than their parents were, yet their children grow up feeling lost and empty. Discover why in this article. There was an interesting article in The Atlantic, entitled “How to Land Your Kid in Therapy: Why the obsession with our kids’ happiness may be dooming them to unhappy adulthoods. A therapist and mother reports.” The article is about the way many parents focus much of their energy on being there for their children, but their children end up feeling lost and empty. One of the issues I’ve written about extensively is that half of good parenting is being there for our children, and the … [Read more...]
How to Help Your Angry Child
December 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Parenting Your Angry Child: by Christopher Lanne Parenting an angry child may leave you feeling hopeless, helpless, and guilty. Among the most important things to teach your child is that their feelings matter. When your child expresses anger something is bothering her. However, keep in mind that anger is often a masking emotion; your child may be feeling sad or hurt about something in her life. Two beneficial things you can do for your angry child is to listen, and to model healthy choices and strategies. Don't Give Your Child Advice: Help Her Find a Solution Try to withhold advice and just hear what she has to share. Remember, … [Read more...]
So What’s Your Excuse?
October 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
While driving my daughter to school on Friday morning the local radio hosts were talking about a Mother of three from Sacramento, California who posted a photo of herself that went viral on facebook. The photo showed an attractive, super-fit woman, three young boys aged 8 months, 2 years and 3 years, and the caption, "What's Your Excuse?" The radio hosts took phone calls from the listening audience, polling the listeners about whether the Mom was an inspiration to others, or whether she was just being obnoxious. (Most of the audience was positive and polite--at least in the limited time that I listened in.) And yesterday (Sunday) morning, the … [Read more...]
Our Daughter’s Body Image and Ourselves
September 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Parents, and especially Moms, I want to talk about the tough subject of your daughter’s body image, health and well being. As puberty becomes a driving force in your daughter’s life, her self-image and esteem are sure to become a part of her awareness. This time in her life is potentially the most sensitive and influential experience of her body image memories. She is adjusting to a new physical frame, emotions that go with it, the opposite sex, and the external forces of peer pressure and/or attention. It sounds like the making of a time bomb but it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve been a guide and witness to this process for over … [Read more...]
My Teenage Girl Was Bullied – And The Anti-Bullying Remedy That Finally Worked
August 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
By Sandra My daughter started her first year in secondary school with joy and excitement. At age 13, she was proud to be seen as more an adult than a child. Her happiness, however, was short lived. By mid January, she shared that her classmates were rude, used profanity and disturbed the class regularly. She asked me if she could be home-schooled. I told her to view the situation in a positive light, that she was placed in that class to help and guide others. Did I do right? I don’t have the answer but this is what I came up with to deal with the situation. My girl did her best to encourage others to stop smoking and to refrain … [Read more...]
Teenage Girls + Media = Low Self-Esteem
August 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Is it really true that teenage girls + media = low self-esteem? The issue of media's impact on teenagers has generated a lot of interest in the last decade. Despite contradictory findings, all researchers agree that teenage girls as a group are focused on their looks—especially on what they don't like about themselves! Marketing departments and ad agencies spend millions each year targeting teenage girls who spend much of their hard-earned dollars (and their parents' hard-earned dollars) on looking good. Although the message of "girl power" is prevalent in today's marketing messages, so is the irrefutable idea that "sexy" and "thin" are … [Read more...]