There is a dilemma that accompanies the winter holiday season that is rarely discussed out loud. It certainly is a topic that is dominating my parenting groups this month. That is, how do parents deal with grandparents who want to do as they please with their grandchildren when it comes to celebrating the gift-giving holidays. They might over-gift the grandchild, even though they have been asked to put on the brakes. They might give an item specifically forbidden by the parents. Or they might … [Read more...] about Grandparents and Gift Giving: An Unspoken December Dilemma
Elementary School Children
All Kinds of Feelings: A Child’s Emotional Literacy
In the video, Emotional Baby is Moved to Tears by Mom’s Singing, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/emotional-baby-moved-to-tears-by-moms-singing_n_4173272.html?utm_hp_ref=parents&ir=Parents?utm_hp_ref=parents&ir=Parents, we witness the power of emotion in even the youngest of babies. At only 10 months old, the baby’s deep feelings spill over in the form of tears when he hears his mother’s beautiful singing. Learning about emotions like these is a long process and a big part of … [Read more...] about All Kinds of Feelings: A Child’s Emotional Literacy
“I Don’t Want To Go To School!”
Now that the school year has begun, it won’t be long before one morning you’ll awaken to the declaration, “I don’t want to go to school.” It’s a cry, actually more of a plea, which every parent is likely to face at least once, if not ten times, each school year. It’s never music to your ears. Not wanting to go to school for the younger child or proclaiming “I’m not going to school” for the older ones, can challenge even the most savvy parent. How easy life would be if there were a one size … [Read more...] about “I Don’t Want To Go To School!”
Knowing Your Child
It isn’t usually until the fall that I begin to hear chatter about parents wanting their kids to find their passion, who are eager to enroll their kids in specialized, extra curricular classes. I have already weighed in on this topic, kids finding passion. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/betsy-brown-braun/finding-their-passion-rea_b_991621.html. Eye roll. But this year the search for passion’s ignition key seems to be arriving early, right along with summer. Children are signed up for a week … [Read more...] about Knowing Your Child
Being Neighborly
Keeping your child safe, (also the name of a seminar I offer), is every parent’s top priority. And each time the internet explodes with news of another abuse to a child, parents are shaken to the core. Fear reverberates across the county, and we ask, “How did that happen?” and “What could have been done to prevent such a nightmare?” Such is the case with the heart-stopping news of Amanda Berry’s, Gina de Jesus’ and Michelle Knight’s abduction and final escape from the living hell of Ariel … [Read more...] about Being Neighborly
Circle the Wagons. How children learn to express empathy.
Current research on the topic of empathy in children points to likelihood that infants as young as 6 months have the ability to demonstrate empathy. Whether or how empathy develops as the child grows is a whole different story. Here we go again, nature vs nurture. A recent experience points to an answer. Shockingly, I recently stared cancer in the face. Even I, the healthiest person I know, did not escape the reach of the Big C. A totally successful surgery was followed by a less successful … [Read more...] about Circle the Wagons. How children learn to express empathy.