Betsy Brown Braun

Child Development and Behavior Specialist. Parent Educator. Best Selling Author

Mistakes

Children and Mistakes

by on , under Behavior, Character traits, Child development, Communication, Elementary School Children, Environmental influences, Expectations, Sensitive Topics, Toddlers

Recently, I heard from a parent about her child who over reacts to his mistakes and accidents. The child is highly sensitive about doing something the “right way” or is worried about doing something wrong. Mistakes are a part of life and everyone makes them.  Parents have a hand in helping their kids to get comfortable with this reality. What a critical lesson this is. The manner and degree to which a child processes and reacts to his mistakes, accidents, and missteps sometimes can be seen … [Read more...] about Children and Mistakes

Excuse Me…and Dont’ Interrupt!

by on , under Behavior, Discipline, Expectations, Parenting

As often happens, over the weekend I ran into a client at the grocery store.  Mid aisle we stopped for a brief  greeting.  As soon as the mom began to speak to me, her son piped up with,  “Mom, Mom, can we get some Gatorade?” tugging at her jacket.  “Please don’t interrupt me,” she calmly reminded her son and rewound the tape to complete her thought with me.    “Excuse me. Excuse me, Mom? Mom? Excuse me.”  he demanded. “Wait a minute, Steven. I am talking to Betsy,” Mom … [Read more...] about Excuse Me…and Dont’ Interrupt!

Doing the Right Thing

by on , under Character traits, Child development, Parent modeling, Parenting

 When I was pondering the Introduction to my new book, You’re Not the Boss of Me, it occurred to me that all I really needed to write was one sentence:  Be the person you want your child to be. Four pages later, that didn’t happen. But I still believe it.  Children need to be surrounded by adults who live by and model the character traits and values that matter most if you want them to absorb those values.  Last week a news story rocked the world of major league baseball.  Armondo Galarraga … [Read more...] about Doing the Right Thing

Talking about Tiger

by on , under Adolescents, Communication, Parenting

For the great majority of young children, the headlines about Tiger Woods will pass right over their heads.  But for the child whose parents or older siblings are hyper tuned into sports, who overhears the news or casual conversation, for the child who is focused on sports and sports news or who is a budding golfer, he just may hear that another hero has fallen. What the heck does a parent say? We have been through this kind of revelation too many times before. With sports stars and … [Read more...] about Talking about Tiger