Using Guided Imagery With Your Child
Guided imagery is a dynamic way to increase a child’s chances for successful development of inner talents and personal resources. Parents, teachers and other service providers can use imagery with confidence to increase a child’s mental focus, help clarify values, increase study efficiency or instill other successful traits.
Meditating Mamas
If we want to enjoy our daily lives, it is exceptionally helpful to slow down for part of the day and focus on your breath. Research has shown that periods of meditation — of focusing on your breath — helps us transcend worries, lowers our anxiety, diminishes depression and increases clarity. Meditation balances our moods and enhances our ability to connect fully with who we are.
Parent Better Than Your Own Parents Did
Your parents undoubtedly failed you as parents. All parents fail. No parent is ever adequate enough to provide one child — let alone two or more — with enough love, caring, support, wisdom or whatever to completely meet his or her needs. Therefore, parents naturally fall short when it comes to parenting. It is impossible to be a perfect parent. We teach our children almost all the skills they need to become doctors, engineers, plumbers, architects, truck drivers or any one of the millions of jobs in the world. We usually don’t teach parenting.
Stressed, Every Day
As I came through the door after a challenging day of work, the tornado began. "Daddy's home!" My kids wanted to share their day and their artwork, and my wife wanted to share how difficult her day had been. I wanted to lie down on the couch and be left alone. And this same scenario is happening all over the country with fathers (or mothers) and their families. Families are converging on each other at the end of the day with wildly different needs and moods. The result can be hurt feelings and distance between family members.
Top 10 Ways to Be a Better Father
The expectations for fathers are increasing both at work and at home. Here are 10 ways for fathers to be more effective in the most important job they'll ever have. See your kids as capable. The Achilles’ heel of many fathers is to see their kids as "not good enough." Your kids will feel this, and they'll live up to these expectations. The more you approve of them, the greater they'll be!
Fathers, Sons and Masculinity
My 5-year-old son had a quirky smile that showed a mixture of pride and anticipation. He'd shown me his art project from school, and he was waiting for his mom. "Come on over and look at what Michael made," I shouted to my wife. Michael ran out of the room crying. I was filled with visions of a son who was incapable of dealing with the challenges and frustrations of daily living. And I felt the responsibility of showing him how to be "tough enough" to live in a world that delivers plenty of tough times. At the moment, I felt like I was failing badly.
Look At It From A Kid’s-Eye View
It's quite easy for most fathers to look at their kids with a critical eye. And why not? There's a lot riding on the outcome of your kids' development. There's the nagging worry that you're not doing your job well enough and that your child will develop "problems." There's also the fear of being judged as an incompetent or uninvolved father by others. And there's the relentless presence of your children, making mistakes by the truckload while you watch.
Eight Sleep Tips for Every Child
The following ideas are of value to almost any sleeper of any age. These tips can bring improvement not only in your child’s sleep but also in her daytime mood — and last, but not least, improvements in your own sleep and outlook as well.
Nightmares, Night Terrors and Fears
The lack of adequate, restful sleep can affect your child’s mood, behavior, health, memory and growth. If there is anything standing in the way of a good night’s sleep, it’s important to address the issue and solve the problem. Following is a list of typical sleep disrupters and possible solutions.
Moving from Crib to Bed
When your child moves from crib to bed, it’s a milestone in his life as well as yours. There is no precise time for making this move, though typically it’s between the first and third birthday. The key to success is to be patient and allow your child time to adjust to the change.
The Night Visitor: Trips to the Parent’s Bed
If your house echoes with the sound of pat-pat-pat down the hallway when your child leaves his room to climb into your bed in the middle of the night, rest assured that you are not alone. It’s perfectly natural for a toddler or preschooler to search out his parents for comfort and security — it’s a sign of his trust and his deep love for you. And it’s perfectly normal for parents to provide that comfort and security by bringing their child into their bed or by lying with him in his own bed.
The Family That Eats Together Stays Together
You often hear that families should eat together. What evidence is there that this is a good thing? A recent study suggests that family meals might increase adolescents’ well-being. Middle school (n=1608) and high school (n=3074) students, ages 11 to 18, completed surveys. The frequency of family meals, level of family connectedness, academic performance, substance use, self-esteem, depressions, suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts were assessed.
Get more Time, Energy and Money!
Time, energy and money are chronically lacking in parents’ lives. They are too tired because their children keep them up at night, they are strapped for time between juggling work and family, and they spend all their resources on their kids, the house, the car and the mortgage. Everybody has a dream. Whether you know it or not, at one time you dreamed all the time. As children grow, their imaginations grow with them. Then they become adults, and the reality of the world sets in. Have you forgotten how to dream? Do you feel as if you have no time to breath, much less make your dreams reality?
Yoga for Kids and Parents
“Baby yoga! Baby yoga!” This is my daughter’s chant any time she reaches over to place her hands in front of her toes, in essence doing the toddler version of downward facing dog. I fantasized about doing yoga with my children before becoming pregnant, but I never pictured it like this.
Redefining "Grounding" for Your Teens
I invite you to ground yourself in love and compassion. For thousands of years, great, grounded teachers have exemplified the power of love and compassion to generate happiness and to feel the joy of being alive. Ground yourself in love and compassion, and you will feel that same joy.
Remembering the Past as a Family
November has always seemed to me a month that revolves around tradition, beginning as it does with the Days of the Dead, celebrated in Mexico by welcoming back the spirits of the ancestors, and ending with Thanksgiving, when families gather around a table to share a late harvest feast. And this meal often contains traditional elements.
Natural Fathering: Saving Memories of Your Children
It also occurred to me that this was a time in our lives that would be extremely short-lived. This time of innocence and the magical moments that make up a three-year-old’s life would soon be gone forever.
A Mother's Guide to Dealing with Parental Guilt
To some degree, every mother wants her children to be perfectly comfortable, perfectly protected, perfectly happy -- no matter what sacrifices she might have to make. When we as mothers inevitably fall short of this ideal, guilt sets in.
Are You Addicted to Your Children?
Anything that we use to get love, avoid pain and fill up inner emptiness can become an addiction – even our children! You might be using your children to fill an empty place within you.
Tips for Creating Fulfilling and Struggle-Free Days
Regardless of whether you are a stay-at-home parent, work out of the home or some combination of the two, days can often be run by places we “should be.” Many of these places we actually need to be. Many are “omniscient-parent-have-to’s,” outings we go on for the benefit of the child: the library, playgroups, music classes and community activities.
What is Attachment Parenting?
Attachment Parenting: Is It For You?
What is Attachment Parenting?
The Science of Attachment
The Chemistry of Attachment
Long Term Attachment Parenting
What exactly is “attachment parenting” as it applies to all ages?
Natural Parenting
Pitching In: Simple Ways to Get Your Family Involved
When Your Parenting Comes Under Fire
Should Both Parents Work? Should One Stay at Home?
Playdates for Parents
Is it ok to spoil your kids?
Unplugging your family
Others...
Articles on Getting Kids To Sleep
My 6-month-old baby wakes up almost every hour to breastfeed.
My baby won't nap! She fights sleep but gets fussier and fussier as the day progresses.
Using White Noise While Babies Sleep
Write a Family Bestseller: “My Sleep Book”
Why Isn't She Sleeping at Night?
Others...
Your Child's Feelings and Emotional Intelligence
Build Your Child’s Emotional Toolkit
What You Say and What Your Children Hear
Helping Kids Cope With News of War
Top Ten Ways to Raise Emotionally Intelligent Kids
Be Smart With Your Children’s Feelings
How You Can Teach Your Child Respect
Teaching Responsibility - Responsible Children
The Hidden Messages of Parenting
Others...
Natural Fathering Articles
10 Reasons to Tell Your Kids Stories
Help Your Hubby Support Breastfeeding
Help For Overwhelmed Fathers
Natural Fathering - Save Memories of Your Children
Fathers, Tell Your Stories
Top 10 Common Sense Rules for Fathers
Parenting Stress
How to Help Your Marriage Survive a New Baby
When It’s More Than the “Baby Blues”
I Yelled at My Kids
My Kids Are Driving Me Crazy!
Others ....
Positive Parenting Articles
10 Reasons to Tell Your Kids Stories
Getting Kids to Organize Themselves
Top 10 Ways to Keep Your Kids From Fighting
10 Ways to Get Your Kids to Talk to You
Give Your Kids Household Chores!
Encourage Children to Play Naturally
Getting Your Kids to Cooperate
Others..
Gentle Discipline Articles
Redefining "Grounding" for Your Teens
Give Your Kids the “N” Word
Keep Your Kids From Fighting - Fighting Kids - Fighting Siblings
Of Conflict and Control - Kid Discipline
To Spank Your Child or Not to Spank?
Get Your Toddler to Cooperate - Parenting Toddlers
Others ...
Attachment Parenting Articles
Create a Peaceful Home Sanctuary
Long Term Attachment Parenting
Can There Be Too Much? - Attachment Parenting
Parenting Style Differences
Caring vs. Caring Too Much
Learning All Day Long
Falling off the AP Wagon
more...
