Creating connection everyday is important to healthy development and for creating harmony at home. By working on connection we are sharing experiences, emotions, creating memories and deepening the bond that keeps us working well together.
The ability to have choices over our own life is at the core of our well-being.
When we give our children choices we are letting them know “I trust you and your ability to choose well”. Do we have to be smart about the choices we give our children? Absolutely! But go ahead, trust and give choices, it’s a great way to raise confident and competent children.
Fostering peaceful and lasting childhood memories. Written by Rachel When you think back to your childhood, what do you remember
It’s beyond unfortunate to see so many people cheering on the shame and the humiliation that so many parents are freely dishing out. It’s human nature to instinctively want to fit in with others and behavior is incredibly contagious…Shame and humiliation teach shame and humiliation. On the other hand, kindness begets kindness, respect brings about respect.
As parents, we are continuously looking at whatʼs best for our children. How often have you found yourself saying, “Not now, Iʼm busy,” “Yes, Iʼm listening,” “Let me just do one more thing,” “Just a minute…maybe later…Iʼll be right back.” Are these familiar to you? What message are we giving our children when in so many of our interactions with them our attention is divided?
Here are twelve alternatives to time outs that give parents and children a chance to address choices and situations with the intention to offer guidance while maintaining a positive, respectful and peaceful connection. These alternatives are mostly geared towards children aged 1 to 6 years but also work well beyond that too.
Emotional intelligence, or understanding and managing one’s feelings wisely, is really important for healthy development. Children can really flourish when they are able to recognize, reason, understand and manage emotions.
Science experiments can be a wonderful way for children to learn, not only about science but also about working as a team, developing patience and following directions. Science experiments are also wonderful for boosting cognitive flexibility, focus and curiosity.The following two experiments are fairly simple but full fun and learning:
The Power of a Meaningful Thank You Encouraging your child to say thank you and to feel gratitude is a
Using compliance as a parenting strategy commonly involves conflicts, power struggles and threats of losing a privilege, punishment or bribery.