parenting Archives - Page 2 of 7

Give Your Children a Rich Life Without Raising Entitled Kids

July 2, 2014 by James Rheine.

It is the instinct of every parent to want to give his or her child everything because it is indeed what they deserve. However, over the years, it has become increasingly evident that giving a child the rich life tends to turn them into entitled children. These children tend to act like the world owes them, and no parent would ever want their children to turn out like that. If anything, we want our children to grow up knowing how important hard work is to getting what they want.

The thing is, we can still give kids a rich life without them turning into the entitled brats we’re only all-too familiar with. Here are some tips on doing just that.

Healthy Moms Are Better Moms

June 30, 2014 by James Rheine.

We all know being a mom is the toughest job in the world. A mom—an honest-to-goodness one, that is—is a mom 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no weekends or days off from taking care of your own children when you’re a mom. In fact, a mother’s life practically revolves around her children.

What every mother should never forget, however, is to take care of themselves. Far too often, you hear of mothers who take care of their children at the expense of their own needs. Remember, you have your own needs that you have to pay attention to, like your own health and happiness. Taking care of your kids is stressful enough, but neglecting your own needs can make you unhealthy and unhappy, and that is going to be apparent in the way you take care of your children. To be a great mom at all times, you need to take care of yourself, and here are some of the things you can do to stay that way.

Implementing Rules Without Becoming the Bad Guy

June 24, 2014 by James Rheine.

As a parent, it’s completely your responsibility to set limits or rules for your children to follow. More often than not, however, you find yourself in a quandary when kids refuse to toe the line, so to speak. Getting them to brush their teeth, for instance, is a constant battle. You can’t very well force them to do it, but it’s something they have to make a habit of, so how do you implement this rule—and many others—without threatening them with punishment and essentially become a villain in their eyes? Dr. Laura Markham has something to say about this matter in her blog for Psychology Today.

Use Time-Ins Instead of Time-Outs to Discipline Your Child

May 26, 2014 by James Rheine.

It’s common among parents to use time-outs whenever their child behaves badly. As far as they’re concerned, it’s certainly better than a spanking or a tongue-lashing, and I completely agree with them.

However, it may not be the best path to take when disciplining your child, according to an article written by child expert Dr. Laura Markham in her Aha! Parenting blog. Instead of a time-out, she says, parents should use “time-in” instead, as it’s a more effective and positive tool for disciplining children.

10 Quick Ideas to Connect More Deeply With Your Children

April 28, 2014 by James Rheine.

It is but natural for our children see us as this authority figure who sets rules and limits, corrects their behaviour, pushes them to do their homework and denying their more whimsical and unreasonable requests. All that should be enough for our children to perceive our presence in their lives as negative, which is sometimes the case in some parent-child relationships.

However, many kids don’t feel that way about their parents, because their parents do more than just order them around. They actually create a positive balance between by initiating positive interactions as well. Do all loving and affirming interactions with them, and you will be able to connect more deeply with your children. Here are 10 quick ideas to do just that.

When To Seek Help

April 23, 2014 by James Rheine.

Being a parent is the most rewarding job in the world. It also happens to be the toughest. Anyone who has kids and spent a significant part of their lives in raising them knows how hard it can be, particularly when problems between the child and the parents get in the way.

When faced with kid-related problems, most parents just suck it up and go through life like nothing is happening. Parenting problems, however, have a way of worsening over time if not given any attention. Without you realizing it, you’re already at your wit’s end, and both you and your child will eventually suffer for it.

That’s why if you have a serious problem with your kids, seek professional help the soonest possible time. Here are some of the reasons you need to do just that:

How To Get Your Kids To Stop Unwanted Behaviour

April 16, 2014 by James Rheine.

Our children may be well-behaved in general, but there will always be times when they’ll exhibit some behaviours that we parents could only call unwanted. Chewing loudly, yelling for no apparent reason, doing the exact opposite of what we tell them are just some of these unwanted behaviours that we wish our kids would just stop.

Making them stop unwanted behaviour, however, takes more than just telling them not to do it any more. Scoldings or punishments also won’t work, at least not in any way that we want them to work. What works in getting our kids to stop unwanted behaviour is to say something positive after telling them what they should not do.

Decode Your Child’s SOS

April 15, 2014 by James Rheine.

More often than not, most parents attribute any “acting out” by kids to plain misbehavior, but the child may actually be sending you a cry for help or an SOS. This, according to a post by Dr. Laura Markham on her Aha! Parenting blog, is something that parents often miss.

Fathers and daughters

March 28, 2014 by James Rheine.

If you’re a father to a little girl, you know how special that relationship can be. Just as there is a special bond between mothers and sons, the relationship between fathers and daughters is unique. When that little girl grows up, however, things are going to get a bit complicated, and you would want to impart some words to serve as her guide. Helping you out in that regard is an article written by Dr. Kelly Flanagan for his blog UnTangled.

What Matters Is How We Respond to What’s Happening

February 13, 2014 by James Rheine.

I just came across this piece from Tara Brach published in Psychology Today telling how we respond to what’s happening matters more than what’s happening itself.