Category: Parenting

New Year Resolutions

Create Meaningful (and Achievable) Family Goals for the New Year

It’s a new year and a new decade. For many people, that means it’s resolution time. It’s finding-yourself time. It’s creating-new-habits-and-setting-goals time. Maybe you’re one of the few who make...

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Teach your child gratitude

Teaching Your Child Gratitude is Slightly Selfish

I can accept that parenting my kids can be a thankless job; however, watching them respond (or not respond) to others' kindnesses can really put me on edge. I practically...

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social connection

Building the Village: 4 steps to social connection

Many would argue that technology has made instant connection to others increasingly easy. Yet, in the last two decades, the amount of people reporting that they don’t have a trusted...

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Your Child Needs a Purpose

There are things I spend a fair amount of time worrying about in my professional work. As a psychologist and director of a child and family wellness center, I worry...

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The Emphasis on Self Care is Shaming Moms

Once upon a time, families of the neighborhood looked out for one another’s kids; sent a casserole down the street when their neighbor was down on their luck; called upon...

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Mother Nature’s Parenting Tips

I have always been an observer. This tendency doesn’t stop with people-watching. As a child, I was fortunate enough to live near a nationally-ranked well-funded zoo. For a period of...

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3 Ways Your Attachment with Your Child Is Impacting Their Behavior

About 70 years ago, the psychiatrist Dr. John Bowlby made a surprising revelation about mental health. He stated that it is dependent on each of us experiencing a “warm, intimate...

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‘Tis the Season for Sensory Overload

It's a time of year that can certainly overwhelm the senses for many of us-- flashing lights littering many lawns and homes, Christmas music blasting from department store speakers, crowds......

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An Attitude of Gratitude for the Whole Family

Halloween is over and November has arrived. With it comes cooler days, longer nights and the winter holiday season rapidly approaching. This time of year, many of us struggle with feeling there is too...

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Do This and Find Your Parenting Mojo Again

Dear Experienced Caregivers, I am of the belief that we have a crisis on our hands. And this is important. Parenting is not living up to the expectations many of...

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Helping Your High Schooler Transition to College

  Whether your child is approaching legal adulthood or still has several years to go, if you told me that you hadn’t once thought about college or their adult years,...

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Child-Directed Play

Let Them Play (and Get Out of the Way)!

When you’re a busy parent or caregiver with errands to run, mouths to feed, and work to do, allowing for time for play might seem pretty low on the priority...

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Creating Calm by Creating Routines

School is ending and summer’s here! Children are excited and may be looking forward to no homework, sleeping in, and more freedom! As parents you might be worried about what...

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alternatives to punishment

Go Under the Behavior Before You Punish

Calm, consistent structure in your home helps your child to feel secure and know what is expected. Ultimately, this will lead most kids to success in most situations. But even the...

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Power Struggles

Stop Power Struggles, Make Peace with Your Child

It's 7:21 am, you have exactly four minutes until you HAVE to leave the house. Your child finally walks to the front door, "ready" to go... with NO shoes. You...

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Screen Time Takeover: 3 Tips for Busy Families

A little over 6 years ago, I had just reluctantly traded in my basic flip phone for a smartphone. Now? My smartphone practically feels like an appendage. Digital advancements are happening lightening...

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7 Better Ways to Bolster Your Child’s Self-Esteem

I’ve seen it time and time again. A desperate parent tells me that they don’t understand why their child is struggling with low self-esteem. This is despite the fact that...

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Kids’ Self Care: How sick is too sick?

On my graduation day from high school, a good friend was given a fancy certificate for maintaining a record of perfect attendance every single year of his entire history of...

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Strategies to Move a Couch Potato Kid

It’s an era of sedentary activity-- of children and adults who spend evenings and weekends glued to the couch. Many children have been trained to sit still for hours at...

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Contemporary Family Lessons from the Ancient Art of Taekwondo

What do sports have to do with personal wellbeing and family functioning? A lot, it turns out, if the sport you're talking about is Taekwondo. In a recent blog series,...

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