As parents, we do our best to keep our children healthy and safe. We buckle up their seatbelts, tell them to wash their hands before dinner, and to eat their fruits and vegetables. Yet, childhood poisonings occur every day across the globe. According to Safe Kids Worldwide, one hundred children…
Spring is the time of year when high school juniors are learning about different colleges and high school seniors are receiving their acceptance letters. Yes, and a great many high school seniors will receive those other kinds of letters as well: You’ve been waitlisted, or even worse, the rejection letter….
We all know the feeling…the moment of pride when someone notices how outspoken or articulate our child is. We bask in the knowledge that our child is smart, has a great sense of self-esteem and succeeds at virtually everything they attempt to do. There is a fine line between confidence…
When it comes to our children’s happiness, less is more. That’s the surprising perspective of one Chicago psychologist concerned about the rising rates of youth depression and anxiety. “Millions of well-intentioned parents have made life harder for their children by shielding the kids from every kind of unhappiness,” according to…
“High blood pressure in kids? That’s what my grandmother has!” Nearly 2 out of 3 American adults have unhealthy blood pressure. Hypertension, or high blood pressure (HBP), cuts off nearly 5 years from an average person’s life. It is more common beyond middle age. Hence, what comes to mind when…
Watching a young girl hit, kick, and call her mother names I never imagined a 6 year old knew, engaged in an (ultimately successful) attempt to get dessert led to an enlightening luncheon conversation with a few friends last week. As parents ourselves, we had all dealt with incidents like…
Think about your interactions with your children today. How many things did you notice they did wrong? What did you do or say to them because of their wrong doings? Have they engaged in the same kind of behavior before? What did you do or say the times before? Is…
When that first child comes along, it may feel like you couldn’t possibly give out the same amount of love to another child. Yet it doesn’t take long before you realize that having any other number of children afterwards seems to draw from this reservoir of love that you never…
I learned the truth about Santa Claus from our big brother. I was skeptical at first, so we sneaked out to my grandparents’ trailer and he showed me all the gifts we had asked Santa to bring. He was telling the truth! My brother had somehow stumbled upon an amazing…
When you were growing up, did you ever wish that your parents were happy? Did you feel safe when they were happy and peaceful? My mother was rarely a happy person. Most of the time she was anxious, angry and felt overburdened, even though I was her only child. She…