Do you ever feel discouraged when you ask your kids to do something and receive attitude or flat out non-compliance in return. It is easy for all of us to get discouraged, or even angry, when we spend a lot of time and effort trying to provide the necessities of life for our kids when we get responses like, “I don’t want to do it; you do it” Or, “I do it later.” Unfortunately for us, I’ll do it later
Have you ever seen a kid have a meltdown over something that seemed unimportant? For example, you start to help your toddler get dressed and you grab the Spiderman Shirt rather than the dinosaur shirt and he suddenly goes ballistic. Or maybe you order a hamburger rather than chicken nuggets and your child throws a conniption fit in the back seat. What could be so important about a dinosaur shirt and chicken nuggets that could cause our kids to fall
It’s easy to fall into the trap of demanding and threatening as a parent – especially when you want your child to get something done quickly. “If you don’t clean your room right now, you can forget about playing on the IPOD for the rest of the day.” Or “If you don’t finish your chores in the next 30 minutes you’re not going to have any friends over today.” Or finally, “I am sick and tired of you leaving your
Take a minute to think about someone who had a wonderful influence on you in your life. As soon as you have that person in your mind think about how you would describe that person? Would you use words like kind, patient, loving, or empathetic? Could you say that person was caring or that he or she treated you with respect? Would you say that it was easy or hard to learn from that person? Now think about someone who
Why is it that our children suddenly become experts on respect when they become teenagers? I’m not saying they become experts in treating others with respect. No, I am saying they become experts in knowing when they are not being treated with respect by adults. How do we know this? It’s easy. Our kids tell us by saying things like “this is stupid” or “I don’t care” in a nasty tone of voice. Or they yell at or hit their
During a parenting class, one mother stated, “My kids are so sarcastic. They are constantly being rude to each other and being sarcastic with me.” Then she asked, “Do you think they got that from me?” The simple answer to that question is probably so. Children generally learn how to interact with people by watching their parents (and other adults) interact with them and with others. When parents use sarcasm to release frustration or to point out what they think
Do you ever feel torn between wanting your step-children to like you and knowing that you still need to have rules and discipline? Have you found that letting the biological parent handle all the discipline doesn’t work really well all the time. Help for Blended Families in Arizona Blended families are becoming more and more common in today’s world. Consequently, more kids are being raised partially by step-parents. If you don’t have a good idea of the role of a
The following video is an excellent explanation of Theraplay. It was created by the Theraplay institute out of Evanston, Illinois. Theraplay techniques work especially well for foster and adopted children to help create and repair attachment. For more information visit theraplay.org or click here to schedule a therapy session for your child.