Many parents are choosing gifts for their kids this time of year. Are you wondering what to get your little one? Here are some tips for choosing toys that can make play more rewarding and better for your child’s development. First, in the Land of Toys, less is almost always more. The less the toy … More Good Toys for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Many of the best parenting and discipline approaches suggest that we praise our children to help them develop a healthy sense of themselves and a willingness to do what we tell them to do. We have known for a while that specific praise (“Thanks for touching the baby so gently!”) works better than general praise … More Praise that Works
Yesterday I had the chance to have a conversation with several Parents’ Day Out (PDO) teachers at a local Early Childhood Center. We were talking about the differences they have noticed over the years in young children. The conversation started to be about current parenting methods and how they affected the behavior of the kiddos … More The New Toddlerhood
A big thank you to Greenbush who just provided about 55 of us with a new kind of First Aid training – Mental Health First Aid. It sure was a lot of information packed in to one day! For a quick summary of MHFA, (in English or Spanish) you can go here: http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/cs/take-a-course/what-you-learn/ The website … More Another Kind of First Aid
Here is the second way that Dr. Bryson and Dr. Siegel help us picture what happens when we get dysregulated. With this model, they refer to crossing the threshold out of the green zone as “flipping your lid.” Dr. Siegel also talks about how parents can use the hand model of the brain during … More Flipping Your Lid
So much of resilience comes from the ability to create a good response to what happens in the world around us, instead of allowing the more primitive parts of our brains to take over and react with fight-flight-or-freeze. Dr.s Tina Payne Bryson and Dan Siegel provide two different ways we can visualize our brain-states (or … More The Green Zone
One of my biggest regrets so far in parenting is taking it so seriously, and not being playful enough. I wish I had known 15 years ago that being a playful parent could build a stronger relationship between my kids and me. Playing with our children fills up their need for attention, curbs anxiety, improves … More Making Play an Important Part of Parenting
If you have a little one who will soon be starting school for the first time, or older children going back to school this week or next, the tension might be a little higher in your house. In addition to getting physically ready with school supplies and new shoes, your child might need to get … More School is Starting!
Providing nourishment for your family every day, several times a day, is one of those experiences that is sometimes tender and connecting, and sometimes tedious and stressful. Whether you are nursing an infant, spoon-feeding a baby, getting snacks at a drive-through, sitting down at a table with your family to enjoy a meal together, or … More Time to Eat
How much do you enjoy bedtime in your house? (Kid-bedtime, that is!) Do you avoid it and hope everyone falls asleep before you do? Do you snuggle in with babies, binkies, blankets, or books? Do you clench your teeth in anticipation of whining, crying, or tantrums? Are you happy with where everyone is sleeping, and … More To All a Good Night
roots of resilience 