The sensible alternative to overparenting is not less parenting but better parenting. The alternative to permissiveness is not to be more controlling but more responsive. And the alternative to narcissism is not conformity but reflective rebelliousness. In short, if we want to raise psychologically healthy and spirited children, we’ll need to start by questioning the…
In my last post, we dealt with mommy (parent) guilt that stems from envy. While, I believe this type of guilt is not the majority, I do think it has too much space in our world. Today, I’d like to discuss parent guilt that comes from not being able to do the things that we’d…
Good parenting begins in your heart, and then continues on a moment-to-moment basis by engaging your children when feelings run high, when they are sad, angry, or scared. Gottman, John; Goleman, Daniel (2011-09-20). Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child . Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Related articles Points to Ponder: 100 words or less "The…
At our office we talk a lot about emotional intelligence in children and adults. We talk a lot about the increased rate of children needing help to regulate their emotions. Recently, I read a book by John Gottman, and Daniel Goleman, which had this very disturbing quote in the beginning of the book. They offer…
I have a lot of things that I am excited to share with you over this upcoming year. But I'm kicking off the school year with a series that I did last year regarding what I think is a dangerous mentality of “everyone wins.” This series is designed to create some conversation on what it…
Earlier this week, my kids went back to school. I started a new quarter. My wife is finishing one of her quarters. Little man Celli is continuing to prep to make his debut to this world. I decided that I need to ease my way back into this blogging thing. I have a lot of…
Today is my kids first day back to school. I start a new quarter. My wife is finishing one of her quarters. Little man Celli is continuing to prep to make his debut to this world. I need to ease my way back into this blogging thing. I have a lot of things that I…
As part of our practice, we get Psychology Today every other month. The latest issue has an article in it that I cannot find online but that I found to be very interesting. According to the author, there are five life lessons we all need to learn and typically don't. According to Dr. Elizabeth Svoboda…
One of things that parents complain to me about is that their kids don’t seem to understand _______________. Once, I get past the frustration level, what I usually find is that parents are bothered by the facts that their kids don’t think like little adults. They are frustrated because their kids don’t seem to have…
Continuing on with the idea of looking at other people's writings for some conversation fodder. I thought we would visit my friend Dean Dorman's blog. Dean is a local therapist and I have the privilege of calling this skilled clinician a friend. He has a book coming out in the not so distant future about…
