For many parents, the return of children back to school is a mixture of relief and stress. We feel stressed because there’s a lot of prep work for the return to school and there is also a sense of relief when we can all get back to a set routine and schedule.
Leading up to the first day of school for your kids, you may notice feelings of concern, fear, and nervousness or even anger and irritability.
If your family has had a relaxed scheduled this summer, you may find that it’s time to get back into a routine to prepare for your back-to-school schedule! This afternoon my elementary-aged child and I created a new Routine Chart. Routine Charts are a positive parenting tool that can help streamline a routine or process, help your child increase their autonomy and skills and releases you of the nagging for all that has to be done! Instead of asking quick-fire questions in the morning about all their morning tasks, you can simply ask, “Have you completed your morning routine?”
As the school-year ends, many families embrace a slower schedule, or lack thereof. Taking a break from the busy school schedule is well-deserved, but if you’re like my family, some structure and routine to the day can keep things interesting when day in and day out at home can seem boring after a while.
A summer schedule can also help set some boundaries around use of technology, which research shows is correlated to poor academic performance and higher mental and emotional health symptoms. And at least at my house, the more screen time there is, the more outbursts we have, which tells me their brains need less of it! If you want to include technology time in your summer schedule, you could designate a limited amount somewhere throughout the day.
My partner and I have two children, who are four years apart in age. As anxious and loving new parents, we participated in our oldest child’s play as much as we could, and as early as we could. From infancy, we joined our oldest on the floor to show interest in his world, communicate with him in the language he speaks (play), and demonstrate his importance and value to us. As a Registered Play Therapist, I teach parents daily about the importance of child’s play and how children learn, problem solve, communicate, express, and work through their feelings, all through play. I also educate families about how much love and significance a child feels when parents join in the activities that bring joy to the child; it builds connection! And as we know, when children are more connected, they are generally more cooperative. So much good comes from playing with your children!
CALLING ALL…
First-time Parents,
Parents who have tried EVERYTHING and nothing seems to work long term,
Yelling Parents,
Concerned Parents looking for guidance,
Parents who have no rules, and
Families who live in CHAOS…
This program is for parents who want a more peaceful and happy home and a less chaotic one.
The Creative Family Counseling Team has created the Positive Discipline Foundational Parenting Package for parents seeking new parenting methods. These parenting tools will grow the parent-child relationship and keep the lines of communication open while providing your family with the structure it needs. In this Experiential 6-Video Package, the Creative Family Counseling Team Members will cover the basic philosophy of the Positive Discipline Parenting Approach and offer parenting tools that can be implemented immediately.
Parents, we are trying the best we can, aren’t we? Life is tough right now. Between regular old Parenting (the hardest job in the world), PLUS working from home, and PLUS PLUS home-schooling our children, it is A LOT! It’s more than a lot; it’s unmanageable.
Not only is it a challenge for us parents, but it’s a challenge for our kids too. When children go through difficult challenges, their big feelings bubble over into big reactions and behaviors. And that doesn’t make it any easier on us, does it? So on top of meeting our work deadlines, keeping a somewhat manageable home, meeting our family members’ basic needs, and logging our children into their 5th Zoom meeting for the day, we are also needed for emotional support and co-regulation during the latest meltdown! Ahh!
Like many parents, I’ve been wondering how I’m going to get my child to wear a mask once the Shelter at Home time is over. I’ve done some research, by both chatting with other parents and some trial and error on my own at home, and I’ve had some success! So I thought I would share some tips with all of you for you to try with your children at home! I’ve come up with 9 Tips for getting your children (ages 2 and up) to wear a mask. For children 2 and younger, or if your child has a medical condition where use of a mask may be questioned, please consult your pediatrician first. Let’s get started!
For more than 10 years, I’ve worked with families who come in to see me while (because of) experiencing childhood behavioral challenges. Over the years, I’ve handled parents’ questions about spanking in different ways as a Therapist. As my experience and expertise in this field have grown, my opinions and recommendations about corporal punishment have become more and more bold.
Corporal punishment has never “set well” with me, from a theoretical standpoint. And it just feels wrong, from a person standpoint. Let’s stop and think about it for a minute. An adult, with a fully developed brain, who is much bigger and stronger than a child is intentionally physically hurting a child, who has a developing brain not yet capable of rational thinking, to correct a behavior with which the adult is dissatisfied about. What?! That doesn’t make sense to me. If an adult physically harmed another adult, this would warrant an assault charge. Children are people too, and it’s about time our parenting approaches reflected that.