MyParentingSource Articles

Have you ever wondered when your crying baby will rest peacefully? Tried every game and disciplinary action in the book to get your child to eat peas?

At My Parenting Source, we have expert Parent Coaches on hand to help parents with these and other parenting challenges. Just as a star basketball player needs direction at times, we know parents can sometimes use a little guidance.

Feel free to ask a parent coach a question. You'll get a personalized response. And, its free!

Make rules and expectations clear.

When rules and expectations are clear, this gives kids opportunities to make choices within the guidelines you’ve provided, and to become responsible.

Is it safe to say that all of us as parents at one point or another have asked our children to apologize? Apologies are transparent when you think about it. The ‘I just want to get out of trouble and get this over with’ apologies are really obvious. With these types of apologies there is li
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Parents Can Teach Kids to Bounce Back

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Life throws out new challenges daily, and a child who is strong enough to roll with the punches has a strong advantage. That powerful ability to bounce back from adversity is called resilience.

Bullying is an extreme example of why resilience is important, but many problems that children face may not seem like such a big deal to adults. After all, how important is it really that the boy in the back row rolled his eyes during your son’s report, or that one or two girls in the cafeteria seemed to giggle as your daughter walked by?

However, the feelings your child has about these fleeting occurrences and the importance that he or she places on them make them very significant indeed. In order to cope with small slights to their self-esteem, as well as to traumatic events, children need support, coping skills, and a strong sense of self worth. A child who is equipped with those things can glide successfully through situations that could otherwise be traumatic.

It’s not a matter of chance that some children seem to radiate a quiet confidence in themselves and a belief that difficult situations will get better. Kids develop their beliefs about themselves and their world largely from their interactions with their parents. In practical terms, that translates into choosing your actions with the goal of building self-esteem and optimism in mind.

It’s the little everyday occurrences that leave your child feeling either confident and optimistic—or personally lacking and not very hopeful.

For example:

When your 6-year-old drops a glass of milk, you can express blame (a self-esteem killer) and a sense of being overwhelmed (a form of pessimism)—or you can intentionally convey confidence in his ability to turn the situation around by calmly providing the support he needs to clean up the mess and pour another glass.
When your 10-year-old comes home from camp distraught at how unfair her counselor is, you might feel upset and helpless yourself. But a more helpful choice is to serve as a source of strength for her. Listen until you really understand her feelings. Then help her problem solve, providing her with the assistance she needs to resolve the situation.