The "Yes, I Can" Child

GREAT BOOK: The Family ADHD Solution

 

Dr. Mark Bertin did an excellent job providing understanding about ADHD and giving simple, ongoing solutions for families to work together to create a healthy, whole environment. I would highly recommend The Family ADHD Solution to any and all who have ADHD or are working with families trying to deal with the stress factors that come along with it. You will be able to start implementing steps immediately to gain a better, loving connection as a family and make long term progress as you consistently implement his suggested action steps.

Buy it now at Amazon.

"The Saving Seed", A Must Read to Teach Kids About Finances

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashley Parks hits home in her new book, "The Saving Seed". She's explains why our youth have difficulty managing finances as they move into adulthood. She digs deep into the root issues of why families have such difficulties with money management and how to make immediate positive changes.

"The Saving Seed" has such great wisdom to allow transformation causing long term effect for financial stability. I believe every parent and educator of our youth should have a copy of this book and use the principles daily.

Ashley Parks is excellent at providing simple guidelines and actions steps to take no matter how much you're in debt or not. She has a passion to reach families to learn how vital managing finances is in preparing our children for the "real world".

In these economic times this is a must read book. Buy it NOW and begin equipping your children for future financial stability.

Pre -Teen Shows Geat Leadership to Stop Bullying & Marlo Thomas

I had a lengthy conversation with a Mom today about her son being bullied in school. Mary's son, John is in middle school, very smart, and I would consider him extremely mature for his age. I give high fives to Mary for the way she handled the situation and allowed her son to be a leader and take the action steps himself to stop the bullying. 

So often as a parent you immediately start to take action steps to protect your child. There are times when this is necessary, but if you can help your son or daughter handle the issue themselves it prepares them to deal with the tough issues they are going to eventually have to handle out in the world anyway.

In this case John was being bullied daily by another boy calling him names and challenging him to fight. John started by ignoring him. The bullying didn't stop. This continued on for a couple of weeks and finally John had hit his limit of tolerance. John went to his teacher and told her what was happening, but didn't want her to do anything about it right now. He said he would try and handle the situation himself he just wanted her to be aware of it. That day as the bully started antagonizing John he asked him what it would take for him to stop? The bully challenged him to fight. John asked him what the end result would be if he won? The bully told him if John won he wouldn't bother him anymore. If the bully won he would continue to bully him the rest of the year. There was a birthday event they were both invited to the next day. John told him he would fight if that's what it is going to take for the bullying to stop. They planned the fight the next day before the birthday party since the boy lived next door where the party was being held.

When John got home that afternoon from school he told his Mom all the details of what's been happening and what he has chosen to do to stop the bullying. Mary's first instinct is to stop a fight from happening, but instead of saying much she asked a lot of questions to determine how much John had thought this through. Not only does Mary have a lengthy discussion with him but John'sgrandparents did as well. In the end they were willing to stand by his decision to handle the situation. Many times this takes alot of self-control for a parent to step back and let a child take the lead. But watch what happens...

John arrives at the birthday party to celebrate with his friend and there's no sign of the bully. Some time goes by and there's still a no show. John decides he's still going to tackle this issue and wants to go next door and talk with him. His mom gives him permission to do so but is adamant that John be polite when greeting whoever may answer the door. John knocks on the door and the boy's mom answers. John introduces himself and politely explains to her why he's there to see her son. The boy who's been bullying him was standing by when John arrived but as he explains to the mother what's been happening he ran away to another part of the home. The mother was absolutely shocked to hear this and assured John he wouldn't have to worry about it happening again. She admitted that there were some problems they were dealing with but was very sorry to hear this had been happening. John thanked her for listening and left to go back to the party. Mary had witnessed the entire interaction between John and the boy's Mom. She believed the mother's shock factor was sincere.

As you digest each of the interactions that have occurred in this scenario consider the amazing traits of John's character that can be recognized in this situation. There is...

• Confidence: John had enough confidence to decide he didn't deserve to be bullied and chose to confront the issue.
• Leadership: John handled the situation as a great leader. He attempted to talk and reason with the boy who was bullying him several times.
• Communication: John effectively communicated with the boy and the adults who would need to be concerned about the situation, his Mom, his teacher, and the boy's Mom.
• Integrity: John stood for what was right and followed through on his word.

Your child grows and matures in phenomenal ways as he learns how to effectively deal with these issues. As hard as it might be for you as a parent to hold back to not step in, fix the problem and protect your child you must accept these are real issues being witnessed and/or experienced everyday. The more you allow them to do take this kind of leadership the greater their confidence and ability to work with others grows and matures.

What actions steps can you take to insure your awareness and support your child...

• Keep the lines of communication open so your child feels safe to tell you anything.
• Listen! Truly and sincerely listen to them when he/she chooses to be vulnerable to share what's happening and wants your understanding.
• Help them problem solve about the situation.
• Continue to reinforce your love and support for them.

Communication is a critical aspect of a parent and child relationship when dealing with this issue of bullying. Marlo Thomas is beginning a campaign that will assist parents to better communicate about this issue. Read more about it here: Marlo Thomas' Anti-Bullying Campaign .

The New E-book, Parenting Responsively for Connection is Available!

 
                                                                                                                                                               

Every parent has challenges.

Finding solutions is the key!

 

Whether your challenge is:

 

• Disciplining your child effectively
•  
• Carving out time for yourself
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• Parenting a child with special needs
•  
• Academic strategies for a successful school year
• Connecting with your strong-willed child
• Potty training

 

 

 

Parenting Responsively for Connection bring you trusted solutions from the most sought after professional parenting coaches in the world. A collaboration of parenting coaches who are passionate about making a difference. Parenting Responsively provides trusted insight into the most common challenges facing today's parents.

 

 

Not only will you learn effective techniques to establish a strong, loving connection with your child, but you'll read heartfelt stories as coaches share their personal experiences that helped them in nurturing their own children and families they work with as professional coaches.  

This is the book to read!  

Buy the book today to learn how to enrich the connection with your child and read from experts that understand your challenges who will inspire you to the next level.

 

 

 

 

Do You Know Many 10 Year Olds Who Travel for Weeks at a Time Away From Home with a School Choir?

I'm overwhelmed with a sense of respect and admiration for a group of boys dedicated to singing for others  as I consider the extensive time and work that's required for them to succeed.  I'm spending some time in Princeton these days and was privileged to attend a concert of The American Boychoir School at the Princeton University Chapel last night. Wow! Amazing to see these boys that range from 4th -8th grade perform their Christmas concert. Their voices strike chords in your heart as you hear the pitch of their voices and unity of the entire group that allow the audience to experience such fabulous songs. The chapel was packed with people and it was wonderful to enjoy the Christmas spirit with song and readings while involving the audience in certain carols during the concert. It allows one to feel joy and comraderie with others, even strangers one may never see again, to come together and sing to celebrate Christmas.

As I'm viewing the program to follow along during the concert I notice they have songs written in it's original launguage with English written under it. The choir sang the songs in it's original language as well as English. It's good that they did because me not being proficient in any other language except English couldn't have truly appreciated the songs they were singing. Later, after the concert ended as I spoke with parents of these boys I was told they always sing the songs in it's language of origin. Wow, think of the time and dedication these young boys put into each song they sing. Don't we tend to appreciate something even more when we realize how much energy, time, and discipline it takes to create something so beautiful to strike the chords of our heart? And to think that the boys range in age of 10-13 years old. I sat there considering the high percentage of young boys who would rather be playing video games or watching tv and these boys were dedicated to using their gift to spread joy to others.

Before I attended the concert I found out some interesting information about the choir and the school they attend. The students come from various parts of the globe to attend this school. I was blessed to speak at length with one of the young choir members who live right here in Princeton. He's one of the youngest in the choir. I wanted to know what his life was like as a student. His day starts at 6:45 a.m. and when he's not on tour he arrives home about 6:30 p.m. I'm immediately thinking this is almost a 12 hour day for a child who is 11 years old. When he is on tour he might be gone for a week to three weeks at a time. They are partnered with another choir member on each tour bunking in private homes with families who choose to host the choir at each venue of performance. My mind starts swirling with all the different life skills these young boys are learning that have immense value in preparing them for life as an adult.  Such as...

1. adapting to new environments all the time (where they sleep and what they eat)
2. learning about different cultures as they travel
3. learning to work as a team both on and off the stage
4. experiencing new towns and cities
5. responsibility to be proactive in preparing for tours, such as packing essentials, managing time for homework, etc.

Yes, I can hear some parents saying this is way too much to put on a young boy and for some children it would be. My thought is, if a child has found a passion to do something, we as parents and mentors need to encourage and provide opportunities for them to flourish in those areas. In this case this young man is doing just that. I was truly inspired by these boys and they made my Christmas season that much brighter!

Do You Know What Your Teens Texts Mean?

This is a must read article CNN just put out for more understanding on the lingo teens are using for text messages. Also valuable resources on where you can go to find out what their codes mean. A huge eye opener...

CNN article on decoding your kids texts

Study Finds 3 Routines Can Cut Risk of Kids' Obesity

 Interesting that many studies lead back to healthy routines and structure for children to have quality time with family to lessen the risk of obesity. What are your thoughts? Do you agree?

http://www.parentdish.com/2010/02/08/study-finds-three-routines-can-cut-kids-risk-of-obesity/

Young Man w/Autism Making a Tremendous Difference in Sports

 This is such an inspiring story of what sports do for our kids. How the communities we live in make such an impact in the lives of our youth as we reach out to let their gifts shine.  It moves my heart every time. Enjoy!!

Jason McElwain Still Courting Success -- Back Porch FanHouse.

1 in 6 Girls are Mothers by age 20 in the U.S. (See movie The Pregnancy Pact)

I saw a movie tonight on Lifetime that's based on true events of a group of high school girls making a pact with each other to become pregnant at 15/16 years old. See the public sevice announcement by well known actress Camryn Manheim here... http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/the-pregnancy-pact/previews/video/camryn-manheim-from-the-pregnancy-pact-on-teen-pregnancy .

This is quite scary to see niave teen girls making a pact with one another to get pregnant at this age not having a clue what this entails for responsibility. As parents what are we doing to educate and BE REAL with our children to set them up with as much knowledge as possible to make good decisions.

The movie will air again Monday, Jan 25th at 9 p.m. Might want to watch it, record it, tivo it. Possibly even have quality parent/teenager time watching the movie to promote discussion. For an overview of the movie to  http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/the-pregnancy-pact.

Let me hear from you what your thoughts are on the issue and the movie?

3500 Sex Fiends Booted From Facebook & MySpace

Yeah for the state of NY! This gives us hope that things are moving forward for the safety of our children...NY Boots 3500 Internet Predators from Facebook & MySpace.