Parenting Playbook

Floor time . . .

“Floor time” does not have to occur on the floor. Floor time simply refers to time spent interacting with your child on his or her own turf, where your child’s interests, resourcefulness, and thoughts are considered. When you play on a level that is eye to eye, which...

Taking time to evaluate commitments . . .

If you find yourself too often thinking or saying to your children, “Hurry up! We are running out of time!” it may be time to make some time to evaluate commitments. Otherwise, it is too easy to slip into a mode of continual acceleration and nonstop doing, resulting...

Time . . .

Falling into the feeling that there just isn’t enough time in twenty-four hours is easy, and this attitude may be particularly true for parents who are managing multiple schedules. Whether we feel pressed for time or driven by a lack of time, we can find ourselves...

Support . . .

Most parents tell their children, “Talk to us if you are upset or have a problem.” Yet sometimes that statement can be more accurately translated as, “Talk to us if you are upset or have a problem, when it is convenient for us.” A child can find it hard to believe...

Building resiliency in children . . .

When we think about nurturing resiliency in children, we need to include thoughts about supporting development of their own true and unique selves. Helping our children be who they are means that we allow them freedom to sometimes be solitary, give them a chance to...

Building self-esteem . . .

Self-esteem refers to the judgments individuals make about themselves. These judgments connect to their own worth as a person as well as to the feelings that are associated with those judgments. People tend to have a global appraisal of their worth along with a...

Do you need to slow down?

There are 24 hours in every day, and we each get to make at least some of the decisions related to filling those hours. If we don’t make well-considered choices, it is easy to get caught up in responding to emails, making phone calls, working long hours, scheduling...

“It’s the little things that count” . . .

We have all heard the saying “It’s the little things that count,” and we probably have all experienced “little things” counting on more than one occasion. In terms of how this adage applies to our health and well-being, research is showing that little daily practices...

Speak with care . . .

Words can hurt. In fact, words—along with the tone of voice that delivers them—can do real damage. Just think about comments that have been directed your way over the years. Comments of criticism, shame, rejection, anger, or mockery have an impact on our feelings,...

Hungry for something other than food . . .

As emotional beings, we all need more than food and water to feel satisfied and healthy. Eric Berne, a psychologist, first coined the term “psychological hungers.” Three of the psychological hungers he first identified were stimulation, recognition, and structure....

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