mindful parenting

How to Cope at Home With Kids During the Coronavirus Outbreak (Consumer Reports)

How to Cope at Home With Kids During the Coronavirus Outbreak (Consumer Reports)

In Facebook groups, text chains, and blogs, moms and dads are debating whether kids should have play dates or visit grandparents, have a babysitter, engage in street play, go to the playground. We are collectively wondering about what to do if someone in the house gets a fever, the best ways to minimize germ transmission, and how we’re all supposed to stay safe and sane. At a baseline, we must not forget to address our children’s mental health (and our own) when dealing with the onslaught of media and news that keeps us informed (while also scaring the pants off us).

Parents: Staying calm & keeping kids at safe social distance too (CNN)

Parents: Staying calm & keeping kids at safe social distance too (CNN)

With the advent of the coronavirus, and our rapidly changing responding world, many parents are wondering about playdates, programs and neighbourhood play, especially for kids (many now cooped up at home & off school for weeks), while we all do our part to “flatten the curve”. Shall our kids be engaged in close physical play with neighbours and friends right now? What kids of playdates and activities should be restricted? And how do we make sure kids can get outdoors (and be social and physical - very important) without contradicting the work adults are doing as we stay home from work to self-isolate, suspend businesses, cancel events and kid’s programs?

How to Raise Successful People (Time)

How to Raise Successful People (Time)

Esther Wojcicki is the author of How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results. She comes at child-rearing from a practical and thought-provoking perspective, arguing that many of us have gone too far on keeping our kids safe, removing obstacles and scheduling their time - to their detriment… instead of empowering them to make choices, fail, figure it out. We particularly love her acronym “TRICK” (Trust, respect, Independence, Collaboration, Kindness).

Parenting Expert Barbara Coloroso - The Kids Are Worth It (The Knowledge Project podcast)

Parenting Expert Barbara Coloroso - The Kids Are Worth It (The Knowledge Project podcast)

Want to hear an exceptional podcast on how to raise great kids?

Barbara Coloroso is an internationally recognized speaker and author in the areas of parenting, teaching, school discipline, nonviolent conflict resolution, reconciliatory justice, and grieving. Her bestselling books include kids are worth it! , Parenting through Crisis, and The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander. 

Check out this Knowledge Project podcast - one of the best we’ve heard on parenting in some time. Here, Shane Parrish interviews Barbara as she shares her foundational principles of child-rearing, how to get kids to be accountable for their actions, and what we can do as parents to raise confident, happy children.

Some of our favourite Barbara Coloroso quotes:

  • I came up with three basic tenets. One, kids are worth it. I believe they're worth our time, energy and resources to help them become all they can become. Second, I won't treat them in a way I, myself, would not want to be treated. And third, it must leave my dignity and the child's dignity intact.

  • Praise-dependent, reward-dependent children make wonderful henchmen for bullies. They will do the bully's bidding because they want whatever reward that bully is dangling in front of them.

  • If you make a mistake, it's a very simple formula. Simple doesn't make it easy. With a mistake, you own it, you fix it, you learn from it and you move on.

  • Deep caring is not liking somebody. I tell kids, “You do not have to like every kid in this classroom, but you must honor their humanity.” Deep caring is a must to relieve somebody else's suffering, and wishing them well, which by the way, is the antithesis of mean and cruel.

Mindfulness for Children - Well Guide for Children (part 2 of 2, from The New York Times)

Mindfulness for Children - Well Guide for Children (part 2 of 2, from The New York Times)

Here is part 2 from the New York Times excellent series on mindfulness for children... the big takeaway? Mindfulness training can be applied at every age to foster resiliance. Don’t make mindfulness seem like something only to be used in times of trouble — present it across a child's development as a tool to be used in a variety of situations.

Mindfulness for Children - Well Guide for Infants (part 1 of 2, from The New York Times)

Mindfulness for Children - Well Guide for Infants (part 1 of 2, from The New York Times)

The New York Times has recently released a series of Well Guides describing how children of all ages can benefit from mindfulness - the simple practice of bringing a gentle, accepting attitude to the present moment. In this installment we look at impacts on infants. In our next installment, we'll continue on with how mindfulness training can impact Toddlers, Young Children, Older Children and Teens...