January has been billed as the “saddest month of the year,” but did you know that November is the one most likely to spark meltdowns, stress-reactions, and freakouts? I call this month the “Dark Days of November.” It’s true! In my line of work, it’s quite common this time of year to hear from parents, students, and teachers who are at the ends of their ropes for many different reasons.
Thankfully we can guide our families through the month of November so everyone comes out the other end reasonably intact.
Young children first start communicating their needs by making statements like, “I’m hungry,” or, “I was playing with that!” We often jump in to help before realizing that they actually haven’t asked us to do that. If kids receive help without asking for it, they may carry on expecting people to consider and address their needs even though they haven’t communicated those.
Before I became a parent, I don’t recall anyone telling me that parenting was going to be easy, but I also didn’t hear how incredibly challenging it could be. Even when I feel confident that what I’m doing is best for my children, they don’t always know that it is best for them. In fact, many times they think that I’m are out to ruin their lives. Asking a toddler to take a bath or not letting a child eat cereal for supper, for instance, will sometimes be met with the label of “meanest parent ever.”
Many children respond well to routines, and consistency in parenting can be beneficial for the entire family. Routines provide comfort for parents and children alike, and by applying consistent parenting techniques, children know what to expect when they behave in a certain way.
Welcome back to the A to Z of Taming Tantrums video series. This episode is about the letter Q and Q is for Quiet. I don’t mean that need we need to try to get our children to be quieter, but rather to use the tantrum prevention strategy of giving our young ones lots of quiet time.
Some children who are introverts might have a large need to be in a quiet environment, and others might not need as much. I certainly notice when I haven’t had enough quiet time and almost feel like exploding—children go through the same thing.
Hi! Andrea Nair here. Welcome back to the A to Z of Taming Tantrums. This episode is about the letter K, and K is for OK.
You might be wondering why OK is linked to tantrums. Our very well meaning hope to check in for our child's understanding by adding an "OK?" at the end of our instructions actually turns that direction into a yes/ no question. At this point, your child could shout, "NO!" which is a fair response to your request.
A report by the Office For National Statistics in the UK released this week indicates that people aged 40 to 59 have the lowest levels of life satisfaction and happiness, and the highest levels of anxiety. The report analyzed data provided by 300,000 British citizens raging in age from 16 to over 90 (their income, sex, and race data was not provided).
Have you heard ofpositive and negative core beliefs before? These are the beliefs we hold of ourselves, other people, and the world based on our life experiences.
My youngest son loves to help in the kitchen. One day when he asked my sister if he could stir the spaghetti sauce on the stove, I shuddered at the thought of red sauce being flicked out of the pot, but she calmly responded: “Sure. Be low and slow.”
He looked at her, smiled, and did just that.
I stared at my sister and said, “That’s amazing. Those two words can really inform many of our actions — especially as parents.” She nodded in agreement, with a wink that she knew this all along.