Afraid of what attending therapy says about you and your marriage? Many people won't even discuss that they are attending counselling . . . Marriage Confidential: Off the Record, On the QT, and Very Hush Hush. There is a stigma attached to attending therapy, for some weakness is assumed. This is far from the truth.
Parenting toddlers has a bit of a bad rap, but I love this age and stage! For all its frustrations dealing with a pint-sized dictator, it can be a fun and hilarious time. The headshaking moments of trying to decipher what on earth is going in that little head or what compelled that action makes life interesting. I think, despite the nonsensical presentations, there is some Seuss-like truths buried in the bizarre.
There are lessons to be learned from the Tao of Toddlers:
Our little toddlers are full of energy but lacking in reasonable and rational behaviour. They have such little experience with, well..., anything, understandably due to their short time on earth. This means little to no cause and effect knowledge, zero ability for wise and thoughtful risk calculations, yet all the while a propensity for thrill seeking and an unwavering interest in all things dangerous.
My daughter has decided, at seven years-old, that she wants to be a professional climber when she grows up. She saw a makeshift climbing wall once in a bachelor friends living room and had a good time traversing it. The majority of her experience, however, has been more of a free climb—of everything and anything.
I know, I know, you aren't the playing parent. You might get anxious even thinking about playing for any extended periods with dinosaurs or baby dolls. Perhaps your other half is the more fun parent, the one that gets out there and gets dirty. My husband is always helping construct forts, sand castles or toboggan runs. But someone has to get dinner ready, am I right?
I get it. I am kind of that parent too, except I am not. I am fun. I like fun. I just don't allow myself to prioritize it enough.
Being the adultier adult has some pretty un-fun bits to it, and it is important to find the fun. When the negative outweighs the positive in your life, something has to change. Perhaps your interactions with your husband are at an unfortunate ratio of 40 negative interactions to 15 positive ones; this is not a happy balance. I can feel it when my ratio is off with my husband, children, or even life in general. These are times when there is too much work and too little play.
Someone once wrote to me and said date night is a great concept, but how does one make it happen? I thought I would throw a few ideas at you on how to make a date night happen when finding the time seems next to impossible.
Here are four tips with budgets, ages/stages, and time crunches in mind:
It certainly comes in with a bang, but for many, January can be a difficult time. And despite the party that kicks it off, many of us, parents especially, can barely keep our eyes open to ring it in. January can be a let down.
With holidays and school breaks approaching, many families will load up the car, catch the train or board a flight. The excitement of the time away is tempered only by the actual journey which can be long, involve a lot of togetherness and can make everyone a little stir crazy. I recently moved back to Canada after living in the Caribbean for the last seven years.
I don't think I want to know a six-year-old who isn't a dreamer, or a silly heart. And I sure don't want to know one who takes their student career seriously. —Uncle Buck
My daughter acts like a seven year-old.
She often asserts her will, day dreams, and acts silly. And you know what? It is perfect —she's seven. Developmentally this is exactly how she should be. There are amazing things that happen at each age and stage and also some challenges which can sometimes drive a parent crazy.
I was hanging out with some friends one night and the question was raised... Are you happily married? It was a real question for a real conversation. And so I answered, but there was this pause. I knew a little about the group I was in and a bit about their relationships, and I decided I was in a safe place to answer, and so I did. I told the truth, and the truth was, yes.
Family relationships can be tricky even when everyone gets along — and when you marry, you add in another family, their norms, values, culture and history. It's no wonder issues can arise. Miscommunication, cross purposes, assumptions, well-meaning acts — they all cause strain on family bonds. So what do you do when an issue comes up? And how do you keep the peace without relationships falling to pieces?
I recently read a post by Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat Pray Love about the lessons she struggled to learn regarding being nice over telling people a needed truth. She explains in withholding truth you are demeaning or infantilizing people and keeping them from important growth.
We live in a busy society. I know I am not alone when I feel guilty for having down time. I think I should be doing something. This fear of sitting still can also be projected onto our kids, and not enough value is placed on having a true break. Homework over the break is used as a measure to ward off idle hands, brains, etc. However, hammering the books is the last thing my teacher friends suggest over the summer. They want the kids in their classes to enjoy and experience a break and the experts agree with so many cautions being written about the over-scheduled child.
I want summer to slow down and it has barely started.There are a lot of "shoulds" in my head right now. Day camp sign ups, dates to coordinate with friends, and I am struggling. Partly because of all the decisions. I am tired, we are moving, and I am wrapping up from the school year; but part of it is also the fear of the summer plans taking over causing me to miss out on lazy mornings, giggles in the pool, and the spontaneous. Summer itself brings anticipation.
I did a little poll to see how off tradition lullabies can get, and as it turns out, very. Here are some of the popular answers and why they likely came onto the roster.
My daughter had a request. I didn't say no, and I didn't say yes. I said these four words: I would love to. Right away her seven year-old eyes sparkled. You see, my no to yes ratio has been really uneven lately with the no's tipping the balance. There is nothing wrong with the word no. As a therapist I often help people use it and I regularly work with my clients on establishing boundaries.
When a child dies, the shock is often great and we don’t know how to respond when such a tragedy befalls our community. Thinking through such a devastating situation is almost unimaginable and we put such thoughts out of our minds. Unfortunately, there are times when we are faced with these darkest of hours. We feel pain and wonder what the parents must be going through. And for a moment we can’t help but put ourselves in their shoes, hug our children a little tighter, and cry for their unbearable loss. We wonder how we can help. What do we do? What do we say?
