Dear Mommy and Daddy, It’s me – Your Anxious Toddler.
Dear Mommy and Daddy, It’s me, your anxious toddler. I know I don’t normally have the words to explain my behavior and at times I probably really frustrated you. I am sorry. I frustrate myself too. I am not trying to be difficult and I am not a bad kid, but sometimes things just get overwhelming.
What You Need to Know If Your Child or Teen Has OCD
Obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and teens has two components. The first is obsessions, which consist of recurrent thoughts, impulses, or mental images. The second component is compulsions, which are repetitive behaviors that the child feels driven to perform in response to the obsessions.
3 Cute & Creative Crafts for Toddlers
I have a two year old. She certainly loves attention as pretty much all toddlers do. Arts and crafts are a great way to bond with your toddler. These activities provide lots of benefits for your growing child, as well. Arts and crafts can help with your toddler’s fine motor skills, attention span, persistence, independence, social skills, communication skills, and much more. Here are 3 cute and creative craft ideas to try with your toddler. Homemade Scented Play-Doh
The Benefits Of Play Therapy For Children With ADHD
Introduction According to additude magazine, “Play is the “language of childhood.” Watch a child play, and you’ll see her express a variety of emotions, acting out fanciful scenarios. You almost see her “trying on” different kinds of expressions. Play therapy taps into this intuitive childhood language, helping children develop greater self-esteem.
3 Signs Your Child has Learning Disabilities
Schoolwork can be difficult, but it shouldn't be torture -- for you or your kid. If your child is struggling academically, maybe it's time to consider your kid isn't just being difficult. Maybe there's something more going on than meets the eye. After all, who wants to do badly in school? Nonverbal learning disability (NVLD) is under-the-radar perceptual difficulties that affect the way children process information.
The Rewards of Mindful Parenting
You're running late, picking up some last-minute groceries. Your 7-year-old is dressed for baseball practice, and your 3-year-old has just kicked off her shoes in the middle of the freezer aisle. Frantically, you attempt to put her shoes back on, whic...
Facts & Statistics on Bullying
Bullying has become more of a problem in children and teens with the popularity of social media and anonymous communication through online apps and websites. Bullying is when a person is the victim of aggressive, mean-spirited behavior from another pe...
9 Things Parents do that Will Backfire with Anxious Kids | Parenting Anxious Kids
Anxious kids are a different breed. If you parent one – you know what I am talking about. Perhaps this realization dawned on you when you watched your friends interact with their children. What seemed to work for them – completely backfired for you. In my child therapy practice I will often hear things such as, “I don’t get it.
5 Ways to Help Kids After a Disaster
Here, then, are five big things that children will require immediately after a crisis.
Mental Health Awareness: ADHD in Children
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took action to support the use of behavior therapy over the use of medication to treat young children who are diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder also known as ADHD (se...
4 Keys to Resolving Conflict with Your Kid
Every parent knows the nightly ritual: You read your child a bedtime story, say "lights out," and then brace for the storm of "I do not want to go to bed!!!" Night after night, we parents all suffer from this same malady, until we finally lose that la...
Incorporating Technology into Family Time
Several weeks ago I wrote a piece about household technology expectations based on a study from the University of Washington and the University of Michigan. Researchers at these institutions found when it comes to technology kids and parents want virt...
10 Tips: When You Don’t Like Your Teen’s Friends
Dear Parents,
It is inevitable that you will, over the course of your teen's adolescence, dislike at least one of their friends if not more. These feelings may at first present as a nagging gut feeling like a pit in your stomach at one extreme or an a...
How to Have a Fantastic Evening With Your Child
"Currently, a fantastic evening for me is crashing into my son's bath with my clothes on, chasing him around the house with a diaper on my aqua blue bubble bath covered head, cooking cheap crappy pizza (side of green beans too, don't worry), and readi...
Helping Children Cope With Divorce
A pediatrician once asked me to help a six-year-old named Sam, who was struggling with anger and sadness over his parents' divorce. His mother and father had separated nine months before, and he was fighting at school and crying himself to sleep night...
New Report: Bullying is a serious public health issue
I'm not surprised about how many children the new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (2016) report estimates is affected by bullying. Between 18% and 31% of children are considered to experience genuine bullying, whether it was v...
How to Handle Your Anger at Your Child
Every parent gets angry at his or her children sometimes.
It doesn't help that there are always the endless pressures of life: appointments we're late to, things we've forgotten until the last moment, health and financial worries -- the list is endles...
19 Ways Not to Say ‘No’ to Your Children
As parents, even with the best intentions, we use the word "No" countless times each day. For a child, this can be disempowering and just downright irritating. Obviously, there are many times when "No" is a completely appropriate response, especially ...
10 Things I Never Want To Forget About Raising An ADHD Child
Considering the fact that around 12% of adolescents have ADHD and boys have even higher chances of it, odds are that we'll have a few kids throughout the next year who have the disorder.
5 Ways to Help Your Sensitive Child in a Harsh World
Your sensitive child is the helper on the playground. Your sensitive child is the first one to notice when other people cry. She is kindhearted. He is considerate. They go out of their way to make sure everyone is happy. They look for your approval, t...
Childhood ADHD Plus Anxiety
Did you know about one in four children who have ADHD also have an anxiety disorder?
And did you know that about 60% of people who have ADHD as children will never "outgrow" the disorder, which means they'll continue to show symptoms throughout adulth...
How to avoid shaming your child
Of course, ALL children will at times feel, want or need something and express it in socially unacceptable ways. So today, let's talk about how we can guide children toward appropriate behavior to get their needs met, without shaming them.
Digital Age Parenting: Conquering the Cultural Divide
If you are a parent born before the age of the internet then you and your child were not born into the same culture. Not since the Industrial Revolution have we experienced an era in which the cultural divide between parents and kids seems to be so gr...
Surviving (Your Child’s) Adolescence
Most parents are unprepared for the normal growth changes that typically occur during their child's adolescence. For most moms and dads this is the hard half of parenting. The purpose of this weekly blog is to help parents better understand how adoles...
Helping Your Adolescent Manage Increased Emotional Intensity
Adolescence often arouses more emotional intensity than childhood. Displays of strong feeling, like upset conveyed by a sullen mood or sudden outburst or impulsive action, tend to become more common with puberty and the onset of other adolescent chang...
Bring It On! 8 Reasons Some Kids Thrive Despite Adversities
As a public health advocate and father of an 8 year old, I'm passionate about identifying actionable ways to help children from all walks of life, and different socioeconomic backgrounds, maximize their human potential.
The Rising Epidemic of Anxiety in Children and Teens
As I discuss, in the newly released second edition of 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child, which was recommended by the Wall Street Journal, anxiety underlies a high percentage of behavioral issues and struggles in children and teens. Below are key points...