Tag Archives: parenting advice

Is Your Child Being Bullied — Or Bullying Another Child? Here’s What To Do.

For many students, bullying is an unfortunate reality of their school experience. Children can be cruel no matter how old they are, though a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Injury Center states that bullying is most commonly reported in middle school. Common anti-bullying sentiment, such as “be an upstander, not a bystander,” an adage that many …

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Behavior Analyst: The Importance of Siblings on the Autism Journey

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can affect social communication and behaviors. ASD is considered a “spectrum” disorder because it can involve a range of symptoms that can vary in severity, presentation and impact on one’s daily life. When a child is diagnosed with ASD, it is the beginning of a journey that can affect the entire …

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When Your Child Wants To Wear The Same Clothes Every Day

My 9-year-old daughter usually gets dressed for school about 10 minutes before we have to leave the house. Sometimes she leaves herself even less time to get ready. Luckily, getting dressed requires little effort on her part. My daughter has a few favorites she’ll wear once or twice a week, including her “Art is my favorite sport” and “Waiting on …

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U.S. Surgeon General Advisory Warns Against Ignoring Youth Mental Health Crisis

Sad little girl and boy with smartphone

  First, the good news: Mental illness in children and adolescents is often treatable and preventable. Unfortunately, the mental health of our country’s youth is in crisis, according to a recently released advisory from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The advisory states that this youth mental health crisis occurred long before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. In Murthy’s introduction, he shares, …

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Hygge: Winterize Yourself

Winter has never been my favorite season. Growing up in the Midwest, I regularly encountered temperatures below freezing and was cautioned more times than I can count about the dangers of black ice. You’d think I’d have developed greater fortitude for slogging through these cooler months of the year, but moving to a warmer region only seems to have lowered …

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Healthy Family: Head in the Game

An Athlete’s Mental Health is Also Important When it comes to youth and sports, intensity seems to be growing at an alarming rate. Rampant peer pressure, coach and parental pressure and self-imposed pressure, coupled with hectic schedules and little down time for rest and reflection, can create an environment of high stress. As such, the mental health needs of young …

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All the Feels: Helping Children Identify and Manage Their Tough Emotions

We’ve all been there. Your 3-year-old has a meltdown in the middle of the grocery checkout line or you become beyond exasperated when your eldest clobbers your youngest for no apparent reason. Feelings. They push us to our limits. They’re big and seem to come out of nowhere at times. We realize we have difficulty managing our own emotions, so …

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You’re Not Screwing Up Your Kids

You’re Not Screwing Up Your Kids: A Single Mother Weighs In on Endless Parenting The shift started last week—the third week our children were home from school, in our care and minus the daily markings of their lives: swim team or lacrosse practice, playgroups or church groups. It was us, them, our computers, our Netflix accounts and an unsteady stream …

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A Letter to College Seniors

Your phone beeps and it’s 7 a.m. Sit up, stretch, and mentally prepare yourself for the jam-packed day ahead of you. Reach for your book and skim over the reading that you fell asleep on last night. Text your friends and tell them you booked the Airbnb for senior week. E-mail your boss to let her know that you will …

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15 Years of Mantras

Or, why we have girlfriends, fortune cookies and more By: Monica Leigh It’s that time of year, when we all look back over the past year and look forward to the new one. This often comes with the ritual of making New Year’s resolutions. Years ago, around the time of having my first child, I decided to stop making myself …

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