Lets talk about Feelings

nospam@example.com (L.C.) — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:10:35 -0700

Talking about Feelings

It seems like a no brainer. You can look at your child having a major meltdown and it's not difficult to determine the feeling. Angry, Frustrated, Sad... all of them mixed in together maybe.

One thing that rarely occurs to people though is that if you help a child identify the feeling and give them words to use to express it, it's quite a gift - to both you and your child.

Recognizing and acknowledging a child's feelings can go a long way to improving communication and helping them steer away from unacceptable expressions of those feelings. When he can say "Mommy I'm feeling VERY ANGRY right now" (even with an angry voice and even a little foot stomp) it's a far cry from watching him pitch his toys all over the room.

I used to practice with my kids when they were very little. We went through happy faces and sad faces, angry faces and frustrated faces and then we did words and actions to use when they were having those feelings. Before long I would hear words instead of watching a block fly by my face.

There are a lot of good books on the topic too. I just recently found Foggy The Cloud - a DVD with 6 stories and 14 songs all about feelings

It looks like a great find, I'm going to put it on my list!

Parenting Tip - Get your kids to bed early

nospam@example.com (L.C.) — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:52:11 -0700

I was at my son's soccer game the other night and was talking to a few parents about the back to school rush and chaos.

One mother gloated that her kids had been in bed and ASLEEP at 8pm the night before school started.

All ears, I waited to hear how she had managed such a feat.

She has a little trick I'd like to share with you because I thought it was a great idea for those occasional nights that you know your child needs a little extra shut eye.

On those nights, she sets her clock forward an hour late in the afternoon.

Bed time comes an hour earlier, the kids are already tired so they don't realize it's an hour early.

Sure, it's downright dishonest but if you've ever tried to convince a 7 year old to go to bed an hour early, you know that no matter how tired they are, it just isn't going to fly.

I'll be trying this the next time the need arises.

Parenting An Intense Child - Parenting Tips

Lets talk about Feelings

Talking about Feelings

Parenting Tip - Get your kids to bed early