Is Your Child Addicted to Screens?
How can you tell if your child’s screen use is a problem? What can you do to help your child be smart about online activity?
Read MoreWhen Your Child’s Best Friend is “Stolen”
For children, the feelings of jealousy and betrayal when a close friend starts spending time with someone else can be as intense as those of teens or adults coping with infidelity.
Read More3 Levels of Stress Management
Stress is like a river with three waterfalls, representing three levels at which we can intervene. In general, the higher up-stream we address stress, the easier it is to handle.
Read MoreNot All Homework Help is Helpful
Battles over correcting homework may cause more harm than good. Here are better ways to help your child with homework.
Read MoreWhen You Don’t Like Your Child’s Friend
You may be tempted to forbid your child from hanging out with a friend you don’t like, but there are other options that can help your child learn about navigating relationships.
Read MoreOverstepping Boundaries: When Your Kid Comes On Too Strong
Some children struggle socially because they frequently overstep personal boundaries, angering peers. Being aware of common boundary violations can help children avoid them.
Read MoreWhen Your Child Can’t Decide
Some children agonize over even small decisions. Teaching indecisive kids about myths and truths of decision-making can help them make up their minds.
Read MoreHow to Resist Competitive Parenting
At its worst, competitive parenting says to kids, “You need to achieve in order to prove that I’m a good parent.” Here’s how to resist getting pulled into that game.
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong with Sticker Charts and Reward Systems?
At first glance, using a sticker chart or other reward system seems like a harmless way to gain children’s cooperation. But there are some potential downsides to this strategy.
Read MoreWhat’s My Child Thinking?
Children are not just short adults. They think about things in qualitatively different ways than adults do. These differences can be delightful, baffling, or exasperating.
Read MoreWhat We Get Wrong About Children’s Self-Esteem
Real self-esteem isn’t about loving ourselves; it’s about being able to let go of the question, “Am I good enough?” by connecting with something bigger than ourselves.
Read MoreChildren’s Friendship Groups
Friendship groups add an extra dimension of fun—and complication—to children’s social worlds.
Read MoreHelping Perfectionist Kids Learn to Tolerate Mistakes
Kids often hear that mistakes are part of learning. But if they have perfectionist tendencies, they don’t believe it. Here’s a way to help kids be more accepting of their mistakes.
Read MoreCan Parental Touch Help Socially Anxious Children?
Touch is our most basic way of connecting and comforting. A recent study suggests that parental touch can also serve as a safety signal for children.
Read MoreTeach Your Child to Ask For Help–The Right Way
Asking for help is a surprisingly complicated skill—especially for kids. Here’s how children who have a hard time asking for help can do so effectively.
Read MoreWant Your Child to Listen and Learn? Don’t Lecture
When children do things they know they shouldn’t, it’s tempting to lecture them. But lectures make kids feel defensive or resentful. Here’s what to do instead.
Read MoreChildren’s Anger Management Strategies That Work
“Punch pillows!” is a common piece of advice children hear regarding how to manage anger, but there’s no evidence that it’s helpful. Here’s what is.
Read MoreWhy Kids Tattle and What To Do About It
Tattling is one of the most annoying things children do. It’s also extremely common and even an important step in child development.
Read MoreWhat to Say to Empathize Better With Your Child
Reflection is a way of expressing empathy that involves describing the feelings you see. Here, some straightforward phrases to try with your child.
Read MoreWhat Are Reasonable Expectations for Children?
When parents have expectations that don’t fit a particular child at a particular time, it sets that child up for feeling like a failure.
Read MoreChildhood Enemies
Just as children experience a continuum of linking from “casual friends” to “best friends,” they also experience a continuum of disliking from “nonfriends” to “worst enemies.”
Read MoreWhy Are Kids So Mean?
Kids who know better and are usually kind to their friends can sometimes act in casually cruel ways when they decide that certain people’s feelings don’t “count.”
Read MoreWhen & How to Say No to Kids
Here are seven situations when you may need to say no to your kids and some suggestions for how to do it.
Read More3 Common Friendship Mistakes for Kids
Every child faces friendship challenges at some time, in some way, but broadly speaking, there are three main ways that children struggle socially.
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