Keeping Kids Safe on Wheels
Positive Parenting
Let’s face it…parenting is not always easy. Sometimes it seems a next to impossible task to consistently get your child to be nice to others, share, follow a consistent schedule and adhere to simple requests and instructions. Losing your temper, resorting to yelling and controlling behaviors can become the all too common norm and fall back parenting behaviors.
There is a better approach. Positive Parenting (also referred to as positive discipline) means gently, positively guiding your children to help them develop better behaviors. Positive Parenting is a better approach than the “because I told you to do it” authoritarian approach to parenting.
Positive parenting helps develop positive behaviors, better communication between parent and child, closer relationships, mental health and overall happiness.
Amy McCready, a parenting educator, and positive parenting expert shares many positive parenting solutions parents can use when facing common parenting situations – getting your child to sleep, eliminating swearing, sibling bullying, controlling chaos and many other topics. Amy McCready shares some great solutions in these videos.
You may also want to visit Amy’s website and YouTube channel for additional tips and resources.
https://www.youtube.com/user/AmyMcCready/videos
Planning the Family Vacation – Dream or Disaster
As sunny days and blue skies replace the cold, dreary days of winter, we often begin to dream of summer and a family vacation. The options for great family vacations vary from travel far from home to just staying home and enjoying a “staycation.” Either can be great and enjoyable for everyone in the family or without planning turn into a disaster. In the webinar recording below, HealthyChildren.org shares ten tips for planning and having a great family escape.
As you view the webinar, make some notes and a To Do list to ensure your family vacation is great!
Enriching Your Children’s Conscience
All parents want their children to have a life guided by good values. A child’s conscience and value system develop at an early age. As parents, what can you do to help them? Here are five ways you can enrich their conscience and help them to develop a value system that will guide them through life.
- Provide good examples. What you say and do every day reflects what you think about the world. If you say good stuff, your children will do the same and see the world in a positive light. Children are great imitators. It is important for you to say and do the right things in all situations – be patient, be kind, show others respect, do the right thing even in difficult circumstances.
- Listen when your children talk. Sometimes your children ask questions that sound silly to adults, like “Mom, where does the sun sleep when the night comes?” Listen to them and answer seriously, “The sun does not sleep. It shines in other places in the world.” By listening, children will feel that they get respect from their parents. Feeling respected, and being treated respectfully teaches children to treat others with respect.
- Show happiness. Reflect and share happiness, positive energy and thoughts with your children. If you are happy, they are happy too. By doing this, your children will learn to have a positive attitude and enjoy life.
- Introduce them to nature. Tell them that all things happen in the world are connected to each other and that there’s a reason for it. For example, water is needed to irrigate plants and plants are a food source for other living creatures. Help them to understand their place and role in the world and how to protect nature and its creatures – animals and humans.
- Be flexible with your rules. Children need structure and rules. However, as children age and develop, allow them to play a role in setting the rules. Moreover, under your close supervision, they need to be allowed to make some of their own decisions. Discuss possible outcomes of each decision; this helps them to learn reasoning skills which leads to better decision making in various situations.
Again, remember that children are good imitators. They are looking to you for guidance – their attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors will often reflect those illustrated by their parents. Make sure your actions are what you hope to see in your children.
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