Parenting Advisor - Online Parenting Programs

Twenty-seven years ago, my parents divorced. They united in marriage shortly after their high school graduation. My father enlisted in the military and my mother became doting homemaker. Their marriage lasted ten years. After their divorce, my mother met my stepfather and found a new way of relating where she and my father had struggled: effective communication. My mother looked back on the way things had been and swore to make some changes. One change was to communicate more appropriately with her children about the break-up by using positive language and sharing only necessary details that were age-appropriate. My father disagreed with my mother’s assessment of their marriage (and and still does) and insists communication was not...

You probably want what is best for your children.  You try to feed them right, give them a good home life, support their education, and give them fun things to do. There is one activity that is usually free and has been shown by research to be a wonderful support for children’s development. It is making sure they have some time outside to interact with nature.  Spending time in nature has many benefits for children. Compared to children who spend most of their time inside, children who spend more time in nature have: higher self-esteem, increased cognitive abilities (that means better thinking skills), higher ability to reflect on life, stronger sense of empathy (that means a better understanding how...

Parenting can be rewarding and wonderful. You might feel blessed and joyful. However, it can also be stressful at times. The demands on parents include many challenges and problems to be solved. Sometimes those challenges appear minutes after the joys. You can feel overwhelmed and out of control.  There are several possible choices when you are stressed. One is to take “me time.” That means that you step away from parenting for a short time to catch your breath and take care of yourself. First, you make sure your children are safe and that someone is caring for them. Then you recharge your resources. This is important for not only you but your children as well.  Being a parent requires taking care of someone else 24/7....

There’s a reason singing a lullaby will put most babies to sleep. Music promotes relaxation because it directly affects the brain’s rest system, otherwise known as the parasympathetic nervous system. The measured beat of a musical rhythm can slow your breathing and heart rate, lower your blood pressure, and may trigger a release of chemicals in the brain that just plain make us feel good. The National Sleep Foundation reports that adults who listen to relaxing music for 45 minutes before bedtime fall asleep faster, sleep longer, wake up less often, and wake up feeling more rested. Babies and children also benefit, which makes music, even singing a lullaby, a good go-to for parents at bedtime and naptime too. Music has incredibly...

The connections between food, mood and behavior continue to develop, and many families could benefit from exploring how children, especially, are affected by diet. Mayo Clinic suggests that the ingredients in food affect behavior and the American Psychological Association says kids who have healthy diets are better able to regulate emotions and cope with stress. Much recent research seems to validate what many parents and teachers have known for years: “A well fed brain is more likely to lead to good mood, behavior and learning” (Rex, 2017). What can we do? As parents, there are steps we can take to ensure our children are getting the most out of the food they eat and that what they are eating doesn’t alter their moods or...

It’s a word that’s recently come into the mainstream: mindfulness. It sounds impressive, but what is it? Mindfulness is touted as a way to improve our health and well-being by purposely paying attention and staying in the moment. It allows you to regulate your emotions and quiet your mind. In a fast-paced world full of stress, these are valuable skills to have. Mindfulness is nothing new, really, but lately it’s emerged as an effective treatment for everything from ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other behavioral disorders. And research has shown that, with or without these issues, learning to practice mindfulness in parenting can be of great benefit for our kids, improving not just our health and well-being but theirs too....