Parenting Doctors Podcast: What We Were Never Taught

Coping With Grief

Family dinners remains one of the best predictors of healthy families.  Discussing grief at dinner time includes accepting feelings and self care.  Other practical things to do in honoring the legacy of the loved one include:

 1.  Slideshow

 2.  Small remembrances

 3.  Humor

 4.  Identifying positive attributes

 5.  Gratitude

Five Action Steps To Help You Teach Your Child To Never Quit

Today's podcast is Five Action Steps to Help You Teach Your Child To Never Quit!  

In My practice, I am seeing quitting happening quite frequently on the sports field or court.  It is not uncommon for kids to quit family games, from monopoly to the wiffle ball game, or the chess game with Grandpa.  

Parents have to put forth some effort to reverse this trend. Here are some action steps parents can take to address this problem in their own homes.  

What Is The Antidote To Your Teenager Making The Comment "I'm Not Proud Of You?"

A man was going through a difficult time and his daughter remarked to the gentleman that she "wasn't proud of him."  What does a father say to this experience?  Is the only and "normal" respond sadness and despair?  Or, is there another approach he can take to the relationship?

And, what does a parent - child relationship need to buffer against the ups and downs of life, the highlights and lowlights of life?  Unconditional Love is the answer.  And, it starts with the parents.  

Top 10 Considerations When Addressing A Child's Tantrum During Family Pictures

This 7-minute podcast focuses on the Top 10 considerations when addressing a child’s tantrum during family pictures 

(1)   When parents take the short cut and reinforce the child’s refusal beahviors and tantrums with sour patch candy, a snickers bar, a twix, or some kind of gummy, this has the following consequences: 

a.     Reinforces tantrums and other misbehavior.

b.     Teaches a child that candy is the only solution to stress management.

c.      Delays a child’s learning about how to delay gratification.

d.     Delays a child’s learning of key tenets of Emotional intelligence such as self control. 

e.     Sets a precedent that a family is unwilling to communicate with creativity.  This can cause problems for siblings who ideally want to learn creative ways to solve problems. 

 

 

 

Screen Free Zones In The Home

What makes a successful family?  (1) An occasional family meeting with open dialogue about how the family is doing.  (2) Regular family dinners.  (3) SCREEN FREE ZONES

 - Each house needs screen-free zones.  This starts with the bedrooms.  Behavioral sleep experts recommend that adults get the TVs out of the bedroom.  Kids need their TV's out of their bedroom.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screen-free zones.  

Some Parents Are Elevating Their Child’s Anxiety. Solutions: Knowledge is Power But Strategies Are Needed

I traveled around the state of Wisconsin this week.  I met some wonderful professionals – teachers, principals, school counselors and psychologists, mental health counselors, psychologists in private practice, social workers, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists.    So many people are working hard to make a difference and collaborate with teachers and parents to help kids achieve an excellent education, mental and emotional health, and quality relationships.

A key focus was trying to help parents regulate their anxiety and stay calm.  This week's podcast gives an example of how we can heighten our child's anxiety with our own anxiety.  

Beyond knowledge, strategies are needed.  

Back To The Future Tribute & Other Parenting Nuggets

Today's parenting podcast is a tribute to a movie favorite -- Back To The Future.  

Parenting nuggets are discussed -- consistency, warmth, engagement...

Developing Your Children To Become Overcomers Of The Sharing Problem

All siblings argue and engage in conflict making sharing difficult sometimes.  Positive households with warmth, good communication skills, and unconditional acceptance by parents make repair attempts and subsequent sharing easier.  But, sharing can still be difficult.  The One-Child Mentality ("Syndrome") makes sharing even harder to develop.   Still, sharing is hard for everybody.  We can help children be overcomers with regards to problems with sharing.  Both short term common sense strategies and long-term solutions are provided.  

Two Family Techniques for Dealing with Household Chaos & Overwhelm: 5 Senses Strategy and the Mindfulness Grounding (Countdown) Technique

Do you ever feel overwhelmed as a parent?  Do you ever feel like you have lost control or are on the verge of "losing it" in the face of chaos?  If that is you, you seem normal to me!!  But, we know that maintaining poise is key in the face of the pressures of life and parenting.

Here are two techniques that can help you keep it together and regain control.  Most importantly, these techniques can help your kids regain control of themselves.  The 5 Senses Strategy is useful in bringing down the sympathetic activity and anxious energy.  It increases focus and reduces anxiety.  The mindfulness grounding (countdown) technique helps kids (and parents) regain control when things seem chaotic, overwhelming, and out of control.  This technique can help kids regain control and get grounded again.  

Protective Parents: Five Nights At Freddy's?

Protective Parents: Five Nights at Freddy's?  I taught seminars with approximately 100 educators and mental health clinicians this week in Alabama.  One of the issues that came up this week is the issues associated with video games.  Parents use video games for baby-sitting purposes.  We've known for decades that video games increase aggression.  Lately, there have been some games that are increasing psychiatric symptoms.  I heard several reports this week from professional therapists in a variety of capacities and teachers who observe significant sleep issues, distressing dreams, sleep terrors, and sleep walking after playing Five Nights at Freddy's.  Recommendations are provided.