Parenting Secret #2 to Empower Kids: Make Fear Fun! Simple and effective tools to be used daily.
According to the Encarta Dictionary, fear is defined as an unpleasant feeling of anxiety or apprehension caused by the presence or anticipation of danger. The most commonly use synonyms are panic, anxiety, and worry. How often do we hear those words in the media these days?
The key words in that definition are the “presence or anticipation.” There are different types of fear that humans feel. Some are instinctive and helpful while others are invented in the mind and hurtful. The instinctive fears show up in the “presence” of danger.
For most young moms the baby often comes before marriage.
Is it normal to put the baby before the relationship?
When I got married, I honestly didn't know if I would ever want to be a mom. As the second oldest of eight children, the whole idea seemed daunting. Six years into my marriage, my husband and I discovered we were pregnant and now, a year into motherhood, I know that having little E was the best decision we ever made as a couple.
Your kids probably love making you laugh as much as you love laughing because of them!
Do you even let them? Or are you too stuffy to laugh?
Do you allow your kids to give you the joy of laughter? Do you let yourself play long enough to get the joke? Do you even take the time to hear them when they are funny...even if they don't intend to be? Do you factor in the self confidence and self worth they derive when you express your appreciation for them through your laughter? Live a little—Laugh a little!
You'd be shocked to learn how much your kids can teach you about love.
One gay father's foray into his daughter's sexual identity.
For once, my teenage daughter decided to talk to me. We were driving home from school and she said, "Dad, I have something to tell you." Here it comes, I thought — either some overwrought teenage drama or a parent's worst nightmare is about to escape my precious firstborn's lips. With a quavering voice she delivered the punch: "Jackie and I are dating."
One woman discovers that her sense of happiness does not need to come from her children.
I stood there in my sweatpants, a bit disheveled, wanting to cry out, "No! You and I belong together!" But that was my need, not his. He walked off, his Bakugan backpack shining in the sun, without turning his head. I tightened my jacket around me. He caught sight of his friend, and slung his arm around his shoulders, a gesture that seemed more mature than he was. They disappeared into the school, laughing, tilting their faces towards one another. And just like that, the cord was severed.
Beware the pursuit of perfection. You just may miss what really matters.
If perfect parents ever lived, I pity their children. What excuse could the children of perfect parents offer for their later failures? On a more serious note, when parents aim for perfection, the category they are more likely to occupy is "too good," as in "too good to be true," or down right incompetent.
My husband and I seem to parent our children differently based on their genders.
My husband and I seem to parent our children differently based on their genders, a tendency I never expected, being the enlightened and empowered woman I am. (“Roar” and all that.) Once we had both a boy and a girl, though, this tendency became obvious.
Don't let motherhood kill your mojo. Follow these tips to protect your kids as you play the field.
Single parents have it rough trying to balance their personal lives with the demands and responsibility that come with being a parent. Dating can be especially challenging, as there are certain boundaries that should not be crossed because the overall well-being of the child has to come first.
Shape magazine clears up some negative misconceptions about couples who don't want kids.
Only one reproductive choice is stigmatized: voluntary childlessness. Many protest against this cultural bias, arguing that childfree (preferred over childless) should be a respected choice, says Berkeley clinical psychologist Mardy S. Ireland, Ph.D., author of Reconceiving Women: Separating Motherhood from Female Identity (Guilford, 1993). Motherhood is the defining life experience for many women, but it's not for everyone. Being female doesn't mean your instincts, talents and needs destine you for maternity.
Meeting the parents did not go as expected for one young lady in Germany.
We've all dated someone who didn't pass our parents' approval meter, but nothing, not even Dad's "rules for courting my little girl" lectures, can beat how this 47 year-old German man taught his daughter's older boyfriend a lesson. Helmut Seifert, father of a seventeen year-old girl, castrated Philip Genscher, 57, with a bread knife after an anonymous tipper notified him of their relationship.
This month, royal haters, a Napoleonic law and a false bomb alert put a damper on weddings.
Not every mother is thrilled for her daughter's wedding, but while some dissenters hold their peace, others accuse the bride of being a suicide bomber. Over the weekend, CNN reported that a Russian woman told police that her daughter planned to explode a plane. The flight was delayed and the bride, who was traveling to Morocco for her wedding, was taken away for questioning. Investigators later traced the call to her mother, who admitted that she disapproved of her daughter's engagement to a Moroccan citizen.
