Now that Labor Day has passed and summer is officially over, are your kids back in school? Before you begin the new cycle of carpools, homework, sports and after school activities, this might be a good time to step back and think about parenting and where you can look for support when you’re facing the inevitable challenges of raising children. It seems like there are always issues with your kids no matter what age or level of school. Here are some questions for you and resources we’ve put together to help
in the meantime.
Are you feeling lost after your child gets on the bus to go to grade school? Some parents are now following that familiar yellow bus to make sure that their kids are all right. But this hovering can actually make it more difficult for their youngsters to have the confidence they need to stand on their own. If you feel you can easily fall into the behavior of a helicopter parent, here are 4 suggestions to help you let go.
Perhaps you came to mothering late in life. That was the case with Cyma Shapiro who adopted two children in her late forties. She had lots of questions about mothering in midlife and began looking for others in the same boat. When she couldn’t find any resources to help her, she decided to start her own website, Mothering in the Middle, dedicated to providing support to other midlife mothers.
Now that summer is history, are your children finding it hard to put down their electronics and pick up their books? Kids today are often tied to technology from an early age and it only increases. Do you sometimes feel they are more connected to their itouch or video game than they are to you and the family? It’s not easy to get children to log off and unplug for a while but pediatricians suggest no more than two hours a day of television or video. Here are 7 tips to help you move your children away from the virtual world into the real one.
Are you already noticing signs that your son is being bullied by his classmates? The documentary Bully, which opened in theaters last year, raised the consciousness of many about the terrible consequences of bulling. Schools have instituted policies to help prevent bullying and respond to it when it occurs. As a parent, here are 5 steps you can take to support your child if you feel he is being picked on by others.
The effects of sexting has been an issue for some teenage girls who send racy photos and texts over the Internet. Before they hit the send button, they don’t seem to realize that their actions can have consequences far beyond the specific circumstances of the text itself. The social media is an important part of a teen’s lifestyle, but if your daughter has been using it in a risky, inappropriate way, you may want to try out these 5 suggestions to help her protect herself.
If your kidults are in college, you may be facing other challenges. Often issues center around letting go, giving these older teens more freedom, and expecting more independent behavior from them in return. Now a new trend has emerged – the decorator-designed dorm room. Some parents are spending multiples more on their children’s college rooms than they are on books for classes. Once Spartan sleep-and-study rooms are now being outfitted as entertainment areas. While we don’t want our kids to be unhappy at college, what kinds of messages are we sending them about entitlement and expectations?
Parenting is never easy, especially these days, and there’s not one solution that works for every family. Let us know how you’re doing and what solutions you’ve found. Sharing our stories and our resources can help us all.
