January is almost through. How are you doing on those New Year’s resolutions? Passing with flying colors? Failing miserably? Or somewhere in between perhaps? Me, I rarely ever make resolutions for myself. It’s just too much for me. You see, I tend to be a do-er. And a do-er with an unrelenting compulsion to complete […]
I recently talked to a young adult single mother. She was beautiful and so was her baby. On the surface things seemed just fine, until she started to open up. She explained how she is struggling financially to make ends meet; to pay for her apartment, college, and the associated costs of having a baby. Her […]
Beneath our overt angry expressions are deeper roots of emotional pain which feed the hostility. In the last blog, I identified four roots, including: hurt, helplessness, anxiety about losing something important, and guilt. In this blog, we will explore anger that is triggered by relational wounds. Psychological researchers have demonstrated that emotional hurt is a […]
As this year comes to a close, I think of the most important thing we can teach our children. It is important to constantly remind them that they are special, and are uniquely and wonderfully made. We tell our son that we love him just about every day, and most days more than once. This […]
‘Tis the season. The season to ‘put Christ back in Christmas’ or ‘make your holly Christmas holy’ or some other cliché, play on words phrase that entices you to make the holiday more ‘Christian’. We hear about how to incorporate our children in: acting out the nativity story, implementing a Jesse tree, playing hide and […]
There are varying positive and negative opinions on Millennials, with lots of studies done, but I’m going to try to sum up my experience, thoughts and research on this generation of great potential. Millennials are individuals born between 1980 and 2000. Earlier this year, Pew Research said that they are now America’s largest generation (over […]
You might know that anger is a biochemical response to a perceived threat. When you are faced with a potentially threatening situation, your brain and autonomic nervous system immediately require an increase in adrenalin. This produces a cardiovascular surge preparing you for a “fight or flight” response. You can feel various sensations in your body […]
Thanksgiving has come and gone, but what makes you thankful? Let us look at the history of this special day. In September of 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers, so that they could freely practice their faith, or the promise of land ownership and prosperity in the New […]
Instead of my normal parenting blog, I thought it would be good to highlight some great resources for parents and churches. They are the below. I hope you find them enjoyable and valuable. Axis www.axis.org Their mission is to empower the next generation to think clearly and critically about what they believe and to take […]
In previous blogs, we have discussed adjusting parental attitudes and applying appropriate approaches when relating to inflexible-explosive children. Remember to stay calm. Note that the initial goal is to help the child regulate emotions to prevent a meltdown. Be aware of antecedent events and pay attention to the situational factors that trigger “vapor lock”. Make […]