Discipline – even the dictionary seems to be challenged when it comes to the concept “discipline”. It’s no wonder we, as a community, have such varied ideas of what is called for when a child’s behavior is unacceptable given the situation.
I watched this interesting animation yesterday about changing the education paradigm. It’s well worth the eleven and a half minutes. (I’ve included it below so you can easily watch it yourself. I’d love to hear what you think about it!) It really ramped up my awareness of WHY today’s educational system simply doesn’t work.
It’s been clear to me for a long time that the educational system that I grew up with, and what I see being experienced out there today is NOT supporting the optimum growth and development of our youth today. Continue reading
It’s that holiday time of year when things get a bit hectic. So let me ask you… are you taking care of yourself?
Several years ago I developed and presented a workshop to Childcare Providers in Ramsey County, MN. It was titled, Managing Children’s Behavior Based on Temperament. I was amazed at the things I learned about myself while I was researching this topic. And how much it has helped me learn to manage myself!
You see… temperament is our preferred style of responding and we’re born with this preference… doesn’t mean it has to dictate how we live our life… yet is IS the foundation we each have to work with. After working for five years in a newborn nursery, spending many, many hours with brand new babies, I can tell you with certainty… yes, we are born with certain, quite specific temperamental traits. And taking this into consideration can really help you know how to take better care of yourself to avoid those meltdowns (inner or outer) that might be occurring during this sometimes stressful time of year. (I’ll post later about how you can get familiar with your child’s temperament so you can better guide them to preferred behavior… today is about you.) Continue reading
It’s so good to be back!
That’s right… It’s been over a week since I could see clear to put a post up here at downstream parenting. Not just a case of writer’s block… more a case of ’life block’. Which in my case often results when I forget one of the most useful words in my book of words… and that’s the word NO!
Maybe you’re familiar with the experience yourself. Such a simple, two letter word, yet while two-year-olds freely fling it about, “No, no peas!”, “NO! No nap!”, No, no shoe!”… I sometimes find myself saying “Yes”… even when my schedule or my stamina is screaming “NO!”
I was recently reminded of a story told by Joe Batten at a Leadership Training Seminar. [Joe wrote the best selling book titled: “Tough-Minded Leadership”.] And it got me thinking that effective parents are very much like effective leaders… we just don’t seem to term it that way.