Mikki's blog

Our grandchildren accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to
change us, as no one in our entire lives has ever done, not our parents,
siblings, spouses, friends - and hardly ever our own grown children. ~Ruth
Goode

Once your children hit the toddler stage, you realize that the baby years were
easy times. You can outrun crawling babies, but a 2 year old is non-stop action.
When our daughter began walking, it was more of a sprint. As a 3 year old, she
is marathon runner, everywhere in the house and outdoors. She can'€™t be
stopped.

By: Lisa Hein

How many people do you really know, I mean really know? Yes, we know their name, where they live, who they’re married to and how many children they have. But, do we really know them?

Do we really know the individuals in our own family? We look at them everyday, and, we even talk to them, but is it superficially or is it really honest communication?

By: Lisa Hein

Those words have come out of our mouths at one time or another, but what do they really mean to our children?

When we, as parents, are acting foolishly, saying words we shouldn’t be saying, or indulging in things we shouldn’t be, could it be time to take a moment and recognize that maybe, just maybe, we’re giving our children mixed messages.

Every parent has heard the importance of detecting learning difficulties as soon as possible to ensure your child’s academic success. Could this same concept apply to childhood bullying and depression? Bonnie J. Leadbeater, professor of psychology at the University of Victoria, believes it does.

by James Lehman, MSW

In Part II of Motivating Underachievers, James explains what you can do to get your child on track before school starts—and how you can motivate them to do their school work during the year.

"I believe that when kids are so-called lazy, that's really an attitudinal issue about 'Why bother, my life's not going to get any better anyway.'"

For a teen-ager, there are many ways to say “screw you” to your parents. And for underachieving kids, being motivated to do nothing is one of those ways.

by James Lehman, MSW

Are you facing the new school year with dread because you have an unmotivated or underachieving teen or pre-teen? Is your child’s answer to everything, “I don’t care” or “It doesn’t matter?” In Part I of this two-part series, James Lehman, MSW explains why your child does have motivation—and how you can coach them to better behavior.

When our children reach school age many parents eagerly and lovingly send their little ones off to kindergarten at the local school, be it public or private. We openly trust our children to receive a quality education and learn to function in society. What many parents don’t consider prior to enrollment is the potential impact on whether or not their child may become physically or socially aggressive.

Most families rely heavily on TV ratings when it comes to appropriate programs for their children to watch. They trust that “kids” channels will broadcast limited to no violent content and rarely feel a need to monitor those programs. According to a study published in March of 2009 TV ratings don’t accurately reflect aggressive content leaving your child viewing interactions you may otherwise disprove of.

In our hurried society most families are living by rigid schedules forcing them to be very detailed and punctual. Parents can often be found preparing children as young as two for this lifestyle by “directing” their child’s scheduled play times accordingly. Have you ever stopped and wondered if this parent directed playtime was truly beneficial for the child?

Teen dating abuse is at epidemic proportions ranging from verbal abuse right up to even death. This tragic reality among our teens has disrupted many households as moms and dads strive to protect their own teens. I have witnessed the impact from both afar and within my own home.