In her TED Talk, writer, and author of “All Joy and No Fun,” Jennifer Senior raises the question to parents, “Should our goal as parents really be to raise happy kids?” With so many advances in parenting, have parents today placed unnecessary anxiety, confusion, and panic onto themselves by creating … Read More
Relationship: The One Thing You Need for a Happier Life
It’s not wealth, fame or even success in your career. According to this Washington Post article, Harvard researchers have found that the key to the happy life is…relationship. The 75-year-old Grant Study is the oldest of its kind. It has followed the lives of men from Harvard University and Boston … Read More
Social Media And The Power it Holds
I often field questions from parents asking about how to navigate the role of social media in their children’s lives. “Should I allow my teen to have a Facebook?” “Is it ok for him/her to be posting so many selfies?” “What is ‘Snapchat?’” Most of the time, the answers to … Read More
Failure and How to Recover
Consider how you treat yourself after you experience failure. Do you engage in self-criticism, shaming thoughts, or take inventory of your shortcomings or bad luck? Now ask yourself how you would treat a good friend who experienced a similar failure. I’ve noticed, we will say things to ourselves that we … Read More
Ease the Back to School Butterflies
As summer comes to an end, you may notice your kids are asking more questions about going back to school and may even have some butterflies about all the upcoming changes. Kids may feel worried about having a new teacher, finding friends to sit with at lunch, or even if … Read More
Parents: Prepare Yourself and Your Child for College!
When teens are seniors and preparing to graduate, they are repeatedly asked whether or not they are ready for college. Have they applied? Been accepted? Chosen a major? Do they feel ready to “live on their own?” While the kids are the ones heading off to class, parents may also … Read More
Redefining Failure: A Conversation with Sara Blakely
Is fail a four-letter word in your vocabulary? Do you define yourself by your failures? Sara Blakely, founder and CEO of Spanx, offers a redefinition of failure. She states, “Failure for me became not trying, versus the outcome.” Our perception of an event and what we think the event means … Read More
Emotion-Coaching Parents: Part 4
In The Science of Trust (2011), Dr. John Gottman identified two different types of parents: “emotion-coaching” parents and “emotion-dismissing” parents. This is the fourth blog of a four-part series, and instead of looking at what it means to be an emotion-coaching parent, this last one will address emotion-coaching your significant … Read More
Trust Part 3: Indicators of the Trait
Trust is essential but, all too often, a rare commodity in many relationships. In previous blogs, we’ve discussed various impediments to trust, the frequent difficulty recognizing them, and ways to recognize some common substitutes. Recognizing things that undermine trust is incredibly helpful, but knowing what doesn’t work is only part … Read More
Emotion-Coaching Parents: Part 3
In The Science of Trust (2011), Dr. John Gottman identified two different types of parents: “emotion-coaching” parents and “emotion-dismissing” parents. Read Part 1 for the hallmarks of emotion-coaching versus emotion-dismissing parents. So, you want your children to have the best shot at emotional intelligence and emotional resilience. You want them … Read More
