How to Forgive Your Parents to Heal Yourself
Your biological parents cannot be switched. Your past cannot be changed. However, your perspective can change.
Family Dynamics
family, child, children, parent, preschooler, youth, kid, teen, adolescent, pre-teen, caregiver, mom, dad, mother, father, grandparent
From Unease to Ease with Existential Paradox
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard, Danish existentialist philosopher. My client said something like, “I hate my life. Are you suggesting that I need to accept what is to move on? How does that make sense?” We were discussing an existential paradox. It reminded me of the […]
The Exciting Advantages of Volunteering for Teens
Three pages, with big headlines in The Calgary Herald, described WE Days. Two of the headlines read, “WE Day Rallies Youth” and “WE Day Sows Seeds of Social Awareness, and Celebrities say Kids are True Stars.” This Calgary event attracted over 18,000 enthused, excited, committed youth. Hallelujah! Some good news made it in the media. […]
How to Do The Parent and Adult Children Dance
“The kids are all grown up and we’re empty nesters!” It sounds like a taste of freedom, but once adult children are grown, the relationship works like a retractable dog leash—pull and tug, more or less slack, pushing for space while longing for closeness. It’s like an in and out dance. Indeed, two of our […]
How Do I Deal with the Stress of Our Family?
It is affirming to see some fathers pushing baby prams and taking parental leave. My Dad never saw the inside of a poopy diaper. By my generation, childcare was starting to go in a gender equal direction. Now I see my children parent with even more equity. Yet, I also see family stress spinning in […]
Book Summary: Parenting With Eyes Wide Open
Dwayne Peace and I are members of Calgary’s chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. From the day we met, I have been impressed with Dwayne and his work as an ex-police officer, School Resource Officer, and now youth and parent speaker. He is a strong, no-nonsense, reliable, caring, and gentle guy, who willingly […]
How to Raise Resilient and Responsible Children
How often do we hear a sigh and then, “I wish my children acted more responsibly!” We’ve also heard, “She is so irresponsible. I have to do everything for her.” Or “At his age I had to act responsibly. I did not have any choice.” What has happened in an era when children have more […]
How to Use The Virtues to Guide Goodness in Children
There has been a movement afoot to bring back virtues. With the fading of organized religion in many people’s lives, there has been a lack of, and a hunger for, old fashioned wise guidance for goodness. Virtues are different from values. Definition of Values Values are what we deem important to us. To assess our […]
How to Make Your Home Sweet Home, Children Included
For years people have said, “I love your home. It’s warm, welcoming, and cozy.” We have had at least three realtors say, “I would like to purchase your house myself.” How did Les and I discover how to make our home, sweet home? I was blessed with a mother, a poor-farm housewife, who used to […]
Good Parenting and Communication Prevents Peas Up Their Noses
Do you remember a television show called Kids Say the Darndest Things? It aired from 1998 to 2000. Well, I propose that often times parents say the darndest things. I used to say them myself until I learned to improve my communication skills. Good parenting starts with awareness and then choosing better. Here we will […]
The Problem with ‘Working Moms’ and What To Do About It
Invite and negotiate household workload.
Protective Factors to Boost Children’s Resilience, You Need to Know
She bent down and tied up her 9-year-old’s shoe strings. Remarkably, the little guy is a bright, and potentially capable, boy. Millennials (those born between the mid-1990s to early 2000s) are often times called The Me Me Me Generation. They tend to be over-protected from challenge, consequences, and tears. As the family researcher, Jean Illsley […]