New Parents And Teens Child Parenting
Good Parents and Kids Parenting Tips
|
|
|
New Parents And Teens Child Parenting |
|
| ||||||
| ||||||
|
| ||||||
|
The baby sleep solution | Baby shower games | Secret to baby modeling success | Baby sign language | Planning baby showers | Baby boy names | | ||||||
|
You are free to use content from this page in your blog or website, in return for a link back to this page from that blog or website.
ADHD: Some Survival Strategies for Parents
In our last issue we posted some of our suggested Survival Strategies for parents, and then asked readers to contribute some of their thoughts or tips. Since this newsletter is already running pretty long, I'll only list a few of them below. Thank you to all of you who contributed! Laugh. Be silly with your child's. Humor is a life saver with 'high-impact' children. --Laurie O' I really enjoyed your newsletter. I am a School Psychologist and find your information valuable. I also taught Learning Disabled children for many year-some of them ADD or ADHD. I used to suggest to my parents to organize little boxes filled with activities for those "I'm Bored" times. Each box should have a different activity-sometimes having specific directions-sometimes permitting the child to be creative with whatever is in the box. (This is kind of like Andy Warhol's time capsules) It works best if the child does not know about the contents of each box. Also, I recommended that my parents keep a journal of their child's progress- and then to read it periodically. Parents always know when their child is NOT doing well-but sometimes do not realize the progress the child is making. Sincerely, Toni H Again, thanks to all who wrote with tips and strategies! 1. Have Realistic Expectations. We all have expectations for our child, just make sure that your expectations are * Realistic * for your individual child. If your expectations are too high (or unrealistic) then you will be constantly be subject to feelings of hurt or disappointment or anger. Be * Realistic *. 2. Keep Your Home Organized. The more "scheduled" you can keep your home, or the more "organized" you can be at home, the better for your ADD/ADHD child. Routines can help your child to accept order in his life. Be consistent with routines. 3. Simplify Your Life. Please don't try to do all things, be all things, lead all groups. Reduce the number of your commitments to others. Your child needs your time and attention more than others do (except perhaps your spouse). Spend more time at home with your child and family. 4. Accept Your child's Situation. If your child is hyperactive, then come to the place of acceptance that your child is, has been, and will be, a person with very high levels of energy, limited impulse control, and difficulty sitting still. Don't feel guilty about. Did you cause it? No. Is the child intentionally hyperactive? No. Don't waste your time trying to eliminate the hyperactivity, just learn how to redirect it into positive channels. Be patient. 5. Be Fair, Firm, and Consistent with your Discipline. Make sure your child knows the rules ahead of time. Review them as you need to. Always be fair to the child. Be firm, don't reward inappropriate behaviors by ignoring them, but use your best wisdom on how to discipline or punish. 6. Teach to Incompetent Behaviors and Punish Rebellious Behaviors. kids are weird. And, know the difference between "incompetence" and "rebelliousness." kids will forget to put the lid down on the toilet seat. They run through the house. They do kid things. When your child acts incompetently, then teach him how to do things the right way, and have him practice doing it right. Rebellious or defiant behaviors, however, need to be disciplined through punishment. Yes, your child does need to know who's in charge, and that person needs to be you, not him. 7. Avoid Allowing Either You or Your child to Become Fatigued. We all get grouchy and irritable when fatigued. Don't schedule so many activities in your day that you get tired, or he does. If it happens, either you'll be hard to live with, or he will. Cut back on your activities, do less, not more. Save your energy. Slow down. 8. Only Take Your child to Places Where He Has a Chance to Be Successful. If your child simply cannot handle going to the store, or to church, or to birthday parties where they are serving punch and cake, then don't take him there. Or go but stay around and provide the supervision that he'll need so that he doesn't blow it with his behavior and have the event turn into just another failure in his life. 9. Watch Less TV, Not More. When we are tired, the tendency is to turn on the TV and just "veg out" in front of it. The problem is that the average person (yes, the average person) watches over 35 hours of TV per week. Since I don't watch TV at all, someone else out there is watching more than 35 hours to make up for me! Watching TV simply steals our precious time and the attention that we should be giving our family. Read books, talk to each other, play board games, go for walks - but don't watch TV. 10. Take Care of Yourself Too! Eat right, work out, spend time with your spouse, your friends, and yourself. Don't focus all of your energies on your ADD child. There is more to life. Read good books, not just ADD books. Pray. Enjoy sunsets. Go for walks. If your life reflects a sense of balance, then in a crisis you will respond with more wisdom and discernment. Douglas Cowan, Psy.D., is a family therapist who has been working with ADHD children and their families since 1986. He is the clinical director of the ADHD Information Library's family of seven web sites, including http://www.newideas.net, helping over 350,000 parents and teachers learn more about ADHD each year. Dr. Cowan also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of VAXA International of Tampa, FL., is President of the Board of Directors for KAXL 88.3 FM in central California, and is President of NewIdeas.net Incorporated.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Banishing Bedtime Blues "My son won't go to bed at night without a struggle. He keeps getting up with all kinds of excuses. It doesn't seem to matter what we tell him. Nothing works. What do you recommend'" Wholism and Materialism Perhaps I could make a lot of money by founding a Thinker's Anonymous organization. It surely is the rage to eschew thinking. Is it ADHD or Bi-Polar Disorder' Bi-Polar Disorder, or Manic Depression, is characterized by mood swings, sometimes extreme, ranging from depressed to normal moods, or from depressed to manic episodes. Manic behaviors are often very similar to "hyperactive" behaviors, including motor restlessness, irritability, temper outbursts, sleeping less, or having higher levels of energy. It is rare. But it does happen. SMUT Spelled Backwards is TUMS Why are more people, especially parents not outraged? Parenting Your Teenager: The Bottom Line Issues Q. When you consult with a family with teens, what are the typical bottom-line issues? child ADHD - Deciding Where to Draw the Line The wonderful adaptability of children in dealing with the challenges of this ever-changing and unpredictable world is really amazing. Their growth from a state of familial security and dependence through progressive stages of self-direction and personal autonomy requires enormous and almost anti-gravitational efforts on their part. children must integrate a continuous changing picture of themselves with a world characterized more and more by conflict, competition and change. Raising kids on a Budget There are only two ways to get more money: childrens Safety in Public Places - 10 Useful Tips My kids ask me all the time to take them to playgrounds or any other public place. I can't help to think that the risk involved in this is greater than we are often aware of. I have four child's, which makes the task of keeping track of everyone very stressful. To me, taking my children to a public place is not "a walk in the park" anymore. Actually, I feel that I am a little traumatized. My 8 year old son, (a very active little guy), has been lost 3 times in public places. Once in a huge department store at the age of 3, another time in a natural park where he took off in his bicycle by himself at the age of 4 and the latest time in a crowded public fair at the age of 5. Fortunately he has always been found save and sound. A Good Preschool Idea The successful preschool idea behind many successful preschool learning centers is thorough all round planning and well-chosen staff members. Any preschool idea that does not begin with sound financial planning and in-depth budgeting knowledge will probably fail. Illegal and Legal Drug Usage in the United States How bad is the illegal drug problem here in the US? Very bad and it alters the brain's thought process and causes a problem with human interaction and our natural socializing tendencies. The drugs are so diverse and so plentiful that it touches the lives of nearly every American in some way and certainly nearly every family in this country. We must be honest with ourselves. We have legal drugs, prescription drugs and illegal drugs. Caffeine is a drug that is wide spread in America. The verdict is out now, but what will we learn in the future after twenty years? After all there is a Starbucks on nearly every corner in many of America's largest metropolitan areas. We already know that spiders cannot spin a web while under influence of caffeine. Potty Training 'To Train or Not to Train' I have always found the notion of toilet training a toddler to be a bit much. I didn't feel right about pushing my girls to do something I felt would eventually come naturally. At three years old, both my girls were potty trained ... not because I read books and raced them to the porcelain each time I suspected they should go. They knew what the potty was for. They knew when they had to go. They'd figure it out on their own! Well, by golly, they did! Scolding: One of Communications Tools of Last Resort (Excerpted from Jim Rohn's 2004 Weekend Leadership Event) Your Checking Account Checking accounts are an absolute necessity these days. You can either have a checking account or run to the bank or other outlet for money orders. Many people pay for almost everything with a check including groceries, gas, clothes and a long list of other things. When you add an ATM card to this picture, your chances for a potential problem is greatly enhanced. The Top 5 Reasons Why Unwed-Parents Must Establish Paternity "It takes a village to raise a child" is more than an African proverb, and when the village is small and one parent is missing the task becomes even more challenging. Fortunately, being proactive and understanding your rights as a parent will help alleviate any issues that might arise as you take on the role of single parent. Every child has the right to a parent-child relationship with both parents, and all three deserve an opportunity to develop, enjoy and grow in the relationship. Dealing with Lying: The Dos and Donts Jason Roberts listened to his son's explanation of the missing cookies and then called him a liar. Brenda Taylor thought her three-year-old's lies were cute, so she ignored them. Yee Chen told her daughter that if she told the truth this time, she would let it go. Considering Daycare? Consider the Pros and Cons When you're a parent it's a difficult decision to know whether to send your child to daycare or not. We have provided many of the pros and cons of sending your child to daycare for your consideration. In our opinion, nothing replaces the day-to-day interaction that you can provide with your child. We also believe that some interaction with other children either through occasional daycare, part-time, or through play-groups and other educational learning programs are invaluable. We also recognize that Mom or Dad also needs to have a break and occasional daycare can provide that for them. What we don't believe in is a baby or toddler being in someone else's care for eight hours or more a day everyday! That's not fair to your child. So with all that in mind, please consider the pros and cons listed below. And may you make the right decision for your children and yourself. Parenting Your Teenager: The Power Struggle Q: My husband and I are at a loss as to what to do with our two teenagers. They have been great kids and all of a sudden it seems like we are in teenage hell! We keep fighting to see the kids we once knew, and they keep fighting to get their own way. We have been considering family counseling, and really would like to know what goes on in counseling. Can you give us some help with our kids and what to expect in counseling? Every Mom Worries Sitterphobe "I never have a second to myself," this mother tells you (and tells you and tells you). You agree, judging by her slightly frazzled demeanor, that she could use a break. Maybe a trip to the gym. A date with her husband. Time to herself. So you recommend the great babysitter you've found. She responds with one of those "but-I-love-my-children" looks. And says something like: "Nobody can care for a child as well as her own mother." The Science of Mother Love A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the way babies are cared for by their mothers will determine not only their emotional development, but the biological development of the child's brain and central nervous system as well. The nature of love, and how the capacity to love develops, has become the subject of scientific study over the last decade. New data is emerging from a multitude of disciplines including neurology, psychology, biology, ethology, anthropology and neurocardiology. Something scientific disciplines find in common when putting love under the microscope is that in addition to shaping the brains of infants, mother's love acts as a template for love itself and has far reaching effects on her child's ability to love throughout life. Parenting Predicaments Predicament:
|
| home | Parenting site map | Privacy policy |
| Copyright © 2011 parenting.babyinfocenter.com |
