KEY POINTS

-Parenting is full of contradictory emotional experiences (e.g., wanting to be with and away from one’s kids).
-The principle of dialectics involves acknowledging that seemingly opposing forces or ideas can coexist.
-Acknowledging conflicting feelings is an integral part of regulating emotions.

The Exhaustion is Real

While on a business trip in Chicago last month, I accidentally slept for 12 hours. I fell asleep at 9:30 p.m. local time and didn’t set an alarm, because I figured there was no way I would sleep past 7:30…

Let Children Get Bored Again

Boredom teaches us that life isn’t a parade of amusements. More important, it spawns creativity and self-sufficiency. “I’m bored.” It’s a puny little phrase, yet it has the power to fill parents with a cascade of dread, annoyance and guilt. If…

How to Help a Child With an Anxiety Disorder

When worrying gets in the way of a child’s functioning, parents need to get help rather than arranging the child’s life to avoid the occasions of anxiety.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/well/family/how-to-help-a-child-with-an-anxiety-disorder.html

Rewards and punishments are conditional, but our love and positive regard for our kids should be unconditional. Here’s how to change the conversation and the behavior. “I feel a sense of dread as bedtime rolls around. Here we go again.”…

The Overprotected American Child

Why not let them walk to school alone? Parents and communities are figuring out ways to give their children more independence—and it just may help them to become less anxious, more self-reliant adults. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-overprotected-american-child-1527865038 (Wall Street Journal subscription required)

As parents, we want our children to be emotionally resilient — able to handle life’s ups and downs. But parents’ ability to foster resilience in our children hinges a great deal on our own emotional resilience. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/well/family/to-raise-resilient-kids-be-a-resilient-parent.html?smid=pl-share