InnerSelf.com

by Patricia Evans.

When a parent faces a stressful situation and their child needs attention, the urgencies of the moment can invite a hasty response. For this reason, it is helpful for parents to remind themselves of the need to treat their child with goodwill and respect, even when they feel stressed...

by Ellen Rosenberg.

There are many parents who would never imagine that their child doesn't have the nerve to talk with them. When I first created my school programs more than twenty years ago, I was amazed at how many thousands of children told me they felt this way and hadn't let their parents know. How close do you think your child feels to you? Being close with your child can be a life-changing, fulfilling, enriching lifetime endeavor.

by Denis Donavan, M.D., M.ED., and Deborah McIntyre.

Many parents today will tell you that they're not getting what they want from their children. Parents have to struggle to get the respect, cooperation, affection, acceptable behavior, completed tasks, and academic achievement they consider appropriate. Quite a few parents have actually thrown in the towel. By contrast... we believe that many frustrating and seemingly insurmountable problems actually have simple, easy to understand causes, as well as equally simple and easy to understand solutions.

by Eric Maisel, Ph.D.

Family communication is possible, but love must be the lubricant. Here is a bonus tip: feel. If you open up your heart, pain may spill out -- but so will love. It is then that communicating will begin. Talking about things like love, kindness, and generosity, and not "problems", might be the route to family change.

by Cassandra Eason. In pregnancy and in some cases even before, quite a high proportion of mothers believe they have been in contact with their unborn children. Some of the women studied found their bodies picking up their unborn babies' feelings. "Every once in a while, I have a feeling but I don't know where it comes from. And then I realize that I am not the one having the feeling."

by Sobonfu E. Somé.

A lot of us suffer a great deal in our lives because our inner child has old wounds that have never been healed. It is important to know how to overcome our old wounds, because all too often they stand in the way of our ability to fully love ourselves, other people, and the children in our lives. Our old wounds often become our children's burden.

by Vimala McClure.

If you grew up in a home where you were either neglected or constantly on the losing end of a win-lose situation, you will be trying to build responsiveness and responsibility in yourself at the same time that you try to maintain it in your household -- not an easy task by any means, but one you can handle.

What is it about saying, flat out, 'I love you' to our children that has been shunned by many and may still constitute a taboo among middle-aged parents today? Novels, movies, indeed most cultures invest 'I love you' with strong erotic content. The deep, romantic, feeling-tone of the phrase reinforces the taboo...

by Noelle C. Nelson, Ph.D. & Jeannine Lemare Calaba, Psy.D.

   How do you help your child achieve a positive sense of worth? By teaching him how to appreciate himself. Do this by: 1. First, no matter how your child is behaving, find something within him to value and be grateful for. 2. Then, point out to your child the specific quality or action you are appreciating about him.

by Sobonfu E.Somé.

In Africa, it is understood that children hold the knowledge and gifts that ensure the survival of the village and the tribe. In essence, the child is the king of the village. When a child walks into the middle of a crowd, all attention goes to him or her as if to applaud an arrival long awaited. Children complete the community!