Tag Archives: reaction

Are You Afraid of How Your Child will React?

There is no doubt that fear can be a great motivator—it can spur us on to do some things, while keeping us from trying others. As parents, we definitely wrestle with our share of fear—worrying about our child’s health and well being and taming both our irrational and rational fears. One area where fear does NOT help us be better parents is when we back off from doing what we should do because we are afraid of our child’s reaction. I do not know a single parent who actually enjoys being the “bad guy” or the one who has to … Continue reading →

Can You Ignore It?

A huge chunk of parenting is responding to our child’s behavior. While we may try to anticipate as much as we can, and even try to be an influencer and guide things in the direction we would like them to go, the truth is that often we are in response mode—responding to whatever crisis or behavior our child has come up with. Instead of responding and reacting to everything your child does, however, you might want to ask yourself if this is something you can possibly ignore? This can be such a tricky and sticky parenting technique—after all, we don’t … Continue reading →

Pouting

As individuals, some of us parents can tolerate certain behaviors while others make us crazy. I always find it interesting talking with parents and finding out what are their triggers and what things they can handle just fine. I have a fairly high tolerance for whining, for example, while other parents absolutely hate it. One other area where I can manage a fair amount of tolerance is for moping and pouting—but I know some parents who find that a child’s pouting and moping about is a huge trigger… Pouting…that drooping body language, brooding face, and general slouching about that a … Continue reading →

Taming Those Physical Responses

I like to think that I can be completely intellectual and cerebral when it comes to my work and business operations. Of course, that is not the case and in times of stress or anxiety, my body has definite physical responses that can affect not only my performance, but my decision-making capabilities. Learning how to calm myself and tame those physical responses is one of the ways I can make myself a more effective home business owner. Despite progress and technology, we are still biological creatures with biological responses. When we feel threatened, exhausted, tense, etc. our bodies react accordingly. … Continue reading →

You Can Choose Peace

I know that it does not always seem like peacefulness and family life go hand-in-hand–especially for some single parent families. I also have learned, however, that we do have some choice in our environment and how we react. We can, as parents, choose peace over an argument or over having to be in charge or right and that peacefulness can have a positive, lasting influence on our families. The fact is, our children will NOT always choose peace first. They may want a fight or a power struggle or they may feel like having a bit of a fit is … Continue reading →

Resisting the Urge to be Negative

I like to think of myself as a generally positive and optimistic person, but sometimes, when I sit back and listen to myself talk, I realize how much negativity I let creep into my comments. When it comes to how we talk to and with our children, resisting the urge to say something with a negative slant can make us better and more positive parents (and it might just change the way our children speak and act too.) Sarcasm, aggravation, annoyance–all of those creep into my tone and speech, often without my even realizing it. While I may feel basically … Continue reading →

How Quick is Your Reaction Time?

One of the things I have noticed about single parents is that we tend to be pretty quick on the draw. Of course, I am generalizing and this is just my opinion—but it seems to me that single parents have to be able to make decisions on the fly and react quickly to emergencies, crisis, and just the ordinary challenges of daily family life. I know that some of the best decisions and problem-solving come from being able to take one’s time and think things through; maybe even get a second opinion or someone to help look at things more … Continue reading →

Sometimes the Best Action is NO Action

As parents, do we always have to jump, respond and react to things our children say and do? The answer, of course, is No…I am not advocating ignoring our kids or looking the other way when they do something dangerous or unhealthy. In fact, I have often written about how important it is for us to stay involved and give our kids the attention and guidance they need. But, there are those times when our NOT reacting or taking action has a stronger influence than if we jump right in… I know it seems counter to so much that we … Continue reading →

Does This Action Demand a Response From Me?

I think one of the hardest things for me to do as a parent is to NOT respond to something my children say or do. I am deeply entrenched in being responsive after years of mothering and it is often difficult for me to evaluate whether the best response from me at any given moment might be no response at all. Cause and effect, action and reaction—thus is the dance of many a parent and child. Our children behave in a certain way, act out, say something and we respond in kind or at least with something we think is … Continue reading →