Teaching your kids to have goals, do their best, and leverage personal momentum to succeed are all good ideas. However, there is a difference between supporting a child’s efforts to reach their goals and taking control of the results you deem the best possible outcomes. Parents who habitually steamroll their kids rob them of personal experience on multiple levels. When parents over-step, kids can lose their point of view; their self-esteem may go down; they may feel confused, anxious, or depressed; and they may focus too much on pleasing their parents instead of honoring their own desires.
Five years ago, Dan Viall introduced woodworking to his daughter Livia, now 10, with the intention of spending time with his youngster. Not long after, a family friend stopped by and was so impressed with one of Livia’s creations, he asked to purchase it as a gift for his wife. Excited by the idea of marketing her wares, Livia began peddling her woodwork under the name “Crafty Girl Creations” to family and friends, and on her mom’s personal Facebook page. As demand grew, her mom helped her set up a public business page on Facebook. She also sells her home décor items on Etsy and holiday marts. What can kids learn from owning their own businesses? Parents of young entrepreneurs say they not only earn extra cash, they gain a host of valuable life skills, too.
"I hate that vest! I’m not wearing it!” “I hate going to the grocery store!” “I hate you!” My kids, especially my five-year-old, utter the “H”-word more often than I’d like. When I hear it, my chest tightens, my jaw clenches, and I have to force myself to take deep breaths. If I know one thing as a parent, telling kids they aren’t allowed to use a certain word is an excellent way to ensure they use it as much as possible. Research shows that kids are 11 million times more likely to do the thing they’ve been expressly told not to do. And by ‘research,’ I mean my own informal studies performed totally unscientifically, using my own children as subjects.
Going to a silent retreat is on my bucket list. It seems like the ultimate way to reach a mindful, relaxed, and introspective state. Science indicates that silence can be beneficial to us in so many ways, as it impacts our physical, mental, and emotional health. Given our increasingly loud lives with technology constantly buzzing in our ears, how can we give our children the gift of silence to make them happier and healthier?
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