We say we love our kids no matter what, but accepting your children for who they are can turn out to be a struggle. Learn how to love your child unconditionally. When we were pregnant, we may have imagined what our kids would be like. Maybe we thought she'd be the little showman. The three-year-old who'd charm friends and family with her humor and wit. Or we thought she'd be the next child prodigy who could solve puzzles in record time. Or we looked forward to long hours of sweet slumber as we hold a calm baby in our arms. Instead, we got the opposite. The little showman we … [Read more...]
How to Teach Gratitude to Children
Teach your kids to be grateful! Avoid spoiling your kids and instead get tips on teaching kids gratitude so they're thankful for what they have. Many of us will (thankfully) never face true hardship at its grittiest. The kind that leaves you walking miles or taking three buses just to buy your groceries. Health diagnoses that leave you weeks or months to live. And most of us don't worry about diseases we drink from our water. We don't live in a one-room makeshift home where owning a tin roof over yours is a sign of wealth. Still, sometimes we lack the empathy for these issues. We're … [Read more...]
How to Respond when People Criticize Your Parenting
Frustrated from the criticisms of the way you raise your kids? Here's how to respond when someone criticizes your parenting methods. One glaring fact sets me apart from my family: I didn't let my kids eat sweets. They had no first-year birthday smash cakes or Christmas cookies. It took years before my eldest had his first taste of candy. I'm more lenient now with the twins, but not too much. Coming from a family where dinner can can include five desserts, this was sacrilege. And sometimes, I felt it. "Don't you feel bad for him though?" Someone might say as we're all eating cake … [Read more...]
Stop Comparing Your Child to Others
It's so easy to compare our kids, whether their milestones, achievements or interests. But here's why we need to stop comparing kids and what you can do instead. I jinxed myself, again. I was just beginning to think my toddler's tantrums didn't seem as terrible as in the past. And of course, he threw an all-out, can't-catch-my-breath tantrum in what should've been a fun birthday party. We had to listen to him cry the whole ride home—through traffic, of course—before he calmed down. All the while, I couldn't help but remember how his cousin and birthday celebrant was laughing with … [Read more...]