Building Resilience
Resilience through the Storm
How do some people bounce back from stress and adversity, seemingly unscathed, while others fall apart and become emotionally distraught and dysfunctional? This is one of the crucial questions of our time. Emotional readiness for adversity—whether it be everyday challenges or larger losses– is just as important as physical preparedness to thrive in these turbulent…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Bully Dynamic
Pink Shirt Day, an annual event happening on February 28th this year, inspired this article. Pink Shirt Day “aims to raise awareness of [bullying], as well as raise funds to support programs that foster children’s healthy self-esteem,” and was inspired by an act of kindness in small-town Nova Scotia. “Two boys and their teenage friends organized…
Read MoreParenting the Sensitive Child
If the tag on your child’s shirt feels this big, and the seams on their socks are so annoying they have to turn the socks inside out, and the noise of the automatic flush toilets in the mall send them running out in tears, chances are you have a sensitive child. These children are also stirred…
Read MoreCultivating Resilience in Our Children
What makes one person robust in the face of adversity, and another fragile and weak? Human beings have the potential to be incredibly adaptive, but not everybody develops this capacity. It is not so much what happens to us, but our response to it that matters. I am fascinated with resilience, and how to cultivate…
Read MoreThe Summer Whine
Just as you may have been so excited in June for summer to start, and to have more downtime with the kids, some of you may now be yearning for September to come. I hear many parents complaining about how challenging it is to be with their children all day, every day, often accompanied by…
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