Your Kids Are Cool
September 25, 2009 by Tyler Hartle · Leave a Comment
As a parent you probably spend a great deal of your time trying to be the best parent ever, doing whatever you can for your children. All the while you’re balancing the needs and demands of a busy life.
Being a parent in today’s world you may tend to feel more like you’re a business owner, rather than a parent. Parenting is like running a small company. In fact, the two are so similar, it’s no wonder why we tend lose sight and fail to keep them separate. You have to manage a household, manage your time, manage a job and manage behavior of your children. The list goes on and on and on.
Increasingly, we hear about the costs of having children. These are usually described as economic, social or career costs. The price of diapers alone makes some parents turn and run. We hear talk of the sacrifices made by adults in their lives as a result of having children. Are these really sacrifices or gifts?
Dr. Wayne Dyer once said, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This is the perfect statement for everyone to remember during their term as parents. It is sometimes easy to lose sight of what is important. In the middle of life’s busy pace, take the time out to reflect on the ways your children contribute to your life rather than on what else you can do for your child.
Here are some of the things our children give us as parents:
• Unconditional love and admiration just for being you
• Trust that you are the strongest, wisest and bravest person in the world
• The ability to play your child’s hero
• The ability to be a child again
• The ability to appreciate an intensity of emotion and range of strengths and skills
• The ability to reflect on your own values, attitudes and assumptions
• The ability to re-experience the joy and pleasure to be found in simply being a child
• The ability to share in their amusement and their laughter
• The ability to return to your own childhood
• The ability to take time out from being a grown up
One of the single most important gifts parents can give themselves is time with their children.
Make time each day to play, dream, cry, laugh, or wonder and explore with your children. You will be handsomely rewarded!
The First Three Years
August 1, 2009 by Tyler Hartle · Leave a Comment
The first three years of your child’s life is important.
Between birth and three years of age your child grows and develops faster than at any other stage in their lives. The way your child’s brain develops in these early years is critical. In the first three years of your child’s life, the brain has done a great deal of its growing and has established important pathways for future development. Everything we do, say, think and feel is experienced and made sense of through our brain. Our brain allows us to love and to laugh, cry and then feel better, be confused and then understand.
The budding brain
At birth your baby has about 100,000,000,000 (that’s 100 billion) nerve cells, yet the brain is not fully developed. In the first few years of life these cells develop vital connections in the brain that influence your child’s emotional, social and intellectual make-up. Your child’s brain is affected by influences from your child’s environment in these early years. The brain uses our sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) to tell us what is going on in the world. Everything we experience is filtered through our senses. Our senses send signals to our brain that can alter how our brain understands and responds to experiences and information.
The importance of parenting
Scientists and researchers alike have found that the relationship between a parent and child in the early years affects the child’s brain development in many ways. When children are provided with loving and caring experiences in these early years, the connections in the brain for feeling good and learning are strengthened. Babies and young children need a lot of nurturing, touching and stimulation to enable them to learn and grow in the best possible way. An early positive relationship with parents promotes curiosity, self esteem and confidence in developing children. These relationships will assist children to better cope with life’s challenges.
During the developing years spend time:
• Holding and cuddling your child
• Talking to and smiling with your child
• Recognizing and responding to your child’s signals
• Providing your child with new experiences and opportunities
• Ensuring your children feel safe and secure
What You Can Do For A Child
August 12, 2008 by Tyler Hartle · 3 Comments
Playing your part – What you can do for children
- Show and tell children that they are important to you and that you care about how they feel.
- Understand and respect children’s vulnerabilities as well as their abilities.
- Appreciate the insights of children. They understand more than you think.
- Try to understand the seriousness and consequences of child abuse.
- Be someone special for a child to turn to. Be there to listen.
- Trust your judgement. Don’t keep it to yourself – do something if you are worried about a child.
