The Bad Attitude Intelligence Test
Just how much do you know about bad attitudes and how to change them? Dr. Michele Borba, author of Don’t Give Me That Attitude! 24 Rude, Selfish, Insensitive Things Kids Do And How to Stop Them! (Jossey-Bass, Apr. 2004), says, “One of the biggest reasons bad attitudes stay is because of a number of misconceptions about them.” Answer Dr. Borba’s questions either true or false to see just how strong your “attitude intelligence” is. The results may surprise you. True or False? Your child’s...
Does Your Child Need An Attitude Makeover?
“Have you thought (secretly of course) how much easier selling your kids on E-bay would be than raising them for one more minute? Do you sometimes feel as though you’ve become your kids’ ATM machine? If so, chances are your kid has a big dose of the Big Brat Factor.” — from Don’t Give Me That Attitude! Outbursts from selfish, rude, and demanding children are symptoms of a rapidly growing epidemic that is sweeping the country. While experts differ as to how to label this behavior, most parents...
Bad Attitude News Alert
Bad Attitude News Alert Troubling Trends Show We're Raising A Generation of Bratty Kids by Michele Borba, Ed.D. Author of Don't Give Me That Attitude!: 24 Things Kids Do and How to Stop Them Child expert and author of Don’t Give Me That Attitude!, Dr. Michele Borba. "Bad attitudes are far more deadly than mere behaviors because they are more entrenched and are kids’ operating beliefs for life. And there lies the danger: bad attitudes such as disrespect, bullying, arrogance,...
12 (Not So) Surprising Benefits of Play
Dozen benefits of child-directed (aka unscheduled, spontaneous) play for our stressed-out, over-supervised kids. Okay folks, I'm concerned. Over the last few weeks I’ve been reviewing studies involving children and play. “Shocked” and “disturbed” are the two words that describe how I feel when reading those reports. Every study reaches one sad conclusion: Good old-fashioned play (remember that?) is quickly becoming an endangered pastime for today’s plugged-in, over-scheduled, too supervised...
How to Know Why A Child Bullies So You Can Turn It Around
How to determine why a child is using aggressive behaviors so you can turn it around Let's face it, it’s not easy to know that your child is bullying. It’s hard to admit that your kid is using aggression. But to allow bullying behaviors to continue will be disastrous to your child’s character, conscience, reputation, well-being and mental health. No matter the age, gender, religion, or ethnicity, any child resorting to bullying behaviors needs an immediate behavior intervention. Please do not...
Helping Kids Fit In to a New School and Make Friends
Parenting tips to help kids fit into a new classroom, school, neighborhood or social scene Adjusting to any new social scene can isn’t always easy. But having all new classmates, transitioning to a new school or most of all moving to a whole new community can be tough. And oh how kids can pour on the guilt to remind us they’re not happy campers: “You’re ruining my life!” “Why are you sending me to that dumb new school?” “Why can’t we move back to our old neighborhood?” “Do you have any...
Please Join Me to Stop Teen Medicine Abuse!
Note to My Readers: I'm very concerned about the growing rates of teen medicine abuse. You may have seen a number of my blog posts about this topic. I'm passionate about this and I've taken on the role as a National Spokesperson for the Medicine Abuse Project via The Partnership At Drugfree.Org to try to educate parents about these dangers. This morning a huge email blast was sent to media outlets across the country. I'm attaching the email to keep you aware of my efforts. I urge you to get...
Helping Kids Sleep Better: The Overlooked Key to Grades and School Success
American Academy of Sleep Medicine estimates that 1 in 3 kids are sleep-deprived--here is how to help your child get those needed z-z-z-z-s School success impacts our children for the rest of their life: it influences their self-esteem, college selections, job attainment, financial success, and even their choice of spouses. It's no wonder we go to such great lengths to try and give our kids an academic edge. But despite our good intentions we often overlook a simple strategy that impacts...
Parent Guide to Make Back to School More Positive and Less Jittery for Kids
Parenting tips to ease jitters, smooth transitions and make heading back to school less scary for kids Heading back to school is exciting for most kids but can be a bit traumatic for others. It’s only natural for children to feel a little anxious especially if you’ve just moved to town, are changing schools, repeating a grade, have never left mom’s side, are a shyer-more sensitive-type kid or didn’t have a successful experience last year. There are also big adjustments to make like learning...
How to Raise An Inspirational Child!-My TODAY Show segment Aug 7
I'm flying to New York to be on the TODAY show on August 7 on a topic that is near and dear to my heart: "How to raise inspiring children." These are kids who are talented in different ways-theatre, art, music, preaching, charity-but the one thing they have in common is lifting the hearts of others. Their talents are also ones that aren't usually show up on IQ test scores or even achievement tests - but they are clearly gifted. So how do we identify their gifts and what are ways to nurture...
Do Older Men Make Better Dads?
A new parenting trend shows many men are becoming fathers later in life. The trend, parenting considerations, and the studies I shared on the TODAY show. "My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it." ~ Clarence Budington Kelland I sat down with Matt Lauer on the TODAY show and discussed a fascinating subject: "Do older men make better dads?" (Full disclosure: I readily admit to being a bit biased. I am the product of an incredible dad who waited quite a while...
“Thanks A Billion” On behalf of thousands of hungry American families
REALITY CHECK: Alarming USDA Stats about American hunger More than 50 million Americans live in food insecure households More than 16 million of those impacted by food insecurity are children Over the past two years, I have had the pleasure of working alongside Walmart and the Walmart Foundation in their efforts to help children and families across the U.S. live better, healthier lives. I first worked with Walmart in June 2012, helping them announce $20 million in grants to six national...
Helping Kids Communicate the “Old Fashion Way”
Tips to help our digital natives learn to talk-not text-and even converse! Here's the hot parenting question for today (at least the one I'm asked quite frequently): "How do you boost communication skills with today's digital natives who would rather text than talk?" It's a great question. So here's today's Reality Check: Today's kids send and receive an average of 88 texts a day [Pew]. We know that effective communication is critical for boosting our relationship with our kids. We also know...
Raising a Self-Reliant Child by Dr. Alanna Levine
We have all heard the news about helicopter parents and boomerang children, and baffling statistics like the fact that one-third of American men aged 22 to 34 still live with their parents. But how can parents safeguard against these trends, when every moment of a child’s life is increasingly scheduled and competitive? Pediatrician Dr. Alanna Levine, author of Raising a Self-Reliant Child, offers a refreshing and authoritative new voice in the parenting arena. Her commonsense approach finds a...
Rx Stimulant Abuse: Too Many Teens – And Their Parents! – Think It’s Okay
Midterms. Finals. College applications. It’s no secret that today’s teenagers are overwhelmed with pressure to succeed, both academically and socially. Expectations are high, and teens are turning to stimulant medications, like Adderall and Ritalin, because they think it will alleviate some of that pressure and help them keep up. But what many teens and their parents don’t know is that when used in any other way than that prescribed by a doctor, stimulant medicines can be harmful to the body...
The ‘Motherhood Club’: How to Empower and Support Our Fellow Moms
Motherhood is the most important job in the world. We all share the same goal - to raise happy, healthy kids. So why are we caught in the ‘mommy wars?’ Let’s end this battle and focus on empowering one another. The Exclusive Motherhood Club I don’t know if you realize it, but there’s a special group called the ‘Motherhood Club.’ It’s a very exclusive club, and membership is for life. When we joined, or how, is irrelevant. But once you become a mom, there’s no more powerful role in life....
Children’s Author Takes Action to Address the Dangers of Hatred, Prejudice & Stereotyping
ATTENTION ALL PARENTS, COUNSELORS & EDUCATORS: Full disclosure: Trudy Ludwig is one of my favorite children’s authors as well as a caring human being. All her books (including Confessions of a Former Bully, Sorry, and Trouble Talk) are plain glorious, but now she's outdone herself. Trudy has an exciting new nonfiction picture book project for kids that she’s working on called Gifts from the Enemy. When she described her theme I was chilled, cried and then cheered (and all within 30...
How to Raise Assertive Kids Who Speak Up for Themselves and Others
7 solutions to help kids develop self-confidence, buck peer pressure and speak up for themselves Let’s face it. It’s a hard time to be growing up, and the data confirms it. Bullying is fiercer. Peer pressure is tougher. Kids are more aggressive (and at younger ages!). Girls are meaner. Tougher temptations like drinking, sex, and drugs are hitting our kids at younger ages as well as those sticky-tricky situations like copying homework or letting a peer cheat on a test! Of course we can’t...
Could Computers Be the Answer to Peace? Ask Kids from Karabakh!
How the One Laptop per Child project, NUR and children in a land far away called Karabakh may teach us the secret to positive social change for developing countries and even peaceful coexistence I’ve been a teacher, writer and researcher for over thirty years and like many, I’m haunted knowing that millions of children in our world will never receive an education or even walk into a classroom. I’ve pondered again and again how we can give poverty-stricken kids-especially those living in the...
10 Reasons To Not Spank Your Child
Yes, Kate Gosselin of the infamous Jon & Kate Plus 8 was photographed spanking her child. Oh my! I know this is probably old news and every media outlet from here to Cape Town probably covered it. But with all the flurry that Kate herself succumbed to that ancient parenting tool, my email box is suddenly loaded with “spanking” queries. It seems good ol Parent Guilt is alive and churning in the U.S.A. Well,why not spank? you wonder. It’s quick, it’s familiar (at least to parents who were...
10 Ways to Make Prom & Grad Night Safer For Our Teens
REALITY CHECK: Did you know the period between prom through graduation are statistically the deadliest time of the year for teens on our national highways? Here are ways to keep your teen safe and have happy memories. Prom night. Graduation! You want your teen to have a wonderful, magical evening, but it’s easy to forget that prom these days is more than picking out the perfect prom dress, tux, corsages, and hair style. It’s those after-prom parties with possible underage...