The word “spoiled” has been used so extensively that its meaning seems, for many parents, hopelessly vague and indefinite. The concept is blurred both by generational differences and by the fact that the term “spoiled” can also have positive connotations—it's often associated with being indulged at Christmas and on birthdays, for instance, or with the attention of doting relatives. ...
Trust is one of the most fragile facets of any human relationship; it can take years to build and just minutes to break. For parents, losing trust is an especially complicated and painful phenomenon; not only must parents deal with their own feelings of betrayal when a child does something so unthinkable that the foundations of trust are shaken, they ...
Children, as any parent knows, can be baffling and unpredictable; they may tantrum seemingly out of nowhere, or develop stubborn behaviours (such as hitting a sibling or adamantly refusing to tidy up after themselves) and maintain them irrespective of the consequences and the pleas of adults. When such events occur, parents are invariably left wondering, “Why? Why is my child ...
Pause… Breathe… Smile… those are the 3 magic words I constantly try to hone in with my 5-year-old. Do they work? With reminders and on a good day, yes. Otherwise… not so much. Surprisingly, while trying to teach these to my son, I ended up using these words as my own personal motto to help stay calm and in control. As ...
As children grow older, their behaviours change dramatically. While a hysterical tantrum over something minor is completely normal at two ...
The human brain processes all sensory information whether or not you are fully aware of it. Most children are able ...
Not every relationship works out. This is true whether the relationship in question is a friendship, romantic relationship, or the ...
If your child is struggling behaviourally or academically, his school may recommend that he take what is known as a psycho-educational (“psy-ed”) assessment - or you may wish to seek such an assessment independently. This comprehensive evaluation is designed to measure a child’s cognitive processing abilities (including logical reasoning, memory, attention, and executive functioning), his current level of academic ...
While there is no way to make divorce “easy” on a child, there are ways to keep a divorce from damaging a child in a severe, lasting way. To the eyes of a vulnerable child, there is a world of difference between two parents separating amicably — while reassuring the child that he or she will remain important to both of ...
Not all gifted children automatically flourish at school; for some, academic activities seem to be a source of frustration or boredom, even as those same children will happily apply considerable effort to demanding activities outside of school, exhibiting a great deal of creative potential. While many parents and educators are quick to assume a behavioral issue when presented with the ...
For many teenagers, the pressure to be “perfect” is an unavoidable reality; whether it's envying those students who appear to ace every subject at school with ease, longing to be one of the popular kids, or wishing to rank among the star athletes, almost all teens have experienced the pain of feeling “less than” at some point. While this is ...
