To help your children with you while shopping, tell them ahead if time, you're going to play a game called "go and stop".

When everything is not working. Hold your child's hand to control your child's pace. Say, "Go" and start walking very fast in the mall. Then say, "stop" and stop (it is usually a squeal). Then say "Go" and so on. The child will soon be having so much fun to forget about what was happening before. You will likely get some choice looks from customers (smile back).   more »

This is a great idea to use with children when getting ready to leave a store or shopping mall.

The Fun Train
This continues to work 95 per cent of the time. When it is time to leave, I say, "time to go to the fun train (which is our vehicle) . . . all aboard." I'll call the children by name and we walk behind each other, "choo-chooing" to the fun train. My five year old told me that I am the conductor and we now need pretend tickets for the fun train. I'll usually only need to announce boarding twice before the little patter of feet are chugging along.

This idea came from a therapeutic child web site.   more »

Another way to spend closer time with your child is to take five minutes and slowly give your child a bck rub/massagte after he or she gets into bed.  You can use this time to teach your child to breathe in and out more slowly,out all the yucky feelings of the day and breathe in quiet, calming. peaceful energy to help him or her fall asleep.   more »

You ask your child to do something and he doesn't budge,  You say it again and nothing happens.  This isn't the first time your child ignires you when you speak.  One way to deal with this is to make sure you're facing your child when you speak to him or her.  Get eye contact by gently placing your hand on his or her shoulder.  Say what you have to say and then sremarkm "What did you hear me say?"   If the child answers correctly, answer with, Great listening!"

When children ignore you, they're not taking you seriously.  You can change this by getting close enough to your child to get eye contact and ask what you just said.

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One of the ways you can get closer to your child emotionally is to sit down with some hand lotion.  Let your child know this is some quiet time for the two of you to spend together,  take slower, deeper breaths and slowly massage your child's hands.  When you're througth, ask your child if he or she wouod like to practice massaging your hands.  Accept whatever answer you'r given.   more »

Parents often feel frustrated when their chdilodren don't come home on time.  When a child does this, I look at the behavior developmentally.  At what age does this behyavior normally happen?  You find this behvior in toddlers.  They get so involved in what they're doing, nothing else matters; especially time.

If your child comes home late, say, "Thanks for letting me know you're not big enough and strong enough to come home on time.  The next time you want to visit your frinds or go out and play, you'll have to do it at home.  I know that someday, maybe sooner, mayber later, you'll be able to come home on time."  Say nothing else and walk away.  If yur child starts to argue, smile sweetly and softly say, "I love you too much to argue."  Then consinue walking away.

You can have your child do practice drills by going out ...   more »

I want to wish all the fanilies a Happy Thanksgibving!   more »

Psychologists Myrow and Myrow (2002) came up with another engaement activity called Pushing My Buttons.  The parent and child are sitting close to each other when the parent says, "What will happen when I push this button?"  The adult gently presses some part of the child's body and makes a noise.  it might look like this:

Press the nose and make a "honk" sound

Press the shoulder and make a "bleep" sound

Press the ear and make a "clucking" sound.

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Dr. Anthony Kane wrote an article called "The Seven Keys to Child Obedience."  I hope you find it helpful.   more »

Bear Hug

If your child has a small stuffed teddy bear or other animal, getit and hug it close.  Then, hand it to your child to see if he or she hugs it.  Ask for the animal back; give it another hug, and return it.  End this simple game with a hug for your child and stuffed animal together.

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Another brain gym exercise found in the Dennisons' book, Brain Gym, is called the Balance Button.  It helps with thinking, relaxing for test taking, and organizational skills.  While sitting down, touch two fingers to the indentation at the base of the skull, behind the ear.  Rest the other hand on your navel.  Imagine breathing the energy up through the body, slowly and deeply.  After a minute, switch hands and hold your two fingers behind the other ear.   more »

Another way to create positive interactions with your children is to build or create something together.  Perhaps you could use nuts and bolts, screws and screwdrivers with a peice of wood to create something fun together.  For the cooks out there, have your child help you make something from a mix such as cake, brownies, cookies, muffins, etc.  have the child help with pouring and stirring.  make it a fun activity whereby you know you are helping your child feel better about himself or herself because you're giving the child your full attention.

The child will also practice eye-hand coordination, linear thinking and patience.

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Interacting with your child in positive ways is an important part of parenting.  It doesn'nt take a great deal of time and brings back great rewards to you andyour child.  It was developed by Theraplay experts Jernberg & Booth in 1999.

Playfully check your child's body parts to see if they are hot, cold, hard or soft.  This is especially good with a younf child and an older child who's feeling emotionally distant or unattached.  Have fun!

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Paul and Gail Dennison have this exercise in their book, Brain Gym that helps with math and spelling skills.  The elephant will also help you to listen better.  Stand up, bending your knees and 'glue' your head to your shoulder and point across the room to the left.  Use your ribs to move your whole upper body as you trace a Lazy 8 on it's side.  Look past your fingers.  Then, repeat with the other side.

If you have your child practice spelling his or her spelling words in the air, it helps him or her to remember them.

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This activity originated from psychologists Myrow & Myrow in 2002.  The parent sits down facing the child and fills own cheeks with air.  Then, the parent guides the child's hands to the parent's face to push gently on the adult's cheeks with the fingers to pop out the air.  Then, encourage the child to fill his or her own cheeks with air and the parent then pops the air out.   more »

Regardless of the age or sex of the child, this is a great activity to have positive interactions between parent and child.  Today's kids know a lot more movements and songs than I did when growing up.  You're also helping your brains to function more effectively because you're using both hemispheres of the brain at the same time.  So grab your kid, sit down and have some fun.  You probably need it more than he or she does.   more »

Another engaing activity takes place betweenyou and your child and a small ball.  Get on the floor on your stomach, facing your child, roll the ball over to your child with your hands.  Have the child roll it back.  Then, see if you both can do it with one finger, then your hand clenched up, then your chin, if you can.  Younger children like this one.  if you have an older child, you can go outside and play "catch" with a ball.

It doesn't take a lot of time to have quality time with your child.  A mere five minutes can do wonders in terms of letting the child know he or she is important enough for you to give them your undivided attention.

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Do you have a child that constantly defies your parental control, gets angry easily and tends to blame others for his or her actions, instead of taking responsibility?  If so, you have a child that is stuck developmentally in his or her emotional development.  This type of behavior usually occurs when a child is between two and three years of age. There's a real resentment toward pereived authority.  in the child's attempt to become more indeopendent, he wants to do it his way.

For the frustrated parent, dealing this angry behavior, a couple of suggestions for you to consider:

First, how often do you truly acknowledge all the positive things your childe says and does?  You catch more bees with honey than with vinegar.  It could be somehting as simploe as, "I see you ready for school on time today."  I noticed you put your clothes aqwaqy last night."  I ...   more »

Deborah Critzer-Fox, Parenting Editore of Positive Parenting Newsletter, wrote an article about 9 Ways to Make Waiting Fun.

You can read her entire article by clicking on the link above.  For those of you who don't like to read, here are her suggestions:

• Ask your child to make up a silly, outrageous story about why the waitress is taking so long to deliver the meal, or what caused the traffic jam.
• Hold up an ordinary item such as a pencil or spoon. Have the child suggest unusual uses for the object.
• Take turns singing as many songs as you know that have a color in the song. Example: Rudolf the RED nose reindeer, The YELLOW Rose of Texas, BLUE Suede shoes, etc.
• Ask your child to close their eyes and describe what you are wearing.
• Ask your child to list 10 things found in a dentist office, car ...   more »

One of the ways to increase positive communications with your children is to sneak a little note or happy face into their lunch boxes, back packs or in their beds.  The notes should be positive, sharing your feelings about something good they said or did recently.

If your children are older, you can use a spiral notebook as a communication journal to share feelings with one another; not chores or what has to be done.  This is for positive communication and feedback.  Whenever you acknowledge something the child said or did, it lets the child know you're aware.  Instead of saying, "good job", write or say something about what you obsevred them doing; an action they took.

Some examples might be:

"I noticed you put all your clothes in the dirty hamper by yourself".

"I liked the way you came to dinner quickly when I called you."

"I see how ...   more »