Reflections
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The Power of Positive Reinforcement in Kids
Image courtesy of Flickr The Power of Positive Reinforcement in Kids As parents, we want to raise thoughtful and caring kids who make good decisions. One way to do this quite effectively is by using positive reinforcement as often as possible. In most cases, praising kids for their positive behavior will help them to feel good about what they just did, which in turn increases the likelihood of them continuing to do it, Livestrong notes. A basic example of this is a child who remembers to feed and water his pet; if his mom tells him how proud she is of his responsible pet owner skills, her son will feel pretty darn…
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Melissa’s Musings :: 5 Tips To Stay In The Moment
“Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments.” ~ Rose Kennedy Lately I have been thinking about how great it would be if I could just freeze time or at least slow it down and keep my little girl from growing up too fast. She just celebrated her 8th birthday last week and I really can’t believe how quickly it goes by. You hear that from mom’s who have older children but don’t really understand until you too, see your toddler suddenly go from shaky steps to running around on the soccer field in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic wand that will allow me to…
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Melissa’s Musings :: Enjoying the Simple Things
These past few months have been some of the most challenging I have experienced in my life. No one can prepare you for losing a loved one and I think it is something that once you go through such deep sadness one is changed forever. I do feel less afraid of death as I feel my father’s presence around me. And knowing that he is just on the other side waiting for my family comforts me somehow. Some of the things I’ve learned along this journey include: Not everyone is comfortable talking about death. I found out pretty quickly that many of us are not comfortable talking about death or…
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The Art of Caring: 7 Tips for Helping Others During a Difficult Time
Image courtesy of Flickr Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim. ~ Vicki Harrison I have wanted to write this post for awhile but it has been one I had a hard time writing because it is all still so painful. A few months back my father passed away at the age of 67 on the golf course (midswing no less) of a massive heart attack. The friends he was playing with tried to revive him and the golf course staff even brought out one of those heart…
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Dandelion Moms Project Kindness for May :: Honoring Ryan
Today I read about a family who is going through every parents worse nightmare. A fellow mom blogger (@babyboybakery) lost her beautiful son this past Friday night in a senseless accident. You can read more about it here but from what I gather, 3 1/2 year old Ryan was playing Frisbee in front of a relative’s house and ran into the street chasing after it. A truck was driving by at that moment and a horrible accident happened in a blink of an eye. Jacqui and her husband are having to go through what no parent should go through. It is senseless and just so sad. I wanted to…
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The Tooth Fairy
Image courtesy of Flickr The summer of 2010 was a busy summer for my youngest son Hayden. It was a summer filled with many firsts. He learned how to ride his two-wheel bike—without the training wheels. He learned how to swim in the deep end—without a life jacket. He learned how to blow a bubble (bubble gum). He learned how to whistle. He lost his first, and second, baby teeth. Considering how animated and energized Hayden was—and still is—most of the time, he is also a very relaxed, go-with-the-flow kind of child. That summer, while we were visiting with friends in Montreal, the kids were eating corn on…
