One of the worries I have for my daughter and her friends is that phones are stunting their emotional intelligence skills -- particularly in the areas of social awareness and relationship management. And it's clear that EQ is a huge predictor of personal happiness and academic success so if it's not well developed, well, that wouldn't be ideal. What's more, I imagine kids' phones are also used … [Read more...]
Emotional Intelligence Activities for Kids
Because it's an assignment from school, I've been reading aloud Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves to my 13- year old daughter. It's been exactly what she needs. It's helping her label not just the emotions that are floating around her adolescent brain, but is providing strategies to improve both her emotional self-awareness and emotional self-management. In doing … [Read more...]
How to Help Your Kids Deal with the Colorado Shooting Tragedy
I can't believe it; but I can believe it. A shooting in a crowded movie theater of children and adults. Innocents. Precious lives destroyed. I feel sadness and anger. You may not want to talk to your school-age kids about this - and because school is out, that's a more viable option than normally. However, if your children are around other kids, they will hear about the shooting at some point. … [Read more...]
Cancer Sucks! When a Parent has Cancer
Her husband got the news last week-- cancer. (Again.) Their boys are one and four. When she told me, I taught her boys a bad word. Somehow it just slipped out. Sorry. Cancer is scary and big and makes me MAD. When A Parent Has Cancer Not knowing what to do I asked another friend, Michelle, a breast cancer survivor with two young kids. She told me, "Support her by taking care of the … [Read more...]