Can you be alone?

At some point of your life you probably came across situations when you had to be alone, either because your partner was travelling; your children were at their grandparents house and many others. To some these situations can be dealt with no problem, but to others much harder. In these moments we can feel lost, not knowing what to do and often even bothered by this feeling. Of course it all depends on your age and the situation you are in, but overall this requires some reflection.

My son does not know how to lose!

Everyone likes to win, be it a football match or a race. When we are young winning is a necessity. Every interaction with parents or friends becomes a competitive environment and winning is the priority.

How to educate emotionally?

Dealing with emotions is not so easy, but the sooner we start the healthier our children's emotional inteligence will be. The parents should teach them to think about emotions so that they can identify what they feel and also how others feel. 

How to deal with the expectation of parents!

To talk about what parents expect their children's lives, caution must be exercised. You have to get out of the question if the expectation is "good or bad" and evaluate how parents and children deal with those expectations.

Talking about stepfathers and stepmothers!

I believe the role of stepparents is one of the most delicate in the family! Those roles are no longer seen as taboo and currently are more frequent than we imagine.

How to Talk About Racial Differences with Children!

As I previously mentioned talking with children and teenagers is a skill that can be improved over time. As I wrote in other posts, some parents might be tempted to avoid certain topics as these force the parents to question the right moment, age and situation to discuss them.

I've already written on the blog about some common subjects such as sexuality, jealousy, lying, adoption, disability, money, drugs and Alzheimer. I invite you to take a look at these posts and, if you wish, send me a message with your question, since answering them might helpt others in similar situation. 

Perhaps talking about racial differences can be easy, even common, for your family; for others, not so much. But how can talk about this subject with children?

Why do parents question their role so much?

Raising children today is different from fifty years ago and this is nothing new. Children who were seen before as economic goods, who worked and helped the family income, started going to school instead of working. Their rights and responsabilities were recognized and the childhood became an important stage in human development.

Family Migration: Talking about Losses!

In this week's post I continue to treat the issues concerning family migration. If you haven't seen any of the posts yet, I invite you to read old posts, ‘Third Culture Kids' and ‘Raising children in another culture. 

If like me you went to live in another country, or even have friends and relatives who went living abroad for whatever reasons, know that you're not the only one. Since the 1980s more and more men, women and whole families have left their country of origin.  The US, Canada and Japan are the most sought after countries.

Raising children in another culture!

As I wrote in other posts, leaving your home country involves many gains and losses. Most of these will not be so noticeable and it may take you some time to get everything in perspective. 

When a family with children, whether they are small or not, leaves its country of origin, it also affects the pros/cons and new challenges appear.

Take care of yourself!

It's been a while that I'm thinking about caring. I don’t refer to taking care of others, such as a spouse or relatives but taking care of yourself.

We can say that is normal to have some time for yourself, going to the beauty salon, doing nails or hair, buying news clothes... just to feel a little prettier and generally better in some bad days. But is that enough? Does taking care of appearance really make we feel better about ourselves?

How to deal with children's questions!

I've already written about the importance of dialogue between parents and their children, and communication within the family in general. As simple as it may seem, some people still have doubts about, or hesitate doing it. And there's nothing wrong as long as you're ready to change.

When children are very young, their questions generally turn into talks. To ask and to clarufy doubts is an essential part of the learning process. But not all children feel comfortable to say they didn't understand something or even to satisfy their curiosity, either because of shyness or because the environment at home or at school doesn't make them feel at ease to do so.