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.

The jealousy of the children towards the couple!

The jealousy of the children towards the couple is more common than you think. You've probably witnessed some scene in your family and even found it funny or worried about the issue.

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. 

Grandparents and grandchildren!

The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren can be a source to pleasure, affection, understanding and rejuvenation but, as any other family relationship, it needs some care so that one can actually enjoy, grow and learn.

Being a parent X Being a spouse

Maybe you are not the only that think it is impossible to separate the couple's space and the parent's space. The difficulty in defining the functions of father/ mother from those of the couple is one of the causes of family problems.

What's it like to be a parent in a war zone?

What's it like to be a parent in a war zone? Perhaps this is not the first question that comes to your mind when you watch the news about armed conflicts, wars and refugee families. Perhaps this theme raises several feelings and questions in you, but this was one of the doubts that came to mind the psychologist Aala El-Khani.

Challenges of an expat partner!

Contrary to what many people may think to be an expat partner has its ups and downs. Moving to another country is an adventure for the whole life. It’s scary, exciting, intimidating and inspiring in equal measure. There are ups and downs in every moment of planning, packaging and moving.

Respect for the rhythm !

                                                                           Photo by @sysmstudio

In some situations we use to say children are slow…slow to eat, to dress, to walk, to obey and many others. But are they indeed slow ? And compared to what?

Betty & Cat: a bilingual book to kids!

As I wrote in others posts, one of the biggest challenges that families with children have is bilingualism. As I mentioned in this post, there are some strategies that you can follow to make this process easier. But to illustrate one of those strategies I am going to share a book that I got to know a few weeks ago and I feel in love with.

Bilingual children and the value of languages!

As I wrote in the post "raising children in another culture," raising children in another culture involves many changes and challenges for both parents and children. A frequent concern of parents is bilingualism, but not only about possible language difficulties with the use of two languages, but how to make the child or even the teenager value this new language and realize the benefits that this new language brings and the cultures it gives access to.

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.

How to deal with lies!

It comes as no surprise that at some point of your life you have lied to someone. This behavior can be seen more frequently in children, but unfortunately we see it in teenagers and adults. 

To children, lying can be related to desires and fantasy or sometimes used to avoid consequences of any behavior. Young children are used to lie to express desires and what they think, without realizing the bad connotation associated with this act.

Body X mind? Does this still exist?

Unfortunately in our society we value the body over the mind. This is a fact and it is not only up to me change it. But what do we know about maintaining our psychological health? What do we teach our children about emotional hygiene?

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.

Be Grateful!

As children grow older and reach cognitive and emotional maturity some values as honesty, self-esteem, gratitude, and justice are more clearly understood. These values can and must be learned since the early stages. Contrary to what you might think this is not done through lecturing or long discussion, but with small conversations, actions and examples set by the parents.

The transmission of values does not happen overnight, but are assimilated by way of example and identification. It’s up to parents to be careful not to require or demand from the child something she has never had contact with.

Paternal figure!

When we think about childhood development and others related subjects, we think about the mother or other maternal figure. The relationship between a child and the maternal figure is fundamental to child's development. But what about the paternal figure, the father, grandfather, and even the uncle? Why do we speak so little about them?

Mother-son relationship

You've probably already heard of friends and "specialists" or even read about the importance of a mother for the development of a child, and her importance in the family.

But whether it's the biological or adoptive mother or even dads acting as moms, all these people are extremely important in the children's life. These issues are treated in several books which approach the mother-child relation for different ages and situations.

How to talk about suicide!

                         

All the repercussion that the subject of suicide and related issues produced by the social media during the past few weeks has encouraged me to speak briefly on the subject. Suicide is a major public health issue in all countries. This phenomenon is present throughout the entire history of humanity in all cultures. It is a behavior with multifactorial determinants and the result of a complex interaction of psychological and biological factors, including genetic, cultural and socioenvironmental triggers.

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.