18Jul 2011 by Pase Garrett

Kids and Money

Routines, Tips & Tools

Contributed by Jody McVittie

Do you have questions about how to teach your children about money? When do you start allowance? Do you link it to chores? How much do you give them? How do you teach generosity? The simple answer is that YOU get to decide. Here are some suggestions – and you get to choose how to make it work for your family.

Why give children allowance? To teach them how to make mistakes with money. That sounds funny but it is a helpful thing to remember when your child wants to buy a small toy that you …

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06Jun 2011 by Pase Garrett

Family Work: Whose Job is It?

Mutual Respect, Routines, Setting limits, Tips & Tools

Contributed by Jody McVittie, MD

When I grew up everyone in our family had jobs to do. Many of them were centered around our family dinners (setting the table, clearing the table, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor). Other family jobs included feeding pets and taking care of the garbage (this was in the days before recycling.) I don’t remember “loving” these “chores” but I do remember that they were part of what each of us did to contribute to the family.

Having children routinely contribute to the family helps them understand what it takes to make things happen in …

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07Mar 2011 by Pase Garrett

Parenting with the Body in Mind

Feelings and emotions, Science and parenting, Self regulation, Tips & Tools
We sure hear a lot these days about the brain – and brain science. When we hear the word “brain” most of us think of the soft stuff that is inside our skull. That is, in fact, our “brain.” But it turns out that our body is not just the thing that carries our brain around. Human nervous systems are incredibly complex and there is a lot of information exchanged between the brain and the rest of the body. We can use this information to help ourselves and to help our kids.
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02Feb 2011 by Pase Garrett

Taking care of ourselves

Tips & Tools
Like many of you I tend to “take care” of others before I begin to think about what I need or what requests I might make. So today I get to listen, once again as I talk about self-care – and see if this time I can say, “I can make a commitment to do what I need to do to make time for and take care of myself.” Will you join me?
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25Jan 2011 by Pase Garrett

Whose problem is it anyway?

Tips & Tools
One of the many little posters my parenting instructor used read, “Whose problem is it, anyway?” He tried to teach us to recognize which problems were ours (as parents) and which problems really “belonged” to the children.
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