It can sound like a simple “Thank You,” or feel like a hug, or look like a Thank You card. But the feelings behind these acts usually run quite deep – both on the side of the person expressing that they are grateful – and to the person receiving it. Try to think of a…
Parenting
F is for Friendly: Encouraging Kindness, Sharing, and Attentive Listening
When I began this alphabetic series, Teaching Kids About Character, I sat down and listed all the positive qualities that I wanted my son to have. I came up with a great list and have been doing a lot of thinking each week about what I am doing to help encourage these qualities in my 2.5…
E is for Empathetic: 10 Ways to Teach Empathy
Empathy. What does it look like and why is it so important to teach our kids? Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. For a young child, it requires them to recognize different emotions and be able to understand the differences between the emotions. It also requires a child…
D is for Dauntless: Living with Peanut Allergy
“Dauntless: showing fearlessness and determination.” One of the first thoughts that ran through my head the day that my son, Onetime, was diagnosed with severe peanut allergy at the age of 1 was that I did not want him to grow up to be fearful. Fearful of eating something accidentally with peanuts, or fearful of…
Teaching Kids Confidence: Lessons from The Wizard of Oz
When I was in high school, I played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and ever since this story has had a special place in my heart. When I decided to write about encouraging confidence in children for this week’s teaching kids about character post, I thought that the Wiz was the perfect allegory for this concept.