May is Mental Health Awareness Month. If you are a parent of a teenager, then you most likely have heard of last year’s groundbreaking Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. The general topics revolved around teen stress, anxiety, depression, and self-harm. If you are a parent who would like to learn more, I highly recommend that you ...read more
6 Tips to Help Your High Schooler With Senioritis
The college application process is over, Spring Break is upon us, prom is around the corner and graduation is quickly approaching for our high school seniors. After 12 or more years in school, they are almost done and as they hunch over their laptops to complete their final projects and take their final exams. They can feel ...read more
Is Chronic Conflict Ruining Your Marriage…and Your Kids?
Every relationship has conflict. Whether it’s about which way the toilet paper should roll, sexual issues, or if it’s about financial disagreements or politics, they are bound to happen. However, living in a state of constant conflict is another matter altogether. Living this way can be a very painful experience for everyone ...read more
Anxiety in the Age of Social Media: What to Do for You & Your Family
Is social media ruining our relationships and causing anxiety and depression in our teens and tweens? My wife and I were lucky enough to raise our three children before the age of social media, but the studies I’m reading on the negative and dangerous effects that social media is having on the development of children’s and teenagers social ...read more
21 Things Your Child Should Be Able to Do…And Should Do By The Age of 12
Ok. Maybe the picture above isn’t the best choice but I’ve put it at the beginning because I want you, as a fellow parent, to remember that kids doing their chores can be fun! It doesn’t always have to be a struggle…and sometimes it’s going to get messy as they learn! As the parent of three children, trust me. I know! It was important to my wife ...read more
How to Create the Best Possible First Day Back to School for Your Child…and You!
Parents, before you start doing your celebration dance with the kids going back to school, make sure you have your ducks in order, physically, mentally and emotionally, so both you and the kids are prepared before the first big day. And I know many of you may have already gone back to school, but it’s never too late to have these conversations ...read more
Why Children Need To Learn Self Discipline – 8 Tips To Help Them… And You!
As a parent of three children, a former schoolteacher, and a family therapist, there are certain truths that I’ve learned along the way. One of those involves the value of learning self-discipline. It’s an incredibly practical life lesson for our children to develop. Here’s why. Kids who learn self-discipline will be better equipped to deal with ...read more
Having A Baby – Part 4: 12 Tips To Enhance Your Relationship After Your Baby Is Born
You’re exhausted, you’re not having sex (that may be the last thing on a new mother’s mind) and emotions vacillate wildly. Is this the blissful time you were expecting? And what about you, new dad? How is your life changing now that you are a parent? What do you need? If you’re concerned that you’re not yourself or feeling that maybe you’re ...read more
The X-Plan: How to Help Your Tween or Teen Get Out of a Dangerous Situation
In general, I like to blog on a weekly basis. And about 98% of the time, I generate the blogs that you see here. But every now and then I come across an idea that can be so very helpful, whether it’s mine or someone else’s, that I naturally want to help spread the word – especially as it relates to the safety and health of our kids. This is ...read more
How Helicopter Parenting Impacts a Child’s Confidence
Parenting is… hard. As the father of three, I get it. Issues with parenting can occur anytime and anywhere - morning, evening, middle of the night, at home, while driving, in your local mall. Parental anxiety, and the conflicts which emerge from it, can pose real problems for parents and children. In addition, our role as parents has many ...read more
Bullying on Social Media: Tips to Lessen or Even Eliminate the Impact
Bullying used to mean getting picked on at school or maybe intimidation from a coworker. While this is still true, thanks to social media, bullying can mean so many things in 2017. Bullying is inclusive of physical, sexual, emotional, verbal bullying; now you can add cyberbullying and most recently, political bullying to the list. Often, in ...read more
Having A Baby – Part 3: Your New Baby Arrives! Let’s Help You By Dispelling 5 Myths About New Parenthood
Congratulations on the birth of your baby! You made it! You have navigated the final weeks of pregnancy and successfully delivered your little one! Your baby is now born. You might very well be thinking - as have millions before you - "Oh, wow! This is really for real!" The first few hours, days, and weeks of life with your child outside the ...read more
How To Raise Happy, Well-Adjusted Kids
Everywhere you turn today, you’ll find advice and recommendations on when to start your kids in school, where they should go, what instrument they should play and what extra-curricular activities will get them into better colleges or universities. All so they can achieve more and be well off in adulthood. But are good grades and a decent ...read more
Postpartum Depression: What is it? Do I Have It? How Can I Recover?
My doctoral dissertation researched pregnancy-related issues. That, coupled with over twenty-five years of being in private practice, and working with hundreds of women suffering from various degrees of postpartum depression, tells you a little bit about why this particular subject really hits home for me. Referred by family, friends, OB-GYN’s, ...read more
When Is Your Child Ready For A Smartphone?
For parents, this is a frequently discussed topic in my office. When IS the right time for my child to have a smartphone? Unfortunately, there is no cookie cutter, cut-and-dry answer. As with everything, it has a lot of layers. ...read more