I am a huge proponent of summer camps.  I started at summer camp when I was 8 years old, and my gym teacher, who was also the camp program director, gave me a scholarship to attend.  After that week (despite the bouts of homesickness and a few bug bites), I was hooked, and continued to attend camp each summer as a camp, then a junior counselor, and a counselor.  In fact, my first “real” job out of college was as a camp director, and I still have very good relationships with (and many, many very fond memories of) both camps that I worked at and attended.   One of the reasons I even agreed to go on the first date with my husband was because he too had attended and worked at summer camps.  The experiences at camp can be life affirming, life changing, and, well, just plain fun!

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Allison is a Kidtelligent parent who used the Kidtelligent system to get a better understanding of how to parent her daughter. Allison’s daughter tended to have attributes more like her father than herself. Interestingly, Allison was able to better understand her husband in the process!

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Although there are days when your child may be pushing all of your buttons and you feel as though your reactions are beyond your control, it truly is a daily (or perhaps even moment to moment) choice not to yell, to stay calm, to choose love, and to parent positively.   Even still, all parents get angry at their children.  Anger is a type of message, in and of itself is not necessarily a problem, except that in the heat of the moment it is difficult to see the situation for what it is and react thoughtfully to it.  In the blog post “How can you stay cool when your kid acts up?” by Dr. Laura Markham at ahaparenting.com  she highlights five tips for staying level-headed when your child is acting up:

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Even with all of its rewards and joys, parenting can also be incredibly draining – especially for those parents who tend toward introversion with a child whose interaction needs far exceed your own.  So how do you best parent when your child craves and recharges from interaction as much as you crave and recharge from solitude?  R.L. LaFever’s post “Tips for Introverted Parents Raising Extroverted Kids” is an article I’ve re-read and referred to several since I am the mother of at least one extroverted son and the wife to a very extroverted husband.

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In this chatty, busy, extroverted world, those of us who are more reserved may feel at times as though we have a personality malfunction.  For a child who tends more toward introversion, trying to fit in to our bustling society may lend to them feeling a lack of confidence and sense of belonging.  In the blog post “5 Things to Know About Raising Introverted Children,” author Kelly Bartlett shares some ideas that parents can use to better suit their more quiet child’s needs:

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Recently I’ve heard a couple of my friends with teenage children say things like “As long as I don’t hear about it…” or “I just don’t want to know” when referencing situations in which their children may be participating, such as dating, sex.  Although discovering your child has been engaging in activities that may cause you to want to lock them away for the next 30 years, wouldn’t you rather have a relationship that allows and encourages your child to use you as a sounding board and confidant?   In the blog post “Ben the Person Your Child Confides In,”  Janet Lansbury shares six suggestions for building such a relationship with your child:

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Neither of my sons enjoy making mistakes.  Let’s face it, who does?  I see a lot of myself in my sons when they run and hide in their rooms, burying their heads in their pillows or turning beet red upon doing something “incorrectly.”  I have come a long way with accepting my own mistakes, but once in a while I can still get a big blush going after a particularly irritating error.  But, like it or not, making mistakes is an integral part of learning.   In the article “I messed up, Mom & Dad!  10 Ways to Teach Children to Embrace Their Mistakes,”, Dr. Robyn Silverman gives ten pointers on how to teach your children about having a positive mistake-making attitude:

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“Come on, hurry up!  We’re going to be late!”  I find myself saying these words almost without thinking.  I despise being late, but it seems despite my best efforts, I am always in a race against the clock.  I also have a tendency to over-schedule, and although so far it’s only been for my own activities and responsibilities, and not for my children, I know it affects the whole family.  For these reasons, Dr. Laura Markham’s post “11 Ways Your Child Loses When You Rush Him Through Life” on ahaparenting.com   really struck a chord with me.

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David Frost said, “Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee.”  Although this quote may elicit a few understanding chuckles, followed by visions of wearing a striped uniform handing out judgments in the form of red cards or penalty yards, in the world of sibling fights, this does not mean your job is to figure out right from wrong.  As stated by dictionary.com, the definition of “referee” is “one to whom something is referred, especially for decision or settlement; arbitrator.”  In the blog post “How to Intervene in a Sibling Fight” on ahaparenting.com Dr. Laura Markham teaches us some tips about how to best referee sibling fights.

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In today’s age of seemingly endless information, people are constantly bombarded with excessive numbers of choices, decisions, and options.  While overwhelming for an adult, it’s even more easy for children to get sidetracked or to just “go with the flow” instead of actively choosing their life’s path.  Learning how to set goals at an early age gives children the tools they need to live a purposeful life by making decisions, instead of simply reacting to situations.

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