Tag Archive for: parenting-teens

college-first-aid-kit

One of the most important things we can do as a parent is to teach our kids how to take care of their personal health.

Many doctors and nurses see college students coming in with minor aches and pains that could easily be remedied in their dorm room instead of the emergency room.

What can we do to give our young adults the confidence to care for their minor aches and pains?

We can begin teaching our children today how (and when) to treat minor illnesses and injuries and make up a first aid kit to give them the tools they may need to do so when they are off living independently.

College-Student-First-Aid-Kit

Here are the 19 Items I Included in my Sons’ College First Aid Kits:

1. Digital Thermometer 

2. Nasal spray for cold symptoms such as Afrin

3. Pain reliever tablets such as Ibuprofen or Tylenol

4. Emergen-C

5. Antibiotic Ointment

6. Cold & Flu medicine

7. Anti-diarrhea medication such as Immodium

8. Assortment of bandages

9. Cough drops

10. Sunblock

11. Tweezers, mini-scissors, nail file

12. Hand sanitizer

13. Lip balms

14. Instant Ice Packs 

15. Tums antacids

16. Saline nose spray

17. Allergy medicine

18. Insurance cards, immunization records, and any doctor’s information in a Ziploc bag

19. Hidden note of love from Mom and/or Dad

*This list includes affiliate links that will earn me a few cents if purchased!

college-first-aid-kit

  • Remember, this kit is to help your child remedy minor pains or sickness and doesn’t contain items regularly used, such as vitamins, sleep aids, or prescription medications.
  • Try to go over all of the included items with your child before sending this along with them. Make sure your son or daughter understands how to use everything so they won’t have to use Google or contact you in the middle of the night for advice.
What else would you include in your student’s college first aid kit?
Drivealogue-Adam-Brooks-Amy-Carney-

Want to know what your child is dealing with out in the world when it comes to peer relationships? Their self-concept? How about their thoughts on difficult topics like sexuality, social media, technology, or drugs and alcohol?

Thanks to Adam Brooks new product, Drivealogue, parents now have a more natural way to discuss tough and timely issues with their kids. His conversation starter packs get us adults intentionally talking to our children about topics more meaningful than what we ate for lunch or what grade was achieved on that math test.

Drivealogue-Family-Communication-Parenting-Tool

Adam Brooks’ new product, Drivealogue, challenges parents to have brave conversations with their kids.

Brooks, the founder of Youth Awareness and Safety, was concerned about the heightened rate of youth suicide in Arizona and wanted to make a product that would allow parents to engage in tough conversations with their children proactively.

“My cards were designed to have meaningful, brave conversations that we may not even want to have, but that we desperately have to have if we’re going to keep our kids safe today,” said Brooks.

5 Things Parents Must Tell Their Children

Brooks came up with the concept of using his card game in the car because he had read that kids were more likely to open up and freely communicate with adults if they didn’t have to make direct eye contact. Not only that, but today’s reality finds parents spending more time in the car shuttling kids around to activities, so why not make a product to help us forge more meaningful conversations during our time on the road together.

Drivealogue-Family-Communication-Parenting-Tool

Drivealogue features three unique card decks meant for different age groups- for elementary, middle and high school-aged kids.

The cards feature questions like:

“What would you do if someone sent you a nude photo?”

“What would you do if someone who you were friends with in elementary school started ignoring you in middle school?”

8 Ways to Combat the Stress of Growing Up in Today’s Competitive Culture

There are also many lighthearted cards scattered throughout the decks as well, with questions like “What if you started a video channel. What would it be about?”

Drivealogue-family-conversation-starters-product-parents-communication

At $20 each, Drivealogue card decks make the perfect family hostess gift this holiday season! To order or learn more, click HERE!

 

Parenting-Author-Dennis-Trittin-Amy-Carney-Parenting-For-The-Launch

It’s that time of year when high school and college graduation announcements arrive in our mailboxes and social media feeds. What an exciting time as we get to honor and celebrate friends and family who are about to launch their precious child into the real world.

Few transitions bring as much joy, tears and anxiety to parents as when their children graduate from high school and head off into the “real world.” It’s a strange concoction of emotions that is one part reflection (the memories), one part conviction (did we do everything we could?) and one part wonder (how will they do?).

This is exactly what compelled authors Dennis Trittin and Arlyn Lawrence to write their book Parenting for the Launch-Raising Teens to Succeed in the Real World. Their book is a roadmap to help bring clarity to your parenting goals and offer direction and strategies to achieve them.

Are you preparing today for the upcoming launch of your child?

Parenting-For-The-Launch-Book-Dennis-Trittin

Parenting for the Launch is directed toward the parent and gives a global framework for how to approach and execute the launch. What I Wish I Knew at 18, on the other hand, is messaged directly to the teen. It has the nuts and bolts of the successful principles you’ll want to communicate before your son or daughter leaves home.

In these books, you’ll learn to prepare your child for key life decisions, build an enduring relationship and move confidently as a parent from the driver to the passenger seat.

Dennis-Trittin-Amy-Carney-Parenting-Author

A friend introduced me to Dennis’ first book What I wish I Knew at 18, as they knew I was writing my book on a similar message of parenting from the end. Dennis and I connected on Twitter and were able to get together recently in Arizona to chat about his books and how parents can begin to prepare for the launch of their child now. (See there are some positives of social media!)

In Parenting for the Launch, you will find strategies that will help you prepare your teen to soar into adulthood- to parent with purpose and to let go with confidence.

Want to win your own Parenting for the Launch/What I Wish I Knew at 18 combo? Leave a comment below on why you need these books NOW and be entered to win. TWO lucky readers will be drawn at random on May 18 to win their very own copies of Dennis Trittin‘s books. Entrants must be a US resident to win.

Stressed-Teenager

What do you mean you have a B?

What do you mean you got third place?

What do you mean you’re not taking that honors class or that SAT prep course?

What do you mean you don’t know where you want to go to college or what you want to study yet?

And our parental anxiety heightens as we question if our child is falling behind in this race toward college called childhood.

It’s no wonder youth suicide rates, depression and anxiety are at an all-time high. The pressure to keep up is intense as our children are constantly evaluated and expected to compete at a high level in every aspect of their life.

Teenagers are taking their own lives because they feel they can no longer keep up with the competitive culture they are living in. When are we going to wake up to the fact that just maybe the expectations we are putting on this generation of kids are too much?

What can we parents do to combat the crazed competitive culture that our children are growing up in?

1. Make your home a haven

Let your home be a place where your child can relax, restore, and be rejuvenated. We need to purposely provide a calm away from our kid’s daily storm by providing them a peaceful home away from the craze of the outside world.

This doesn’t mean that we never raise our voice (a.k.a. yell) and let our child continuously veg out on the sofa, scrolling a device, while we run around and serve them. It means that we, as a leader in our home, purposely create a low-stress environment, as often as we can. Gather around the family dinner table regularly so that authentic conversation and relationships may be strengthened.

2. Refrain from promoting parental pride

It’s only natural to be proud of our son’s big win or our daughter’s accomplishment but it doesn’t mean we need to constantly post about their successes online. Our children are always watching us. When winning the games and earning the awards become what we regularly promote on our social media feeds, we subconsciously send the message to our children, and our friends, that this is what we deem most important.

If you don’t own the school or team you are promoting with the sticker on the back of your vehicle, maybe you should remove it. Because even if you don’t voice it, that logo slapped on your window or bumper tells your kids, and all of us trailing behind you, what you prioritize.

3. Say no to the parent portal

The parent portal apps where we can monitor our kids’ academic activity only add to the pressure and stress for all involved. How can our children own their own learning if we are constantly getting on them about missed assignments or low test scores?

If we are regularly checking the portal to see where our child is falling short than our son or daughter will never learn to feel the consequences of their mistakes or successes themselves. They will naturally come to rely on Mom or Dad to tell them what moves to make next.

Set yourself up for success in this area by removing the portal off of your devices. Every now and then ask your child to pull it up on their device and show you how things are going.

4. Prioritize play

What happened to the fun? We mustn’t take life so seriously all of the time when raising kids today. Our families and homes need more laughter, play, and silliness. Don’t mistake sitting on the sidelines of your child’s life watching them perform and compete as playtime. Figure out where your family playgrounds are and head there more often.

HOW PLAYFUL IS YOUR FAMILY?

5. Normalize failure

Our children must feel the pain and discomfort of failure. They must face the consequences of not studying or forgetting to do their homework. Kids must gain experience failing and learn to recover from their mistakes in order to build resilience.

Talk regularly in your home about times when you mess up as an adult. Let them see you embrace failure. When we as parents expect straight A’s and winning sports seasons, we wrongly teach our kids that perfection is the goal.

6. Set limits on technology

Our children come home from school, fall on the couch, and begin mindlessly scrolling and gaming in their downtime. As the parent, we must allow them the space to unwind while setting limits for technology use in our home. Kids need a break from the pressuring world around them, but always seeking reprieve on a screen is not healthy. Getting them away from their screens isn’t always a bad thing. Social media can be an amazing part of the modern world, for socializing and sharing photos.

Limiting their time on these social media platforms can give them a break from the pressures online. Children of all ages need space without digital devices to experience boredom and an opportunity to build relationships with friends and family face-to-face.

7. Allow them to take a day off

This is a recent shift in thinking for me. It wasn’t until I witnessed the negative effects of my high schoolers’ juggle of honors class homework, club sports, academic clubs and working a part-time job, that I began to allow my teens to turn off their alarms and take a day or morning off to regroup once in a great while. I realized that there were different ways nowadays that kids can become overstressed and overworked and this could lead to them having anxiety which can make feelings of failure worse for them. This stress could also lead to a lack of sleep and poor mental health.

How to Know If Your Child Needs a Mental Health Day

Managing normal stress is a healthy part of life, so know your child well enough to know when he or she is overstressed. If you see your son or daughter has time for playing video games, scrolling social media, or watching television than they probably don’t need a mental health day off from school. They may need to learn to manage their time better. Know the difference between when your child actually needs a break and simply wants one.

8. Drop the college conversations

There is so much pressure on kids, in middle school even, to begin thinking about where they will go to college and what they will major in. Friends and family discuss GPA’s, SAT scores, class schedules, scholarships, and college essays on a regular basis.

Parents have their children join clubs and organizations hoping it will help their child appear well rounded and heighten their chances of getting into college. We as a society have begun to worry so much about building up our child on paper that we are forgetting to build up the real person.

Even if we as parents aren’t pressuring, our child is still growing up today surrounded by stress and expectations. How are you purposely combatting the competitive culture that your child is growing up in?