Connect more easily with your child by changing the way you listen

As parents, we want to build and maintain strong relationships with our children. We want them to find us trustworthy and supportive, nurturing and wise, generous and attuned. One of the best tools we have for succeeding in these goals is our ability to listen to our...

A different approach to “What if . . .”

My coach recently invited her clients to ask a different kind of “what if” question. Mostly, she said, our “what if”ing is from a negative mindset — What if there’s not enough time for me? What if my child doesn’t keep up in...

Supporting our children’s big dreams

As parents most of us view part of our role as teacher, here to help our children learn about the world and how to function well in it. I believe that our longer life-experience is one of the tools that we can use in guiding our children. However, this urge to teach...

How we can become more empathetic

“Do you have a feeling that’s visiting today? Can you open your door and invite it to play? Can you ask what it wants, and then check it out? Welcome it and listen to what it’s about?” ~ Lauren Rubenstein, from Visiting Feelings This quote...

Empathy at home – Easier said than done

Far beyond anything intellectual our children will ever learn, I value their self-discovery, that knowing and understanding of their own internal landscape. One aspect of self-awareness and self-expression that we’re actively working to foster in our daughter...

Empathy — the “vitamin” for emotionally healthy families

Would you like a world in which everyone only looks out for themselves or one in which people genuinely care about one another? How about in your family? Would you prefer to have a spouse that believes only his experience is correct or one who treats your perspective...