Archive for January, 2012

Conversing about Kindness with Kids

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Last week, this post on Conversing About Kindness with Kids caught my eye…and I vowed that February 1st would be the start date for my family to do as the author suggests and “think of one thing we can do each day to be kind to someone else.”  

Two years ago, my Chinese New Year-inspired proclamation that 2010 would be “The Year of Kindness” in our family rather than the Year of the Tiger, garnered groans and well-deserved accusations of cheesiness.  Ahh well…my kids are two years older now…and 730 days more accustomed to me talking about the importance of kindness.  I may well get groans again tomorrow…but no matter…I know that my kids are internalizing an important message.

 

In Friendship & Other Weapons, kids are engaged in fun activities around building values of kindness, empathy, compassion, and cooperation as a way of changing the culture of bullying in schools and helping kids cope effectively with relational aggression.

 

Check it out: http://www.kidsafefoundation.org/conversing-about-kindness-with-kids/

What Every Dad Should Know About Their Daughter

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A friend of mine shared the link to this great article about the important role that dads play in the lives of their daughters. 

It’s challenging to articulate the influence a father has on a little girl.  How much of his attitude and actions toward her can determine her future relationships.  I remember how much stock I placed in what my dad thought of me.  I remember how much I wanted him to be proud of me.  To affirm me.  To show me my value.

Author Gina McClain then shares her suggestions for how Dads can affirm and value their daughters.  For a touching read, please check it out:

http://blog.faithpromise.org/2012/01/fathers-be-good-to-your-daughters/

Note to Self: An Important Reminder about the Power of Kindness

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Be kind to unkind people; they often need it the most.

It’s My Parking Spot! Classic LSCI Symptom Estrangement Example

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For those who have completed LSCI training and learned about how to help kids who have a pattern of justifying their aggressive or antisocial behavior, here is a hilarious example of a woman in desperate need of the Symptom Estrangement Reclaiming Intervention:

 

Friendship & Other Weapons featured in the Reclaiming Children & Youth Journal

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Don’t just take my word for it; check out this new review of Friendship & Other Weapons, featured in the Reclaiming Children & Youth newsletter:

http://www.reclaiming.com/content/node/224

Great Anti-Bullying Message and Shout Out for Building Self-Esteem in Kids

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No-Name Calling Week Targets Bullying in Schools

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It turns out that while sticks and stones can break your bones, words can also really hurt. In honor of proving the out-of-date childhood adage incorrect, the week of January 23rd-27th has been set aside as No Name-Calling Week in schools across the country.

Check out my recommendations on Yahoo! Shine for best children’s book titles that can help you reinforce this important anti-bullying message at home:

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/no-name-calling-week-using-positive-books-prevent-142100438.html

Teaching Our Daughters What it Really Means to be a Woman Friend

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From the brilliant woman who, about a week or so ago, brought us the Don’t Carpe Diem article about how challenging it can be to “savor every moment” as parents of little ones…here is another inspired piece about Mommy Guilt…or more precisely, what a shame it is that women make each other feel guilty for their individual choices as parents.   An excerpt…

 

So, angry, debating ladies… here’s the thing. My daughter is watching me AND you to learn what it means to be a woman. And I’d like her to learn that a woman’s value is determined less by her career choices and more by how she treats other women, in particular, women who are different than she is. I’d like her to learn that her strength is defined by her honesty and her ability to exist in grey areas without succumbing to masking her insecurities with generalizations or accusations. And I’d like her to learn that the only way to be both graceful and powerful is to dance among the endless definitions of the word woman… and to refuse to organize women into categories, to view ideas in black and white, or to choose sides and come out swinging. Because being a woman is not that easy, and it’s not that hard.

 

So, maybe instead of tearing each other up, we could each admit that we’re a bit torn up about our choices, or lack thereof. And we could offer each other a shoulder or a hand. And then maybe our girls would see what it really means to be a woman.

 

Think this much is amazing and so, so right on?  Check out her full article here on the HuffingtonPost.

LSCI Institute Offers Training for Parents on How to Help Kids through Conflict

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For the past several months, I have been working with my colleagues at the Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) Institute to develop a training series that helps parents understand and successfully manage conflict with their kids.  Based on world-renowned LSCI principles of helping adults turn conflict situations into learning opportunities for kids, the curriculum is designed to teach parents skills for effectively tuning in to kids, listening, de-escalating conflict, and relationship-building.  Parents learn about the six most common patterns of self-defeating behavior and gain skills for helping their kids overcome troubling patterns.

The LSCI Skills for Parents curriculum will be formally available in the Spring of 2012, but check out the great work that LSCI Master Trainer, Dr. JC Chambers, is already doing while piloting the course.  His work is featured in the Madison Daily Leader:

http://madisonet.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20468969&BRD=1302&PAG=461&dept_id=181987&rfi=6

 

For more information on the LSCI Skills for Parents training, please contact me at Signe@signewhitson.com or complete the Contact form with the details of your request.

A Powerful Suicide Prevention Video Message: 100 Reasons to Stay

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Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among young people.  GLBTQ teens have a suicide rate that is up to 3-4 times higher than this already sky-high rate.   There “It Gets Better” campaign seeks to help young people know that there is life after bullying and reasons to survive.

This video, created by a couple of kids out of Quinnipiac University, is part of a junior capstone project about suicide prevention.

The video has had a real effect on people dealing with depression or even having suicidal thoughts,” Lauren Taylor said, “I got an email from one girl saying thank you for helping me realize that there is something to look forward to tomorrow.”

 

100 Reasons to Stay from Lauren Taylor on Vimeo.

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