Monday Medley: Dealing with breakdowns

Breakdowns are something all parents experience, so it’s no wonder that our kids have them, too. While these are perfectly natural displays of frustration, they are often preventable by just knowing your child—and yourself—and taking a few steps to avoid them. Does your daughter get cranky when hungry? Does your son seem frustrated when tired? Who doesn't, right? Dr. Laura at Aha! Parenting has a great list of preventative habits to foster in order to keep breakdowns to a minimum.

Have you heard this story about a dad who wanted his daughter to be able to relate to her favorite video game hero? Mike Mika’s little girl loves Princess Peach in Mario Brothers and wanted to be her in the game Donkey Kong instead of Mario. So what does a devoted dad do? He hacks the game and makes the princess the hero, of course!

For parents who want to stop yelling but don’t know where to turn, I would love to share with you a resource that I came across not too long ago. It’s called Orange Rhino, and it is the project started by a mom who didn't want to yell at her kids anymore. She provides so many great ideas to stop yelling as well as her own stories, and invites you to take the challenge to not yell for an entire year with her. I’m game, how about you?

And here’s a fun yet important image to start off your week. The quote alongside this picture of a child reads, “If you could try to understand me rather than try to change me… this parenting thing would be a whole lot easier.” What a great quote to put next to a photo of our kids on our desks at work or on a note card on the fridge or bathroom mirror as a gentle daily reminder.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia