Parent with Purpose
MiaLisa Millares
Parenting Pressure: How the Surgeon General’s ...

As parents and caregivers, you likely know all too well the daily stressors you face. The surgeon general’s report outlines the specific challenges we face at each stage of a child’s development, from sleepless nights with newborns to navigating the troubled teen years. The stress doesn’t just affect us as parents, it spreads to impact the whole family unit. And when we worry that our stress is affecting our kids, the cycle feels never-ending. The surgeon general’s report calls attention to this vicious cycle and offers actionable ways to break it.

Parenting Pressure: How the Surgeon General’s Advisory Aims to Support You
Parent with Purpose, Advocate
MiaLisa Millares
Disagreements and Differences: Strategies for ...

In today's fast-paced information cycle, issues are often presented as black or white, right or wrong. When parents actively listen and support diverse perspectives on various topics, from child care to nutrition, they model for children how to understand and appreciate differences, encouraging a more nuanced and empathetic view of the world.

Disagreements and Differences: Strategies for Helping Kids Navigate Our Divisive World
Parent with Purpose
MiaLisa Millares
The Important Impact of Community and ...

Mental health experts recommend helping young people build an understanding over time of what they can and can’t control. Bringing the focus to “how we treat other people; what activities we do the next day; what goals we have; who we spend time with; how hard we try to do the best we can” is something we can start in middle childhood to build a strong frame of reference in adolescence.

The Important Impact of Community and Volunteering in Helping Children and Teens Navigate Life Transitions
Parent with Purpose
MiaLisa Millares
Embrace the Chaos: Supporting a Child’s Growth ...

Buckling up for a metaphorical bumpy ride from time to time as you enter a new job, experience a change in leadership, or encounter a developmental growth spurt is something that begins at birth and follows us until life’s conclusion. The winds of change blow strong. With children, we sometimes don’t see the changes themselves right away; instead, we see the impact of the changes in personal barometers of behavior and mood. How can we as supportive humans respond effectively to the need for change and see the purpose behind the disequilibrium?

Embrace the Chaos: Supporting a Child’s Growth Through Turbulent Times
Start Kind Conversations, Parent with Purpose, Pick a Project, Quick Acts of Kindness
MiaLisa Millares
Shine Your Light: 5 Strategies to Empower ...

People want and need to be seen. It is a fundamental characteristic of humans that we seek opportunities to connect with others in an authentic way. We want to feel noticed and valued as a member of the human community. We want to understand AND be understood. This connection is vital to our feelings of safety and happiness, and ultimately is foundational to our ability to work through challenges, think critically, be planful, and other executive function skills. How can adults use that in-born inclination to shine a light on actions that we wish to reinforce in our children? 

Shine Your Light: 5 Strategies to Empower Children by Reinforcing Positive Actions

Parenting Pressure: How the Surgeon General’s Advisory Aims to Support You

Parenting Pressure: How the Surgeon General’s Advisory Aims to Support You

As parents and caregivers, you likely know all too well the daily stressors you face. The surgeon general’s report outlines the specific challenges we face at each stage of a child’s development, from sleepless nights with newborns to navigating the troubled teen years. The stress doesn’t just affect us as parents, it spreads to impact the whole family unit. And when we worry that our stress is affecting our kids, the cycle feels never-ending. The surgeon general’s report calls attention to this vicious cycle and offers actionable ways to break it.

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Disagreements and Differences: Strategies for Helping Kids Navigate Our Divisive World

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Disagreements and Differences: Strategies for Helping Kids Navigate Our Divisive World

In today's fast-paced information cycle, issues are often presented as black or white, right or wrong. When parents actively listen and support diverse perspectives on various topics, from child care to nutrition, they model for children how to understand and appreciate differences, encouraging a more nuanced and empathetic view of the world.

The Important Impact of Community and Volunteering in Helping Children and Teens Navigate Life Transitions

The Important Impact of Community and Volunteering in Helping Children and Teens Navigate Life Transitions

Mental health experts recommend helping young people build an understanding over time of what they can and can’t control. Bringing the focus to “how we treat other people; what activities we do the next day; what goals we have; who we spend time with; how hard we try to do the best we can” is something we can start in middle childhood to build a strong frame of reference in adolescence.

Embrace the Chaos: Supporting a Child’s Growth Through Turbulent Times

Embrace the Chaos: Supporting a Child’s Growth Through Turbulent Times

Buckling up for a metaphorical bumpy ride from time to time as you enter a new job, experience a change in leadership, or encounter a developmental growth spurt is something that begins at birth and follows us until life’s conclusion. The winds of change blow strong. With children, we sometimes don’t see the changes themselves right away; instead, we see the impact of the changes in personal barometers of behavior and mood. How can we as supportive humans respond effectively to the need for change and see the purpose behind the disequilibrium?

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Shine Your Light: 5 Strategies to Empower Children by Reinforcing Positive Actions

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Shine Your Light: 5 Strategies to Empower Children by Reinforcing Positive Actions

People want and need to be seen. It is a fundamental characteristic of humans that we seek opportunities to connect with others in an authentic way. We want to feel noticed and valued as a member of the human community. We want to understand AND be understood. This connection is vital to our feelings of safety and happiness, and ultimately is foundational to our ability to work through challenges, think critically, be planful, and other executive function skills. How can adults use that in-born inclination to shine a light on actions that we wish to reinforce in our children? 

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Transforming a Child’s “I Can’t” into “I Can!”

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Transforming a Child’s “I Can’t” into “I Can!”

As adults, we have a better sense of what is within our locus of control and how we can approach solving problems from our mature perspective, whereas young children see a lot of problems as big and insurmountable even if they are not. The good news is that we can cultivate the growth of our child’s sense of helpfulness over time in ways that match their developmental stage, while teaching about both agency AND the interconnectedness of humanity.

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Inspiring a Growth Mindset for Kids: How Parents Can Lead by Example

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Inspiring a Growth Mindset for Kids: How Parents Can Lead by Example

in the last few years, I have worked diligently to cultivate a growth mindset and to model that approach for my teenage children. The basic idea behind this concept is that by using “yet” at the end of a sentence, we reframe our approach to problems and retrain our brains to see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. 

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29 Big-Hearted Family Conversation Starters

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Talking intentionally and openly about big ideas is at the core of DGT™’s mission and has had the greatest impact on our family’s life. Now updated with questions designed for reflection during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.

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How to Talk to Kids About Poverty, Mental Illness, Systemic Racism, and Violence

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How to Talk to Kids About Poverty, Mental Illness, Systemic Racism, and Violence

The world in which we are helping our children to grow is not free from adversity, small or large. We cannot shield young people from the troubles of their community and world. And while it might make us caring adults feel better to try, research shows that doing so is not to their benefit, either. Children are innately curious and working continuously on relating to others as their empathy skills develop. They wonder about big questions like, “how am I similar or different to people I see suffering,” “could that happen to me,” and “my heart hurts for them; how do I help them.” Many who witness tragedy or challenges faced by other people in the world ask the same questions. How do we explain problems like poverty, mental illness, systemic racism, and violence to these small humans?

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Help Kids Build Resilience

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Help Kids Build Resilience

Even if your children are fortunate enough not to face major difficulties in life, building a sense of connection and confidence will help provide protective factors and skills through life’s ups and downs. Here are a few suggestions to build resilience in everyday life.

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Celebrate Kindness this Valentine’s Day with Doing Good Together™

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Celebrate Kindness this Valentine’s Day with Doing Good Together™

This Valentine’s Day take the time to celebrate kindness with the ones you love with these simple and fun Valentine’s activities!

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Create a Family Mission Statement This Resolution Season

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Create a Family Mission Statement This Resolution Season

Research shows that families who co-create mission statements and continually revisit their shared values feel more connection to one another and a sense of responsibility to others. It also aligns with the values of families who are Doing Good Together! Does this sound like something you and your family would like to try? Here are some tips to encourage you in writing a mission statement that reflects your family’s values and centers your efforts to identify and continually practice your family’s mission.

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How to Have a Season of Presence

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How to Have a Season of Presence

As the month turns, many of us find ourselves entering a time of year that is busy, busy, busy–with both regular daily and seasonal activities filling our calendars. Family pursuits such as athletics, the arts, and other skill-building pastimes intermingle with daily rituals of school, work, and keeping a household running smoothly. There are also many holidays observed around the world in the coming months and families add rituals surrounding these days to their already-full dockets. We get busier with the preparation of special meals shared with family and friends, the selection and giving of gifts, the travel plans that require time, and financial resources to bring families together. As a parent, I often find this season to be, well, A LOT. Here are some ideas for families looking to stay connected to presence/mindfulness in the busy months ahead.

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Empathy and Perspective-Taking

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At times, my now-teenagers had a great capacity to step into the shoes of another; but at other times, I felt that despite my best efforts, empathy was lacking. I also noticed that their empathy skills developed differently, despite having the same parents and upbringing. How did what came so young and so naturally for one child seem so challenging for another?