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
Start Kind Conversations, Parent with Purpose, Advocate, Kindness Practice, Pick a Project, Read Together
MiaLisa Millares
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.

Transforming a Child’s “I Can’t” into “I Can!”
Start Kind Conversations, Parent with Purpose
MiaLisa Millares
Inspiring a Growth Mindset for Kids: How ...

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. 

Inspiring a Growth Mindset for Kids: How Parents Can Lead by Example
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A Music Lovers' Guide to Doing Good (with a Big-Hearted Playlist)

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Music helps us rally and brings us together in a way few other mediums can. In spite all of its power, music has been absent from Doing Good Together's big-hearted offerings. Until now.Here are 5 projects for big-hearted music lovers.

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Big-Hearted Action Speaks Louder Than Fear

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Now is the time to gather our families and get back to the work of helping the fearful, the lonely, the hungry, and everyone else needing a hand.Together, let’s cross kind acts off our to do list and watch their impact ripple out into the world. Together, let’s do all the good we can to bring people together, to lift others up.

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How Kindness Can Win the Election

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The incivility of this heated political climate requires parents to cultivate compassion as strategically as the campaigns unravel it. This is the time to share with your children all the reasons kindness and respect are so essential; to discuss the challenge (and critical importance) of being an “upstander” in the face of offensive speech; and to exalt the power of every individual (even very small ones) to bring about positive change. 

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Expand Your Circle: 6 Fun Ways to Reach Out, Teach Empathy, and Embrace Differences

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Finding our tribe is good for our health. It's good for our jobs. It helps us live longer. But do our tribes limit our social experiences? We need to intentionally throw open the gates to new friendships and new social experiences if we’re going to expand our cultural boundaries and unlearn the prejudice that's unraveling our country.

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On Mindfulness: Nine Tools for a More Grateful, Peaceful, and Connected Family Life

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Unless we adopt healthy, intentional habits in our everyday family life, our best efforts at mindfulness will wind up like so many other things on our check lists: multi-tasked into meaninglessness, plowed through quickly, and crossed off before our goal is reached.