Tag: Children Youth and Family

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Parenting Cartoons

Seven Keys to Tell if You’re Pushing Your Kids too Hard

close up of a guy asking, "Am I pushing too hard?"

Parents endure a lot of pressure to measure up. Is it all too much? I’ve wondered that in the past. So I developed a humorous list of seven keys to tell if you’re pushing your kids too hard.

Cartoon of someone stuck in a tree. A swing is moving. A guy below shouts, "Am I pushing too hard?"

There’s plenty of pressure when it comes to being the perfect parent. Kids have to be involved in multiple sports, or they’re missing out, right? What about the science fair? And then you must be sure every minute is filled with meaningful activities, right? How do you know when you’ve pushed your child too far?

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children cartoons K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine

Do You Have the Courage to Go Out There?

Cartoon of two boys talking. One says, "There's an excessive pollen warning for this area, and they're taking us outdoors. Don't they care about severe weather warnings?"
Previously published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

There are warning signs that are legitimate. As I write this, we are experiencing the beginnings of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 spread in the United States. It would be foolish to ignore the warnings such as those broadcast by the World Health Organization:

  • Wash your hands frequently
  • Cough into your bent elbow
  • Don’t travel to places that are in the midst of the outbreak

At the same time, there can be a lot of misinformation out there. And if you spend enough time on the Internet, you will find warnings that are overly cautious or just plain wrong.

When I drew this cartoon, I thought about how we can get overly cautious. It’s true that pollen can really mess with people. I’ve had hay fever over the years and I am not a fan of the time of year when goldenrod is in full bloom. Still, for most people, it’s not a severe weather event.

There are times when it takes courage to go out there into the world. It remains to be seen if all the conferences that are getting canceled due to COVID-19 are legitimate or overkill. We won’t know the full impact until much later. But in the meantime, we need to keep living and do the activities that make life full.

How are you handling this outbreak and all the warnings? Let us know in the comments.

Cartoon of two boys talking. One says, "There's an excessive pollen warning for this area, and they're taking us outdoors. Don't they care about severe weather warnings?"
Previously published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine”
Categories
Parenting Cartoons

12 Keys to helping your child deal with anger

Cartoon of a girl and a boy with a bottle for a head. The girl says, "Why do you bottle-up your emotions like that?"

Spear Cartoon 3775Temperament is something you see very early in a child. Some kids are laid back and go with the flow. Others seem born angry. Whether they are a Type A personality, or are easily frustrated, they need help in learning how to deal with anger.  Here are ten ways you can help your child with anger issues.

  1. Consider your child’s age. Helping a two-year old deal with anger is far different from helping your elementary child.
  2. A toddler may be overwhelmed and overstimulated. You may need to remove her from the situation.
  3. An elementary child may need to discuss his anger issues and need help finding constructive ways to vent.
  4. DO NOT ignore the situation. Pretending a child isn’t angry may only make her angrier
  5. DO NOT teach your child to deny (bottle-up) her feelings. Stuffing anger only causes it to come out in unproductive ways later.
  6. Look for triggers. Is there some situation that causes the child to become angry? Talk about it with your child.
  7. Acknowledge with your child anger is a normal reaction to something. We all face disappointments. We all face people who just seem to know how to get under our skin.
  8. If the anger is directed at a sibling, separate the two, then come back to mediate the situation. Allow each child to express their anger with words. Make sure the children talk about the offense and not about the other sibling’s personality or flaws.
  9. If the angry child causes destruction, use it as an opportunity to make amends. The child needs to know destructive anger has consequences.
  10. If a child destroys property, have them work to pay back the destroyed property.
  11. If a child hurts another person, take away privileges until they child feels remorse. A forced apology isn’t a real apology.
  12. When you feel angry about something, discuss it with your child. Let them know how you feel and how you are coping with it. Focus on your feelings and not on the offender.

Above all, if you’re angry over a child’s anger, that is not the time to correct his behavior. Give both of you some time to cool off before you correct him. Whether you’re a child or an adult, anger can cause you to make decisions you may later regret.

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