How To Be A Better Parent: A Primer On Mindful Parenting

202 snips

Nov 30, 2023

Guest

Join experts Lisa DeMoor, a Yale-educated psychotherapist, Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, and K.J. Delantonia, a former New York Times reporter, as they dive into mindful parenting. They discuss the impact of social media on youth mental health and offer strategies for effective guidance. The trio challenges helicopter parenting, emphasizing independence and resilience in kids. They advocate for open communication, emotional support, and fostering a balanced environment where children can thrive and learn from challenges.

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ADVICE

Protecting vs. Enabling

Let kids experience disappointment and sadness.
This builds resilience and allows growth.

INSIGHT

The Bonsai Tree Analogy

Over-managing children leads to existential impotence.
They become unfamiliar with their true selves.

INSIGHT

The Importance of Distress

Distress is crucial for teenagers' development.
It allows for rapid maturation and self-discovery.

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Untangled

Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood

Lisa Damour

In 'Untangled', Dr. Lisa Damour provides a comprehensive and reassuring guide for parents of teenage girls. The book outlines seven distinct developmental transitions that girls undergo as they grow into adulthood, including Parting with Childhood, Contending with Adult Authority, Entering the Romantic World, and Caring for Herself. Drawing on decades of experience and the latest research, Damour offers realistic scenarios and practical advice on how to engage daughters in constructive ways, addressing common questions and concerns such as managing eye-rolling, dealing with social media, discussing sex and substance use, and handling anxiety and eating disorders. The book helps parents understand and connect with their daughters, making the challenging years of adolescence less fraught and more enjoyable.

How to raise an adult

Julie Lythcott-Haims

In this book, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research, conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers, and her own insights as a mother and student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large. She offers practical alternative strategies that emphasize the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success. The book is relevant to parents of toddlers, teens, and twentysomethings, and serves as a rallying cry for those who wish to ensure the next generation can take charge of their own lives with competence and confidence.

Under Pressure

Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls

Lisa Damour

In 'Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls', Dr. Lisa Damour challenges readers to reframe their understanding of stress and anxiety. She argues that stress can be a healthy stimulus for personal growth and that anxiety can play a key role in keeping girls safe. The book explores various facets of girls’ lives, including home life, school pressures, social interactions, and online activities, to identify sources of toxic stress and anxiety. Damour provides actionable steps for parents, educators, and mentors to help girls manage these pressures and maintain emotional well-being.

Make It Stick

The Science of Successful Learning

Henry L. Roediger

Mark A. McDaniel

Peter C Brown

Make It Stick challenges conventional wisdom on learning and teaching by presenting evidence-based strategies that replace less effective but widely accepted practices. The authors explain that effective learning comes from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has occurred, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. The book uses real-world examples and stories to illustrate these principles, making it an indispensable guide for students, educators, and lifelong learners.

The gift of failure

How the Best Parents Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed

Jessica Lahey

In 'The Gift of Failure,' Jessica Lahey argues that modern parenting's overprotectiveness can hinder children's development by denying them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Lahey, drawing from her own parenting experience and years as an educator, provides practical advice on how parents can step back and allow their children to face failures and learn from them. The book covers topics such as handling homework, report cards, social dynamics, and sports, emphasizing the importance of autonomy-supportive parenting over controlling parenting. Lahey's approach is grounded in scientific research and personal anecdotes, offering a balanced and wise guide for parents, educators, and psychologists[1][3][5].

The Emotional Lives of Teenagers

Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents

Lisa Damour

This book provides parents with practical, research-informed strategies to support their teenagers through the challenges of adolescence. It covers what to expect in normal adolescent emotional development, why mental health is about having feelings that fit the moment, and how to help teens manage their emotions. The book also addresses common challenges such as academic pressure, social media stress, anxiety, and navigating friendships and romances, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a connected and supportive relationship with teens.

Hardwiring Happiness

The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence

Rick Hanson

In 'Hardwiring Happiness,' Dr. Rick Hanson explains how the brain's ancient survival mechanism makes it more adept at learning from negative experiences than positive ones. He introduces a simple method using everyday experiences to build new neural structures filled with happiness, love, confidence, and peace. Dr. Hanson's four-step HEAL method (Have, Enrich, Absorb, Link) helps readers to counterbalance the brain's negativity bias, making contentment and resilience the new normal. This approach involves focusing on positive experiences, absorbing their good feelings, and linking them to other positive experiences to override negative ones, thereby transforming the brain into a refuge of calm and happiness[1][3][5].