Search Results for: blog helping kids deal with stress

Parents of Kids With Autism Don’t Always Trust Pediatricians

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Parents have to place a tremendous amount of trust in whomever they select as their child’s pediatrician. Researchers found that parents of kids with autism often don’t trust their pediatricians, and, that some pediatricians doubt their own knowledge about treating autism. A new study validates what previous studies have found. It also backs up what many parents of children who have autism feel about their pediatricians. There is a certain amount of distrust happening. The research involved interviews with 20 parents who had children between the ages of three to five. The children had an autism spectrum disorder. It also … Continue reading →

Anxiety and Therapy for Kids

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As my full time job requires I have a good understanding of community standards I try and keep up with what community centers are offering around the US. What centers accept Medicare, have sliding fee schedules, or provide outreach are things I keep an eye out for. These centers often provide great services to all via their websites, so they are good resources. In one of my recent quests I came across a center in Montclair, NJ. I don’t know anything about the center itself, but they had a great article in the “Montclair Patch” about children/teens with anxiety. My … Continue reading →

Stress and Teens

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Teenagers are under a lot of stress. I’m more than a decade out of my teens and can still remember worrying about grades, going off to college, choosing a major, keeping in touch with my friends, leaving home, and a hundred other things. Kids and adults share a lot of the same sources of stress — moving, the death of a family member, family financial problems, dealing with peers. But teens also have some unique sources of stress, including: Changes in their bodies The transition between childhood and adulthood Overloading on extra-curricular activities Figuring out what comes after high school … Continue reading →

Stress and Your Immune System

I’ve been stressed lately. Really stressed. It’s a combination of a lot of things coming to a head all at once, and the end result is that I’m cranky and I’m having trouble sleeping. Then I noticed another weird thing. My hands are sporting quite a few nicks and scratches from my part time job at the cats-only boarding facility. And those little wounds are taking a long time to heal — much longer than normal. That got me wondering how stress affects the immune system. In the short term, stress can actually boost your immune system. That “fight or … Continue reading →

Laugh at Stress

Studies have shown that laughter is a GREAT way to deal with stress. In the short term: Laughter enhances your oxygen intake. That in turn stimulates your heart, your lungs, and your muscles. Laughter makes your brain release endorphins — happy chemicals. Laughter can ease digestion problems. Laughter can stimulate blood circulation, which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress. Laughter also activates — and then cools down — your body’s stress response. It can rev up your heartbeat and boost your blood pressure, leaving you feeling more relaxed as things calm down again. In the long … Continue reading →

The Stress and Strain of Last-Minute Requests

I wrote yesterday about what a relief it can be as a single parent to get to a place where you’ve built up some practical reserves and are not just flying by the seat of your pants. However, since most of us are on extremely snug budgets, it might not take much to put a strain on all of our best-laid plans. In my world, my kids can be the biggest culprits for those last-minute requests. Despite the fact that I have tried to hammer into my kids’ heads that budgeting is key in our family and that if they … Continue reading →

Help Kids See How Far They’ve Come

Growing up can be daunting, painful, and scary–in addition to being fun and joyous too. Kids get overwhelmed, stressed and feel stuck just like adults do. As parents, we can help our children when they hit bumpy times and are afraid of what is to come by helping them look back and see what they have already accomplished. Kids tend to be incredibly short-sided. It is just the nature of the developing child to be focused on what is in front of them. The past is gone and the future is sometimes imaginary and unattainable. This can be a great … Continue reading →

Helping Children Learn About Making Friends

I wish I could say that helping and teaching our children about making and keeping friends is a one-time lesson—one of those things like tying shoes that, once it’s mastered, we parents never really have to think about again. But, alas, learning how to maneuver socially and make friend, keep and let go of friends is an ongoing, often painful, lesson for our children. And parents can have a very strong role in helping our children evolve and understand how to make new friends, be a good friend, and when their friends may not be the best influences. Some children … Continue reading →

Helping Your Kids Deal With Life Changes: Writing A Life Book

Sometimes as parents we forget that childhood can be full of changes for our kids. These changes include developmental milestones like going from diapers to underwear. It can also include serious changes like divorce, death of a loved one or getting a new sibling after being an only child for many years. It can also include a life-altering experience like a hurricane that comes to town uninvited and uproots you from the only home you have ever known. Tyler has done remarkably well since Katrina but I know it bothers him that things have changed. I know he’s looking forward … Continue reading →

Kids, Deployment And Depression

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Deployment is hard on everyone involved and often we try to put on a brave face in order to prevent those we love from worrying about us. Unfortunately that same brave face we put on often spills over to our children and they also make an attempt to keep it together and keep their fears and worries to themselves in order to keep from worrying their parents. As deployments increase so does childhood depression among military children. Children face the same concerns and fears as their parents but often depression in children is overlooked as a “stage” they are going … Continue reading →