Have you noticed more than a hint of anger creeping into your parenting style? Do you parent more with your vocal chords than with your heart? Then, you may need the gift of grace-full parenting. It holds children in a state of grace, even as they are held accountable for their behaviors. It communicates love and caring while simultaneously implementing the discipline strategies called for.



Maybe your child needs to take a common aspirin. Or perhaps he has been diagnosed with depression/anxiety and been put on Zoloft by your doctor. He could be eight years old or sixteen. Regardless of age or type of medicine prescribed, what do you do if he refuses to take it? How do you get a strong-willed child to take his medicine when he is determined not to take it?
 

Twenty-four art students sat waiting for the teacher to begin the first day of instruction in drawing class. The teacher briefly told the students what they could expect during the semester. With the expectations clearly communicated, he then did the unexpected.

How I turned my mind from disgust to appreciation and my paradise interrupted into paradise reclaimed. 

Cancun, Mexico. Mile after mile of fine white sand, stretching as far as I can see in two directions. Some of it is lodged firmly between my toes as I look out at the indescribable turquoise water of the Gulf of Mexico.

If there's something close to a secret to help kids be more successful, perhaps it's this: Kids work hard when they want to work hard, and this happens when they are motivated to do so by some positive internal goal, and not by fear or because they are worried about disappointing others. They work hard because they value hard work. Instilling kids with values like this is the first step on the long road to real success. But that doesn't mean there's nothing you can do to make this happen. Here are five ways to put your kids on the path to extraordinary:

What does it mean to be present with a child or with anyone for that matter? On one level it starts with the ability to give our focus to who we are listening to. It is the ability to pay close attention to what is happening right in front of us. Listening, focus and attention are all key words when discussing being fully present, but there is something beyond those words.