Child Development Parents

The first step to reconnecting with an estranged loved one is reconnecting with yourself. Many consider the death of a close loved one as the most challenging life event, but when one of your children cuts you out of their life, the pain can be very similar. You might feel like you can't survive without mending things. Yet if you don't address your hurt first, these issues are likely to resurface.

Ever tried a 'quick' grocery run with your toddler, only to feel like you’ve walked into a circus, minus the entertaining clowns and popcorn? I know that scenario all too well. Parenting isn't about living up to everyone else's expectations but rather tuning into and accommodating our children's unique needs. This journey revealed something universal: our parenting struggles are real, and they're shared. Whether it's the frantic morning rush, persuading a child to eat their greens, or navigating an explosive tantrum in public, parenting is ripe with opportunities for growth.

Between the worry, the doctor's appointments, and the thousand small challenges of everyday life, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and exhausted. The idea of showing abundant love to every member of your family can feel like a daunting task. Jolene Philo has been there. And in this wise, warm, practical guide, she and Dr. Gary Chapman show you how the five love languages can help strengthen your marriage and family life-whatever your needs.

Adopting or fostering a child brings its own unique set of challenges only another parent facing the same uphill climb could possibly understand. From parenting children with traumatic pasts, to dealing with attachment issues, to raising a children with special needs, it can sometimes be a struggle just getting through the day. Mike Berry knows the loneliness and isolation you can easily feel in your particular parenting role - because he's been there.

At age 39, Ariel Gore has everything she’s always wanted: a successful writing career, a long-term partnership, a beautiful if tiny home, a daughter in college and a son in preschool. But life’s happy endings don’t always last. If it’s not one thing, after all, it’s your mother. Her name is Eve. Her epic temper tantrums have already gotten her banned from three cab companies in Portland. And she’s here to announce that she’s dying.

Parents and kids pitted against one another, opposing forces pulling in different directions, both determined to win! Every family experiences power struggles, but these daily tugs of war are not inevitable. In Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles, Mary Sheedy Kurcinka presents real strategies for getting to the root of the emotions and needs that can create daily hassles.

Does watching your child lose their temper feel like looking into a mirror? Your children look to you for everything; from lunch money and homework help, to impulse control and emotional regulation. You are the model by which they set their standards. So when it comes to anger management, are you demonstrating model behavior? If the answer is no, you’re not alone. Even parents need help learning how to control our emotional responses, especially when it comes to feeling frustrated with our offspring.

Most readers are familiar with Jack London's stories of the frozen northland, such as White Fang and To Light a Fire, but many critics feel he should be equally acknowledged for his fascinating stories of the South Pacific. Here is another remote corner of the world, a background for his magnificently colorful and entertaining Tales of the South Pacific.

When her once-glamorous and witty novelist-mother got Alzheimer's, Eleanor Cooney moved her from her beloved Connecticut home to California in order to care for her. In tense, searing prose, punctuated with the blackest of humor, Cooney documents the slow erosion of her mother's mind, the powerful bond the two shared, and her own descent into drink and despair.

Create a healthy relationship with your adult child through clear boundaries and expectations. As your child becomes a young adult, your role must evolve to meet their ongoing, changing needs. But what exactly are these new needs and how have they changed? How can you support them fully while still protecting yourself? What are the rules when they are living in the family home?

You're at your wits' end. Again. Your teen is bright, savvy, and capable—and completely unmotivated. Whether it's too much screen time, pandemic-induced resignation, or disillusionment at the state of the world, so many kids recently seem to have lost the passion to create, excel, engage, and do. What you need, for them and you, is a teen expert—a fresh voice to ask the right questions, make powerful suggestions, and offer proven techniques for getting your teen back in the game and focused on a future of fulfillment, success, purpose, and enjoyment.

Moms have hundreds of parenting advice books willing to tackle the more cringe-inducing questions of parenthood. But what about books for the other half of the equation: the dads? Man vs. Child is a funny, fresh take on the parenting guide, written from the dad's perspective. Author and popular Upright Citizens Brigade performer Doug Moe knows first-time fathers are as worried about being terrible at their new terrifying jobs as new moms are.

Coming from one empathetic parent to another, the tips in this book are real, clever, honest, and designed to make life with a terrible two- or three-year-old a little bit more manageable. Hilarious, helpful, and handy, this book will be appreciated by any parent who has asked: "Why didn't anybody warn me that unconditional love would be so much work?"

There is a special bond between mothers and their sons, and it never goes away. This book contains some of the best stories and poems from Chicken Soup's library honoring that lifelong relationship between mothers and their male offspring.

In Rethinking Your Teenager, family therapist Darby Fox challenges parents to redefine the goals of adolescence by reorienting their focus from what they want their child to be to on who they want their child to be. Darby not only equips parents with the insight to understand the changes taking place in their child's brain and body and support their adolescent's bid for independence, but also offers an approach that allows parents to engage their adolescent in a relationship instead of struggling in an endless battle for control.

In 365 Ways to Love Your Child, Julie encourages moms, dads, and anyone who works with children to show kids every day with simple but meaningful gestures and activities how very much they are loved. Join Julie in expressing tangible acts of love to show your kids they are valued by their parents and, most especially, by God.

In Meet Me at the Emotional Baggage Claim, the mother-daughter duo of Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella continue the conversation with more hilarious and honest tales of life inside an ordinary, extraordinary family. These stories will make you laugh, cry, and call your mother, daughter, and all your girlfriends.

This is a book about a journey that began with a parent and a child and the powerful natural connection between them, singular in its fierceness, instinctive protectiveness, and potentially one of the deepest forms of love. I hope to reveal to you how I found an innovative way to parent my child so he would experience an extraordinary life, and to show you how you can do the same.

PANDAS and PANS are becoming more common in children, yet many in the medical community are unaware of these illnesses and are unable to diagnose and treat them properly. Whether you are just beginning on this journey and attempting to get a proper diagnosis for your child or have been on this journey for a while and need help coping, The Parent's Survival Guide to PANDAS/PANS will help you navigate the emotional, physical, and financial challenges of these illnesses.

The Erika's Lighthouse Parent Handbook on Childhood and Teen Depression is a practical guide written by parents for parents who think their child may be suffering from depression. Our handbook offers tips on how to get help, things parents might want to know about childhood and teen depression and treatment, and ideas for good mental health.