Support and Friendship

Thank goodness for my dear friend Cassie. She is always there to make me start believing again when I am having doubts and to prop me up when I feel like I can no longer stand on my own two feet without help. Just recently she helped me through a rough patch where I was having a lot of doubts. Our friendship means the world to me and I would be lost without it. She offers me support and guidance and sometimes just lets me vent.

Friendship is also vital to your children. Most children especially teens will not necessarily confide in their parents or other family members if they are having problems, but will usually tell a good friend. Your kids need to know that you are there for them if they are ever in trouble but some kids just keep secrets from their parents and it is not because you are a bad parent. It is just what kids do. That is why it is so imperative for them to have a friend they can lay their troubles on.

If you think that your children may be having problems making friends it is a good idea to ask them if they are happy with the friendships in their lives? If you word it that way they will feel better about telling you if they are having problems rather than asking them if they have any friends, which will make them feel like something is wrong with them if they don't have any friends to speak of. There are many things that you can do as a parent to help in this area, but if nothing seems to work it may be time to talk to your child's teacher or even to seek professional help as it may be a self esteem issue, that needs to be dealt with. Check out this article on How to Help Your Child Make Friends!

Happy Friendships,

Monicka

Kids and Friendships continued

I have written many times about how some kids really have difficulty when it comes to making friends. Not all children are able to grasp the social skills needed so may look to their parents for tips on how to make friends. If your  child is a little shy there are simple things that you can suggest that he try to help with his social skills.

Smiling at people can be the start to making a new friend. A smile tells people that you are interested in them and it is a sure fire way to open the door to friendship. If your child is shy he may feel like lowering his head and not looking in people's eyes. Help your child to practice his smiling and eye contact with the rest of the family and if anyone notices that your child is not looking them in the eye, you can gently lift his head up and tell him to look at you with his beautiful peepers. After awhile this should become a habit.

If on the other hand that you are concerned that your child is taking too long to grasp social skills and is really having a lot of problems maintaining eye contact it may be a good idea to discuss it with your Doctor who should be able to refer you to the proper professional to help your child. Children on the Autism Spectrum in particular have problems with social skills and so more help may be needed.

For more ideas on How to Help Your Child Make Friends!


Happy Parenting

Monicka

Conversation and Friendship

By the time your child starts school he will most likely start to pick up on how to start conversations and make friends,thus building his social skills. Some children are better at it than others and find making friends easy. But for children on the autism spectrum making friends and having meaningful conversations can be very difficult.

Developing social skills will help your child to build his self esteem and these skills are imperative when he becomes an adult. You will be doing your child a great service by helping him while he is young to be a better conversationalist. Simple things such as teaching your child to use eye contact when speaking to someone and smiling can be a great start, so try and suggest this to your child if he is not doing it naturally.

If you have any concerns that your child's social skills are severely lacking and he is having problems making friendships with his peers, it may a good idea to seek professional help. Social skills do not come easily to some children and more guidance may be needed.

Happy Social Skills,

Monicka

Update for UK Bahrain Trip

While I was away at the workshop, my dear, sweetheart of a friend Cassie covered my blogging duties, what a great person she is and she means the world to me. So for anyone interested I am going to post an update on my ticker because I didn't do it on Monday and give Cassie a break on her blogging for Thursday.

I am so happy that I get to see my dear friend and spend some quality time together. Unfortunately we do not get to see each other as much as we would like but our friendship is as strong as ever. Friendship is a give and take kind of relationship and it takes work just like a marriage, but it is so worth it because a good friend will love you unconditionally and other than your children who else can you say that about. I love my Cassie and my life has become soooooo much richer since I met her almost three years ago. That reminds me we have an anniversary to celebrate on February 18th woohooo!!!!

Friendship is also very important for children and if you are having concerns that your child is having problems in that area, now is the time to do something about it. It is OK to ask your children if they are happy with the friends that they have so they don't think that you are feeling sorry for them. More than likely they will come out and tell you if there are any concerns. Check out the article at http://www.kidsgoals.com/child-friends.shtml on helping your child to make friends.

Happy Friendship

Helping Your Child Make Friends

For some children, making friends comes naturally. These lucky kids are sociable individuals who have no trouble interacting with others. I always imagined that my husband Kevin was that kind of child - as an adult he can comfortably interact with anyone he meets, a gift he takes for granted as he has no concept of how it feels to be shy or poor at socializing. It was interesting for me to see how alike his daughter is - when she moved in with us aged 17, she made lots of new friends in no time. Perhaps there is a strong genetic element as they are very similar in their interactions with others.

For children who have a more shy, retiring or introverted personality, they may need more help in making friends. Check out this article on How to Help Your Child Make Friends for some ideas on making play dates successful and other ways of helping your child develop social skills and friendships.

The Importance of Friendship for Your Children

This is going to be an awesome year for me because in a few months I will be leaving for the UK to see Cassie. We have developed a very close friendship in the almost three years we have known each other. We met online on a forum and hit it off and in 2006 I flew to the UK and met her in person. She returned the favour in April of 2007by coming to visit me in Canada and now I am once again off to spend time with her in England.

Even though we are not able to see each other in person very much we have continued to develop a strong friendship and we usually chat everyday on msn. All I can say is thank God for technology for without it we would never have met.

Cassie is an integral part of my life, as she supports me and lets me vent when I need to and is always willing to lend a helping hand if need be. Friendship is important for your children too and if you have concerns that your child may be having problems making friends there is a lot that you can do to remedy that situation. Check out our website at kidsgoals.com for parenting tips on helping your children to make friends.




Happy Parenting,
Monicka

Helping Your Child Make Friends

Having friends is an important way for children to learn social skills. We all want our children to develop lasting friendships but if your child is a bit shy and seems reluctant to make friends sometimes a little help from Mom or Dad is in order.

Click here to read the article on Helping your Child make Friends

Making Friends, and Keeping School Fun for Your Kids

If you have a young one just starting school, what a terrific opportunity to get them off onto the right footing as you teach them to enjoy going to school and regard it as play, not work.

Doing this can simply be a case of approaching each new day with a little extra enthusiasm yourself. If you can help your child go to school looking forward to the day rather than allowing them to pick up a bad habit that so many of us adults have, the "I hate Mondays" syndrome, then you will be potentially giving them a gift for life!

Friends can be a very special part of your child's school life, so if your child is a little shy or needs some help making friends, you might want to check out Monicka's tips:

Helping your child make friends

Happy parenting,

Cassie

Childhood Shyness and Making Friends

The summer holidays can be a mixed blessing for shy children, or children who have difficulty making friends. It can be very relaxing for a shy child to stay home with family - but on the other hand the summer holidays can be a a set-back in the on-going and very important process of developing social skills.

If you have a shy child, you may be interested in these articles:

Childhood Shyness

Helping Your Child Make Friends

Happy parenting,

Cassie