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Subject: |
Dr. Greene's Top Parenting Dos and Don’ts |
| Date: |
2008-11-17
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Dr. Greene's Top
Parenting Dos and Don’ts
By Alan Greene, MD
www.DrGreene.com
Each day I see parents
trying
their best to do what’s right for their families, but no one has the
perfect guidebook that tells parents what to do. Here are the top ten
solvable problems that I advise parents to remedy today.
- Do… Have confidence in your parenting style.
Don’t… Worry about what your parents or the neighbors or your child's
teacher thinks about your parenting style.
Create a parenting style that makes you comfortable and relax.
- Do… Create an exercise program for yourself.
Don’t… Skip it because you don’t have the time.
Kids follow our example. If we're not exercising, they won't
learn to either. So take care of yourself and teach your kids to
do the same.
- Do… Take the time to create healthy love foods for your family.
Don’t… settle routinely for food that isn't helping them build a strong
body and mind.
What children eat is vitally important and the foods they learn to love
when young will often be their favorites as adults. You can
create healthy love foods for them by what you feed them now and give
them a life-long gift.
- Do… Give your kids a good multi-vitamin each day.
Don’t… Trust our food sources to provide all the nutrients kids need.
Most kids don't eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. Even
if they did (and I do encourage at least that many) our food’s nutrient
density has gone down. Kids need a good multi-vitamin each day to
round out their nutritional needs.
- Do… Stay consistent with your rules.
Don’t… Let whining wear you down.
If you want a child to sleep in her own bed, then letting her sleep in
your bed “just this once” is going to make it much harder later.
- Do… Think about the things that matter.
Don’t… Pick the wrong things to worry about.
You need to pay close attention to some things, like your kids’ safety.
But don't sweat the small stuff even if it means your kids
sleep in their street clothes instead of pajamas.
- Do… Take advantage of today.
Don’t… Wait until tomorrow to build life-long memories.
Time flies. Plan something every season that your kids will look
forward to year after year.
- Do… Pay attention to both your perspective and your child's.
Don't… Lose sight of your needs or theirs.
If we focus too much on whatever children want, or too much on what we
want, they miss out on learning both to give and receive.
Dr. Alan Greene, author
of Raising
Baby Greene, is a graduate of Princeton University and the
University of California San Francisco. In addition to being the
founder of www.DrGreene.com, he is the Chief Medical Officer of
A.D.A.M. He is the Chair of The Organic Center and on the Advisory
Board of Healthy Child Healthy World. Dr. Greene appears frequently on
TV, radio, websites, and in print including appearances on The Today
Show, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, The Wall Street Journal,
Parents Magazine, and US Weekly. Dr. Greene is Clinical Professor
of Pediatrics at Stanford University's Packard Children's Hospital.
Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
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