Susan Newman's Blog, page 6
May 4, 2018
Quiz: Who Makes Your Life the Most Difficult or Stressful?
Often, it’s easy to get swept up into regularly responding to requests with a yes rather than a default no. You may not even recognize your willingness or selflessness as a hindrance. Some people are more difficult to refuse than others. Who gets you to say “yes” most often? Your parents? Friends? Children? A painter or contractor? A neighbor?
This quiz will help you figure out who in your life present the biggest challenges—the people who turn you into a pushover, who get you to agree to wha...
March 26, 2018
3 Easy Fixes to Avoid Being Overworked on the Job
Most of us don’t have enough—or any—work-life balance. It always seems just out of reach. If you feel overworked, it’s likely that you are pushing your limits, putting your work life and your personal life in conflict. The consensus thinking in business is that agreeing to demands and requests keeps bosses and clients happy, no matter how absurd or personally taxing. You take on extra assignments, do favors for your boss, or jump to co-workers’ rescue to ensure that you’re seen as a team play...
March 19, 2018
5 Unexpected Benefits of Saying No That Every Parent Should Know
If you’re like many parents, the prospect of saying no to your children sometimes feels uncomfortable or difficult. The benefits of saying no are unknown. You may believe that it’s simply easier to cave in to your daughter’s request for another scoop of ice cream or your son’s pleas “to do the dishes later”…after he’s neglected his chores all week.
For you, the word “no” may have become so closely associated with making your children unhappy that you sacrifice your own time, happiness, or goa...
February 26, 2018
Involved In-Laws: A Blessing or a Curse?
In an advice query to The New York Times’ “The Sweet Spot” column, a wife in her early 30s complains extensively about her indulgent in-laws. They celebrate all holidays together and her in-laws housesit and work—unpaid—in her and her husband’s business. She writes:
“My in-laws are too nice…They shower us with gifts at every opportunity…My mother-in-law cooks and brings us five meals a week …”
The post Involved In-Laws: A Blessing or a Curse? appeared first on Parenting Expert, Susan Newman P...
The Shockingly Young Age That Girls Turn Mean
At what age do girls act mean today? It’s not when it used to be.
I’ve had a good friend for decades, and we are anything but mean to each other. We are totally supportive: We call for advice or simply to listen to each other’s tales of woe. We worry when something is not going well in the other’s life.
Were we always this way? Not really. But neither of us can recall being overtly mean before high school — and my friend has laser-sharp recall for events in her life. But by the time puberty h...
February 23, 2018
8 Ways to be the Adult in the Room with Your Parents
It is not unusual for adult children—be they 25, 35, 55, or older—to suddenly act like their 10-year-old selves with their parents. I’ve even seen adults in their 70s revert to this dynamic with their 90-something parents! Wanting to please parents is a natural instinct. As grown ups, parents’ advice may be annoying, their wishes contrary to what we want. But, more often than not, we yield. After all, we spent most of our growing-up years seeking their approval.
Obeying their requests or welc...
February 15, 2018
How to Help Children Stand Up to Peer Cruelty & Stop Bullying
In this guest post, Dr. Michele Borba, an educational psychologist and parenting and bullying expert, offers specific, evidence-based tips on bullying prevention. Her latest book, End Peer Cruelty, Stop Bullying helps teachers and parents instruct children on how to step in safely to halt bullying. She emphasizes how creating a caring culture based on respectful relationships is the foundation for bullying prevention. Dr. Borba reminds us that counteracting school violence and bullying starts...
February 3, 2018
Quiz: Are Your Friendships Working for You?
In the best of situations, our friends are our confidants, our cheerleaders, or simply pleasurable companions. In all their different roles, friendships are valuable and positive and deserve protection—at the least, that’s what we hope they will be.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are negative friendships: people who drain you, let you down, or take advantage of you and the relationship. To give you a sense...
January 4, 2018
The Right Kind of Praise May Boost Academic Performance
Do you use “person” praise or “process” praise with your children? The distinction is critical, affecting how children view themselves and tackle schoolwork challenges.
The post The Right Kind of Praise May Boost Academic Performance appeared first on Parenting Expert, Susan Newman Ph.D..
How Smartphones Sap Your Brainpower
Let’s face it: Most of us depend on our smartphones. We use them innumerable times a day to stay in touch with our children, get news updates, fill free time and see what friends are doing.
But the endless texting, calling, reading email and whatever else you do on your phone isn’t just draining your smartphone’s battery. It may be sapping your brainpower as well.
Read more on U.S. News and World Report
The post How Smartphones Sap Your Brainpower appeared first on Parenting Expert, Susan...
