Janis B. Meredith's Blog: JBM Thinks Sportsparenting, page 22

Why are Parents Stressing Over Their Kids’ Sports? Here Are 6 Reasons

Do you find yourself consistently getting stressed about your child’s youth sports involvement? If so, you are not alone. Many sports parents feel stressed, although they may not even know exactly why. The sad, but honest truth is that much of the stress parents feel is self-inflicted. If you’re feeling stressed and are not sure why,...

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Would Your Youth Athlete Agree to this Code of Conduct?

What should the code of conduct be for athletes? A few months ago, when Serena Williams lost her cool and got into it with the chair umpire during the U.S. Open, she provoked a lot of discussion about how athletes should behave as they play sports. Some felt that her outburst was understandable; others felt that...

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Volunteering to Help Your Child’s Team: What’s the Payback?

Sports parents know that volunteering is practically mandatory for them if their children play sports for any length of time. Volunteers are the grease that turns the wheel of youth sports; there’s just no way to avoid doing it. It’s a sports parent’s duty, and many times it’s done rather grudgingly. But may I suggest...

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What Does Your Child Hear When They Read Your Body Language?

Words are very important and what you say to your child does matter, but your body language actually carries more weight. In 1971 psychologist Albert Mehrabian published Silent Messages, which included his pioneering research on nonverbal communication. When it comes to credibility, Mehrabian found that we assign 55% of the weight to body language, 38%...

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Which Wins in Youth Sports: Talent or Passion?

When it comes to your child and sports: which will carry them further–talent or passion? You might be tempted to think it’s talent, but an 11-year study led by Dr. Daniel Heller would argue otherwise. The study surveyed 450 elite musical students and found that, over time, passion trumps talent. It was the students’ passion...

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YOU Can Raise Confident Kids Who Will Make Smart Life Choices!

Parents want to raise confident kids who make wise choices. That’s the parental desire for children almost as soon as they enter the family. But the journey from babe to smart-thinking young adult is a verrrrrry long and rocky road. Quite honestly, there are just a lot of forces in this world that work against parents doing...

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How Strong Families Overcome Hard Times To Raise Confident Kids

Strong families CAN get through hard times and raise confident kids. In fact, adversity can be the fuel that produces growth and strength. I realize that the title of this post is very broad and the information addressing this could easily fill a book. But my goal today is to break it down into some...

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4 Mindsets That Hold Your Child Back from Being a Leader

Do you get frustrated watching your child play because you wish they would be more assertive and become a leader in the game? Do you wonder what is holding your child back from being a leader? Chances are, your child doesn’t have a clear understanding of what leadership really is. In fact, they may believe the misconception that...

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Young Athletes MUST Learn About Hard Work

Before I talk more about hard work and why it is so important for youth athletes to learn an important work ethic, let me say this: Kids should be having fun in sports too. That’s what will keep them coming back to the game. But having fun and working hard can both be part of...

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How to Avoid One of the Biggest Parenting Mistakes

Every parent makes a parenting mistake now and then. You yell at your kids, forget to do something really important, not listen when you should–the list is endless. But one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a parent actually has nothing to do with your kids. It has to do with YOU. Every...

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