11 Tips for Developing Healthy Eating Habits

Most of the parents in the world want their kids to have healthy eating habits. Nowadays, when there are so many temptations around, it makes it harder to eat only healthy food. Fortunately, the younger your kids are, the easier it is to help them establish healthy eating habits.

For years, and especially in the early years, kids are certain that the way they eat at home is THE way everyone eats. Take advantage of this and start with healthy eating early. Flexibility with food is very important for kids. Kids who are flexible with food are less likely to have eating disorders in later years.

Read 11 Tips for Developing Healthy Eating Habits »

Four Blessings from the Fairies

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, the king and the queen had a welcoming party for their newborn daughter. All the fairies were invited to the party to bless the baby with all the goodness in life.

In a glorious ceremony, each fairy approached the beautiful, gorgeous baby and blessed her. The Blue Fairy gave her happiness, the Green Fairy gave her health, the Red Fairy gave her love, the Pink Fairy gave her friendship, the White Fairy gave her confidence and the Yellow Fairy gave her…

This is a fairy tale, right? Well, no, not really.

When our kids are born, we are just like fairies standing beside their beds every night and blessing them with all the goodness of life. As parents, we all want our kids to be happy and successful. Though many of us dedicate too much energy to the less important things in life, we do, inside of us, deep inside, want the best of our kids.

Read Four Blessings from the Fairies »

Networking for Kids

These days, networking is synonymous with success. Networking is also the key to a good social life.

No matter how big our house is, how colourful our car is, how powerful our computers are or how many academic degrees we have, it is the ability to establish good relationships with our family, our friends, our customers, our colleagues and, perhaps more than anything else, with people we do not know, that determines our success in life.

At school, we get the idea that the more knowledge we gain, the more successful we will be in life. This intellectual focus on life is still practiced in many places around the world.

In fact, “It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know”.

Read Networking for Kids »

Your Kids Are as Smart as You Believe Them to Be

Our friends came for the weekend to our house to celebrate their daughter Tammy’s first birthday. We had finished a great breakfast and were cleaning the balcony, while my friend was preparing little Tammy a bottle of baby formula.

“I finished the formula box. Where is your recycling bin?”, she asked.

I looked at the big formula box she wanted to throw in the bin. “Are you sure you want to throw it away?”, I asked her.

Read Your Kids Are as Smart as You Believe Them to Be »

What Is Self Esteem?

I believe that every parent wants their kids to have high self-esteem, so I have decided to publish a few posts over the coming weeks about self-esteem, what it is and how to increase it, so every parent reading this will be able to help their kids develop this very important emotional strength.

So first, what is self-esteem?

Self-esteem is a reflection of a person’s overall appraisal of their own worth

In other words, self-esteem is the score each person gives their abilities and skills.

Read What Is Self Esteem? »

Optimism or "What’s the big fuss about Emotional Intelligence (Emotional Quotient)?"

Man in office smiling with "Be Happy" sticker on his forehead

Since the Be Happy in LIFE program and the Garden of Eden program are based on promoting Emotional Intelligence, I have been asked many times to explain the main idea behind them.

Although Emotional Intelligence (EQ – Emotional Quotient) became popular after the publication of Daniel Goleman’s Book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, in 1995, it was researched and developed during the 70’s and 80’s.

It was psychologist Howard Gardner’s book Frames of Mind, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which began the development of EQ.

Read Optimism or "What’s the big fuss about Emotional Intelligence (Emotional Quotient)?" »

Be a Good Sport! (part 2)

This is the second part of yesterday’s Be a Good Sport!, which includes the last 5 things we need to do as parents to make sure our kids take the positive out of sports rather than the negative.

Excitement vs. Anxiety

When kids are excited about their sport, they are pumped up and ready to conquer the world. There is a positive outcome to this excitement and many coaches dedicate much energy to create this excitement in their players.

Read Be a Good Sport! (part 2) »

Be a Good Sport! (part 1)

On the weekend, when all the sport teams are on the field are kicking or passing a ball, it is easy to see that they are not the only ones sweating.

From the bench, a group of anxious parents try to give instructions that can hardly be heard on the field. The quieter ones try using the power of their thoughts to push the ball to the left.

It is funny to watch. Parents move their bodies as if they can help their kids move the ball straight into the basket or the goal.

Well, the truth is that parents can help a lot in directing their kids, but the playing filed is the last place to do that.

Read Be a Good Sport! (part 1) »

Teens Today Aren’t Like We Used to Be

In my work with parents and teens, I here many times the phrase “Teens today aren’t like we used to be”.

Really?

I remember this from a friend of mine from high school and his dad when we were 18. Every time when we came to visit my friend, his dad gave us the spiel about how motivated, well mannered, hard working and respectful his generation was and how horrible, suffering from peer pressure, disrespectful and lazy we were.

I remember asking him one day if his parents did not say the same thing about him when he was 18.

Read Teens Today Aren’t Like We Used to Be »

Kids and Humor

Kids laugh a lot but not everything is funny for them. Watching them can teach us a lot about the complication required to understand humor. The younger the kids, the clumsier they are at telling jokes, and many of them do not think jokes are funny at all.

In the early years, kids laugh at things that do not seem funny at all to the adults. At the age of 6 or 7, kids discover humor when they start to understand the double meaning of words. Only at that stage, when their language develops enough, do they have the capacity to shift from one verbal meaning to the other.

This understanding is so important that they can never get to the punch line without it.

Read Kids and Humor »

11 Tips for Developing Healthy Eating Habits

Four Blessings from the Fairies

Your Kids Are as Smart as You Believe Them to Be

What Is Self Esteem?

Optimism or "What’s the big fuss about Emotional Intelligence (Emotional Quotient)?"

Be a Good Sport! (part 2)

Be a Good Sport! (part 1)

Teens Today Aren’t Like We Used to Be

Get Happiness by Email

Join Us on Social Media

Books by Ronit Baras

Related Links