The Takeaway: Blushing is a Good Thing
Friday, November 13th, 2009 Posted in Emotion coaching, Takeaway | 2 Comments »The other day Molly, my nearly-seven-year-old, whacked her sister playfully, but too hard. Like a puppy, she recoiled when she realized her mistake, feeling embarrassed because Fiona’s cool third-grade friends witnessed the gaff and were commenting. (She’s very ...
Holiday Happiness: Is it all About Forgiveness?
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 Posted in Forgiveness, Main essay | 6 Comments »As Halloween excitement mounts in our household and the nip of fall is finally forcing us to find our jackets (I know, it is good to be a Californian), one thing is clear: The holidays are ...
Handling Bad Behavior in Public Places: Alternatives to the Supermarket Squeeze
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 Posted in Changing bad habits into good ones, Comment Round-up, Emotion coaching, Mindfulness & Meditation, On Life & Being a Parent, Perfectionism, Real-life parenting, Self-discipline | Leave a Comment »“Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” –Author Unknown My point in writing the Bad Mother: Real-Life Tales ...
How Intelligence Develops
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 Posted in Giving & Altruism, Main essay, Success, Trends & Research Participation | 2 Comments »I’ve had a low-grade strep infection for well over a year now, which is ironic since I’m totally saturated in studies which show all the ways that positive emotions (like happiness, gratitude, and compassion) boost your immune system. Nowhere ...
Getting Back in the School Year Routine
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 Posted in Changing bad habits into good ones, Discipline, Empathy, Main essay, School & scheduling, Self-discipline | 2 Comments »"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony." —Thomas Merton Summer is coming to a close...Summer is a time of lovely things that look like bad habits once school rolls around again: sleeping late, ...
Emotion Coaching: One of the Most Important Parenting Practices in the History of the Universe
Thursday, March 19th, 2009 Posted in Changing bad habits into good ones, Conflict, Emotion coaching, Empathy, Main essay, Teaching Emotional Literacy | 30 Comments »According to John Gottman, one of my all-time favorite researchers, emotion-coaching is the key to raising happy, resilient, and well-adjusted kids. His research—30 years of it—shows that it is not enough to be a warm, engaged, and loving parent. ...
Helping Children Cope with Death
Friday, March 13th, 2009 Posted in Grieving, Main essay, Teaching Emotional Literacy | 7 Comments »Not so long ago, a sweet child in my community—my kids' buddy from preschool—was killed in an accident. For a full year, I descended into dark periods of deep grief. Fortunately, I also often rose to the occasion, ...
Fake It Till You Make It
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 Posted in Getting the ratios right, Main essay, Success & failure | 3 Comments »Should you ever just pretend to be happy when you’re not? All this talk about getting our ratio of positive to negative emotions up prompted that question—and the answer is more complex than you might think. Feigning happiness doesn’t count ...
Better Than Sex (and Appropriate for Kids)
Thursday, February 12th, 2009 Posted in Compassion, Forgiveness, Main essay, Mindfulness & Meditation, On Life & Being a Parent, Sex, Teach kids to meditate, Video | 5 Comments »Might be that sitting with your legs crossed repeating stuff like “May all beings be free from suffering,” is a little too far-out for you. I’m a scientist for crying out loud, so you can imagine how I might ...
Love: More is More
Thursday, February 5th, 2009 Posted in Compassion, Dads & fathering, Family meals, Fostering social connections, Main essay, On Life & Being a Parent, Praise, Social intelligence, Teaching Emotional Literacy | 2 Comments »You may think Valentine’s Day is for lovers, but I say it is for kids! I didn’t really know how darn much love I had in me until I had kids – and I’ve always been a lover, not ...
Getting the Ratios Right
Thursday, January 29th, 2009 Posted in Getting the ratios right, Growth & fixed mindsets, Main essay, Marriage, On Life & Being a Parent, Praise, Success | 3 Comments »Is it possible to praise your children too much? Last year I spent a lot of time emphasizing the importance of growth-mindset praise, and as a result this is a question I get asked a lot. The corollary ...
Ten 2008 Tips for Raising Happy Kids
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 Posted in Changing bad habits into good ones, Conflict, Family meals, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gratitude, Kindness, Main essay, Materialism, On Life & Being a Parent, Optimism, School & scheduling, Video | 2 Comments »Replace Your Kids’ Annoying Behaviors with Happiness Habits Some of the most irritating things our kids do (whining and tattling come to mind) are nothing more than bad habits, and as we all know, bad habits are tough to break! ...
Video — Transcending: Words on Women & Strength
Friday, December 19th, 2008 Posted in Fostering social connections, Optimism, Video | 1 Comment »Sorry to those who subscribe to the blog via email and couldn't see the embedded video in the last posting, Strong Women, Close Friends. Here is the link: Transcending: Words on Women & Strength by Kelly Corrigan
Would You Guys Just Knock It Off? 10 Steps to Peace in Your Household
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 Posted in Conflict, Forgiveness, Friendship, Main essay | 1 Comment »The last posting was about the benefits of conflict and why we need to teach kids to resolve conflict constructively themselves. This posting will teach you how to do it. You might be thinking that this is a posting for parents ...
Conflict: It’s a Good Thing
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 Posted in Conflict, Empathy, Forgiveness, Friendship, Main essay, Mindfulness & Meditation, Social intelligence | 2 Comments »“He’s totally conflict avoidant, so it isn’t like we ever fight about this stuff,” my friend recently told me about how she and her hubby address their differences. She seemed proud that the fighting in her household registers ...
The Science of Success
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 Posted in Kindness, Main essay, Perfectionism, Success, Success & failure | 3 Comments »Psychologists have established a solid link between happiness and success. Happier people earn more money, perform better, and are more helpful to their coworkers. Most people assume that this link exists because people feel happy when they are ...
Forgive and…Feel Happier
Monday, May 12th, 2008 Posted in Forgiveness | 9 Comments »"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned. " -Buddha Few people fully realize the huge impact the ability to forgive can have on ...
Raising Optimistic Kids
Monday, April 21st, 2008 Posted in Growth & fixed mindsets, Optimism, Praise | 6 Comments »The last post was about why we parents should foster optimism in our kids. In a nutshell: there is a close link between how optimistically kids think and how healthy and happy they are—and how they perform academically and ...
The Benefits of Optimism
Monday, April 7th, 2008 Posted in Optimism | 4 Comments »Just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings. –Elie Wiesel Are our children hopeful? Do they expect good in the world? That ...
How do you really feel about the holidays?
Thursday, December 13th, 2007 Posted in Holidays, Kindness, Materialism | 10 Comments »Christine Carter Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah! Happy Holidays, everyone! Did that greeting just make you warm inside with thoughts of winter lights and family celebrations and Salvation Army bells ringing for the poor? Or did you flinch? ...
Materialism v. Altruism During the Holidays
Thursday, December 6th, 2007 Posted in Holidays, Kindness, Materialism, Video | 4 Comments »There are lots of things you can do to make your holidays happier. There are four ways to view this 3 minute video: 1) Default: Play using Windows Media Player. 2) Mac Users: Play using QuickTime player. 3) Fastest download: YouTube. 4) Subscribe to the ...
Teaching Gratitude in a Culture of Entitlement
Friday, November 16th, 2007 Posted in Gratitude | 7 Comments »In our video blogversation, Kelly Corrigan and I talk about some practical ways to raise appreciative kids. For example, keeping a daily gratitude list is a simple way to make thankfulness a habit. Actually, it might not even have to ...
How Not to Raise an Ungrateful Brat
Friday, November 9th, 2007 Posted in Gratitude, Video | 8 Comments »There are four ways to view this 3 minute video: 1) Default: Play using Windows Media Player. 2) Mac Users: Play using QuickTime player. 3) Fastest download: YouTube. 4) Subscribe to the Podcast. Gratitude is an Attitude Christine Carter Did you know that grateful ...
Introduction: Emotional Literacy & Raising Happy Kids
Friday, October 5th, 2007 Posted in Growth & fixed mindsets, Teaching Emotional Literacy, Video | 3 Comments »Did you know that happiness is a skill you can teach your children? There are four ways to view this 3 minute video: 1) Default: Play using Windows Media Player. 2) Mac Users: Play using QuickTime player. 3) Fastest download: YouTube. 4) ...
This blog is about science-based parenting advice. I'm a sociologist and the executive director of UC Berkeley's 
Appearances on ABC's "View From the Bay."
