Happy summer! I hope all of your families are settling into a summer routine that is more lazy than crazy. Personally, I find it really difficult not to super-schedule my kids into a different camp each week now that school is out (so that I can get a little work done!). If you are like me and need a little reminding that unscheduled time to play is critical for our kids' health and happiness, check out the last issue of Greater Good magazine, which has several articles about the benefits of old-fashioned play.
I'll be back in late August with more information and some new videos about how and why we should resist over-scheduling our kids once school starts again. We'll be working on the blog all summer, so please post your suggestions for improvements and future topics. If you have a burning question about raising happy kids and want to know what the research says, now is the time to raise it!
If you are new to the blog—or a busy parent who missed a few weeks—I hope you'll check out some of the posts below. Or watch a video!
Changing Bad Habits Into Good Ones
Happiness Habits How-to, Part I
Habits How-to, Part II
Habits How-to, Part III
Habits How-to, Part IV
Family Meals
Making Dinnertime Worth the Effort
What Kids Learn During Dinner
Fathering
Are Dads as Essential as Moms?
How Do We Get Dads to be More Involved?
Is a Divorced Dad as Important as Other Dads?
Forgiveness
Forgive and…Feel Happier
Gratitude
Teaching Gratitude
How Not to Raise an Ungrateful Brat
Grown-up Relationships
Your Love Life, Your Child's Happiness
How to Fight
5 hours to a Better Relationship
Your Paltry Sex Life
Happiness is a Skill
Introduction: Emotional Literacy & Raising Happy Kids
Mothering
Confessions of a Selfish Mother
How to be a Happy Mom
Optimism
The Benefits of Optimism
Raising Optimistic Kids
Success
The Psychology of Success
Achievement Doesn't Matter
The Right Way to Praise Kids
Let Your Kids Fail
Did you catch my blogversation series with Kelly Corrigan?
Introduction: Emotional Literacy & Raising Happy Kids
The Psychology of Success
Achievement Doesn't Matter
The Right Way to Praise Your Kids
Let Your Kids Fail
How Not to Raise an Ungrateful Brat
Materialism v. Altruism During the Holidays
Family Meals are Hugely Important
How to Get the Most Out of Family Dinners
Photo credits: Christina Koci Hernandez for the SF Chronicle
Christine Carter, Ph.D., is a mother of two and the executive director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Find more tips for raising happy kids at greatergoodparents.org.
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