Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is around the corner. Many say we don’t need a specific “day” and we should celebrate love everyday, except we don’t. Life is busy.

​“Valentine’s Day has an opportunity to be a neat and interactive holiday experience, but it also can be laden with emotionally tricky situations because it typically involves a reciprocal give and take in social relationships and can foster some self-doubt,” says Dr. Stevie Puckett-Perez, pediatric psychologist at Children’s Health and UT Southwestern.

To combat these feelings of self-doubt that might arise in your children, it’s important to reiterate the true meaning of the holiday to your kids. Being kind to one another and celebrating each individual for who they are, despite our differences. This will not only ensure they have a happy holiday but also continue to inspire in their own self confidence and self-love, which is vital to kids’ personal growth.

Children shouldn't feel responsible for:
​​​-Mediating conflicts between parents 
​-Raising their siblings
-Regulating a parents emotions
-Protecting the family image
-Fulfilling their parents unmet needs
-Being their parents therapist
-Protecting their parents
-Easing a parents anxiety
-Fulfilling a parents dream

​
There’s one thing all parents agree on: to see their children live a successful, healthy, and long life. But the parenting journey to reach this goal can be long and full of obstacles. A child's mental health is determined by developmental and emotional milestones, and how they will cope with these factors. Some ways parents can incorporate healthy mental habits are by paying attention to their own behavior in regards to a child's sense of responsibility in the home. 

At Families First we strive to end unhealthy child and parent relationships, as well as educating parents on the changes they can make to ease stress and anxiety in the home. Raising a child is hard! It's important to recognize and adopt new strategies if you find yourself allowing unhealthy mental health behaviors. Check out our selection of parent education programs and consultations we have to offer. ​

A key way to increase positive behaviors is through praise, rewards, and giving attention to the good behaviors and attitudes children have. One great way to do this, and to celebrate the small wins is through a reward chart! You can find ours below. 

Practicing compassion in our daily lives helps us embrace challenging relationships and manage stress of modern society. Today's society is in a unique situation where our traditional lives and routines have been put on hold. The majority of our time is being spent at home with our immediate families without a clear timeline of how long these changes will be in place. In this time of uncertainty, families may see kiddos facing challenges with their self-esteem and emotions. Self-esteem can influence life in myriad ways, from academic and professional success to relationships and mental health.
Have conversations with your kids about their self-esteem and emotions. Use some of the resources below to prompt discussion and work together on some of the activities!