We’ve all seen it. Experienced it. Sometimes painfully – a complete display of obnoxious behavior by someone else’s kid.

Maybe in a checkout line. Or the candy aisle. Or at a school event or party.

For most of us, it takes a lot of willpower to not take over and manage the situation. Divvy out some discipline. Give that child a piece of your mind.

Of course, you don’t. Because that would be inappropriate and awkward. There are boundaries to respect, after all.

However, there are two scenarios in which it is appropriate to intervene:

A Guest Post from Katie Hurley, LCSW

A thirteen-year-old girl comes to me week after week with a litany of complaints about social media. She doesn’t like the way her friends act on Instagram. She doesn’t like it when people unfollow her because they’re mad about something, only to follow her again a few hours later. She’s hurt when she isn’t called out as part of the group, and she hates it when she sees the group photos from weekend plans she wasn’t invited to.

Mean comments maker her uncomfortable.The truth is, she doesn’t like who she is or how she acts on social media. She wishes it didn’t exist.

Helping Parents Keep Their Wits on Long Winter Days

For parents with little ones, winter days can feel like an eternity.

Cold temperatures, weather hazards, the dreaded cold and flu season, and the onset of cabin fever can lead to a frustrating loop of, “I’m bored” and “What are we going to do NOW?”

How do you keep your kids healthy, happy, and help everyone keep their wits?

A Guest Post from Jessica Braider, CEO of The Six O’Clock Scramble 

A few months ago, my family started a new tradition: making dinner together on Sunday evenings. We don’t do it every Sunday, but we do it quite often and the reminder for us to make it happen almost always comes from one of our two boys.

I wish I could say their desire to cook is due to their passion for cooking (they both like it fine, but Legos, playing outside, and drawing are definitely preferred) or because of my Mary Poppins-like ability to make every activity fun.  But, to be totally honest, I think it’s due to a combination of a natural curiosity about food on their part and a lot of hard work and letting go on mine.

From Childhood Sexuality Expert, Amy Lang, MA

With all that’s in the news lately about sexual harassment, we know it’s a tricky topic for a lot of parents to discuss with their kids.  To help you with the scripts and tips, we’ve asked our favorite Childhood Sexuality Expert, Amy Lang, to share her wisdom…

Suddenly the news is full of stories about sexual harassment and your kids may hear this phrase regularly over the next several months. Even if you have been very careful about your child’s media exposure, not every parent is, and kids may talk to each other – especially about something with the word “sex” in it.

Is it possible to talk to a child about sexual harassment when they may not even know about sex? Sure. However, the longer you avoid the topic of sex in general, the higher the likelihood your child will hit up the internet for information.

“Oh, what fun” … queue the holidays. ‘Tis the season to be thankful – right? Yes.

But raise your hand if you’ve ever cringed at the “how do I tackle my kid’s holiday wish list” scenario it invokes! We’re all in, right?

We’re all on board with the holiday tradition of saying what we’re grateful for around the family table, yet we wonder how we’ll get through the “I wants” and “I gotta haves” that the holiday season inevitably brings.

We hope to instill an attitude of gratitude this season – to give thanks for the blessings and wonderful things we have. We’ll talk to our kids about children who go without. About kids who don’t have enough to eat or shoes on their feet or a place to lay their head. And sometimes we see the glimmer of understanding, and then, poof – the spell is broken by the latest, greatest video game or hot new fashion must-have.

Don’t despair. There are some absolutely doable strategies for cutting through the distractions and fostering gratitude and mindfulness in your family, not just through the holidays, but all year around.