Her advice reminds me of the quote by Lao Tzu: “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”<\/p>\n
________________\u00a0 When it comes to school, we think school supplies, new clothes, books, meal prep, and after school\u00a0activities. We often forget to plan for the emotional wellness of our children. Sometimes getting our kids\u00a0up and going can be the most challenging task. But what if we started adding in small acts of kindness to\u00a0help our children thrive throughout the school day? Below are some tips to increase kindness in your\u00a0home as you prep for back to school.<\/p>\n Write positive affirmations on your children’s bathroom mirror, fridge, or in their room. Make it visible and have them recite these affirmations.<\/p>\n Some examples:<\/p>\n Put a small handwritten note in their lunch:\u00a0Wish them good luck on their first day. Share a joke,\u00a0quote, or tell them how proud you are of them. Do it weekly or daily. It is a small gesture that can make a\u00a0world of a difference, especially if your child is having a rough day.<\/p>\n Try to stay off your phone the first 30 minutes of the day.<\/p>\n Buy an alarm and charge your phone in a common room, so you are not drawn to it. Stay off of social media\u00a0in the morning. We tend to waste time scrolling and we are not being present.<\/p>\n Find out what was the best and worst part of your child’s day! Stay away\u00a0from yes\/no questions.<\/p>\n Here are some examples of questions to ask:<\/p>\n Have a day or block of time, where everyone in your family is tech free. Phones and\u00a0tablets away. Spend time connecting as a family. Do a game night, family dinner, or family outing without\u00a0technology! Bring an old school camera if you must take a picture, or just spend that time making\u00a0memories versus capturing them for others.<\/p>\n I have talk time with my daughter. Before we go to\u00a0school, it is just her and me. We talk about what she is looking forward to, what she can do to be kind or\u00a0helpful, and what her day looks like. It helps her visualize her day and helps her think of simple acts of\u00a0kindness. I then share about my day. Sometimes I need to go first to get her thinking. By making this a\u00a0habit, it helps set the tone for the day.<\/p>\n These are some little tips to help you start the school year on the right foot with easy hacks to be kind and present. When we are able and willing to listen to our children we can help\u00a0them prevent and intervene with bullying and peer conflict.\u00a0For more resources or tips, please check us out at:\u00a0Bulldog Solution<\/a>.<\/p>\n You May Also Like:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Self-care suggestions for parents of teens<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Prior Post:<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>7 Ways parents can help kids succeed in high school<\/a><\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss a post!<\/span> Please subscribe to Between Us Parents\u2019 completely safe, spam-free email list in the box in the top right corner of the page!<\/span><\/p>\n Please like Between Us Parents on<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Facebook<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n You can also find us on<\/span>\u00a0Pinterest<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0Twitter<\/span><\/a>, and<\/span>\u00a0Instagram<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today’s guest post is from Kortney Peagram, PhD, the founder of Bulldog Solution, which aims to eradicate bullying\u00a0through social boldness, kindness and connection. Kortney has also been a friend and parenting touchstone for years. I’ve always loved the mix of positivity and practicality, which is evident in her tips below on how to increase kindness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9267"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9269,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9267\/revisions\/9269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Back-to-School-640x413.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFocus on the Positive<\/h4>\n
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Make a Note<\/h4>\n
Put your phone down and be more present<\/h4>\n
Do a quick check-in at night<\/h4>\n
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Disconnect day<\/h4>\n
Connect with your kid<\/h4>\n