Making Time for Supportive Friends

October 20, 2012

Stop now and make a quick list of your 10 most parenting-supportive friends.  Beside each name, write down the approximate date you last saw that person face-to-face. Check out the 2012 Blog Event. It is a great way to get involved and show your support for API. Do you live in Victoria, Canada?  The API parent […]

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Support is a Key Factor in Parenting

October 19, 2012

Support may be as important to parenting as any other factor:  Increasingly population research is describing social support (usually defined as its opposite – social isolation) as a key family stressor alongside parental mental illness, parental substance abuse, home violence, low income and perceptions of a difficult child (Bayer, et al., 2007). If you are […]

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No Person is an Island

October 18, 2012

If you’re all set this month without group social support, consider what you might be able to offer others.  Helpers benefit too when a positive feedback loop is established.  Feelings of social usefulness and value and competence increase and who knows – if you believe in karma:  what goes around, comes around.  No person is […]

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Commonalities are Important in Group Life

October 17, 2012

It’s hard to feel supported in any group where we feel we have little in common.  In seeking supportive group experiences, consider characteristics that are most important to you and seek them out.  Not every detail need be in perfect alignment, but enough needs to be common to be beneficial.  Perceived sameness makes information more […]

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Everyone Benefits from Support Groups

October 16, 2012

Children benefit when parents are supported.  It’s no surprise to us that a comprehensive meta-analysis of the effects of parent support  programs found that programs with stronger effects on children’s social and emotional development provide opportunities for parents to meet together and provide peer support (Goodson, 2005)  Make a commitment to yourself to attend a […]

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Gain More in Person

October 15, 2012

Online social  networking and support is often a predominant mode of social support for many of us as busy parents with young children.  Even so, be sure to carve out face-to-face group time too because online is swell, but it’s missing a few important ingredients.  In addition to extra boosts of calming oxytocin, face-to-face social […]

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Trading Tips on the “Basics”

October 14, 2012

Nighttime parenting. Potty learning. Homework. Finding a great caregiver. Baby-wearing choices. While these parenting situations are quite normal, they can elicit intense and very different emotions in us depending on many things.  Mutually meeting, sharing and problem solving around the most “normal” of parenting situations can help keep these “normal” “minor” stresses from piling up. […]

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