by Jen Forristal | Oct 2, 2017 | Empathy
Each month we focus on helping you build one of the Umbrella Skills. Our focus for October is Empathy!
Empathy is our ability to see the world from someone else’s perspective. To understand and share the feelings of another.
Empathy is extremely valuable as a parenting tool and is essential for helping our children make strong social connections. High levels of empathy result in lower levels of conflict and higher levels of problem solving within friendships. It helps us make new friends and keep the ones we have and good friends help us live longer.
Check in regularly for tips and stories that will build this valuable tool in your home.
Featured image by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash.
by Jen Forristal | Sep 25, 2017 | Empathy
We tell our kids a lot about what a situation means with our immediate reactions. This week, pay attention to the reaction you have when your child shares their challenges with you. What we think is often written all over our faces – even before we begin to speak! – and our kids create a lot of meaning from this.
Let me share an example.
Umbrella parenting is about helping our children feel less victimized by the day to day trials of life. If our child comes home and shares that someone was unkind to them, it’s common to react with surprise, anger and words like “that’s awful” or “how could they do that”. That can give your child the message that an injustice has been done to them, leaving them in the victim seat. Instead try reacting with empathy. Of course it’s hard when someone is unkind – but it isn’t a surprise, it’s a normal part of life. There are many reasons why kids can be unkind. Sometimes they have bad days, learn poor coping strategies from siblings or peers, don’t get enough sleep, and a million more. By expecting it to rain sometimes in our kid’s lives and reacting with empathy we tell our children that we know these things are hard but also something normal that everyone experiences from time to time.
Learn more about how to react to your child’s challenges in our blog post, “Turning Threats into Growth Opportunities: 4 Steps to Coach your Child through Challenges“.
Featured image by Ekaterina Kartushina on Unsplash
by Jen Forristal | Sep 19, 2017 | Empathy, Umbrella Schools
Here at the Umbrella Project, we are so grateful to work with some amazing schools building big umbrellas of wellbeing for their students.
This week we want to share a story from St. Agnes School. Known as the little school with a big heart, they certainly proved themselves worthy of this title. One particular family starting at their school this fall had just moved directly from a refugee camp with very little support or resources. Noticing this, the school rallied together and filled the principal’s office with everything they could think of to help this family succeed. One parent even went to this family’s home on the weekend to set up a new crib for their infant.
Not only did this new family gain a supportive and caring community, the umbrellas of everyone at St. Agnes have grown a little bigger from using so much kindness and empathy! Thank you for showing us all what it means to use your umbrella!
by Jen Forristal | Sep 13, 2017 | Cognitive Flexibility, Empathy
Much like a vaccine stimulating our immune system, learning to cope with manageable threats to our physical and social well-being is critical for the development of resilience. As parents, we need to be actively looking for opportunities for our children to get a little outside their comfort zones. This builds confidence in their ability to handle these challenges.
When you watch your child in a difficult situation, try to pick out the skills they are using and help them see their coping strengths. Maybe it was kindness, empathy, or cognitive flexibility.
The more children can see their strengths, the more likely they are to use them again when faced with the next challenge.
