As a parent or those in a parenting role, you play a critical part in your child’s success. Supporting your child to grow healthy friendships is essential. Through relationships, your child develops a sense of belonging. They gain a more clear understanding of themselves through their interactions with you, their teachers, and their peers. 

Children regularly notice differences in the world. Parents or those in a parenting role have a chance to support children as they make sense of differences among people by discussing what they observe.

Now is the right time to deepen your awareness of the messages your child receives about cannabis, the impacts on your child, and how you can construct the messages you send going forward to support healthy choices. Peer pressure to try cannabis does not usually start until ages 15-19. Yet, children still receive messages and view modeling throughout their childhood that will have a clear impact on whether or not they’ll be able to make healthy decisions about cannabis in years to come. As a parent or those in a parenting role, what you model and the messages you send in your child’s younger years about cannabis can set them up for success and healthy choices. 

Now is the right time to deepen your awareness of the messages your child receives about alcohol, the impacts, and how you can construct the messages you send going forward to support healthy choices. Though peer pressure does not typically tempt children to drink alcohol until the ages of 11-14, they still receive messages and modeling throughout childhood that will have a significant impact on whether or not they’ll be able to make healthy decisions about alcohol when the time comes. As a parent or those in a parenting role, the messages you send about alcohol in your child’s early years can set them up for healthy choices and success. 

Seven-year-olds are working hard to understand what it means to act responsibly. They are: 

●      working to understand the rules and apply them in numerous settings. 

●      working on their independence. 

●      increasingly gaining autonomy in caring for their bodies (eating right, getting exercise). 

●      learning about healthy relationships (managing their impulses and feelings, empathizing and working through conflict, keeping promises, and being dependable). 

●      balancing homework and extracurricular activities, and 

●      contributing to their household (cooperating with rules and expectations, doing chores). 

As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you play a vital role in your child’s success. There are intentional ways to foster a healthy parent-child relationship, and daily routines provide a great opportunity.

Both children and adults experience stress. Stress is the physical or mental response to an external cause, such as being yelled at by a frustrated sibling or starting at a new school. Feelings of stress are natural mechanisms for human survival. These feelings are your body’s way of warning you when there is risk and bringing your attention to problems that need to be addressed. A stressor can be one-time or ongoing.  Anxiety is the body’s reaction to stress and can occur even if there is no current threat. If anxiety persists, it can begin to interfere with everyday life and impact your child’s health. As a parent or those in a parenting role, you can support your child in learning to identify and manage their stress- a skill they will use for years to come.