Karissa Tunis

Why My Daughter’s Sensory Processing Disorder Diagnosis Was a Gift

It’s been three years… but the moment I received my daughter B’s official sensory processing disorder diagnosis, still remains a vivid memory. It’s as clear to me as the ladybug costume she wore on her first Halloween, and the smile on her face when she learned she’d be a big sister.

I remember everything about the chair I sat in while the doctor spoke. The uncomfortable dent in the cushion. And the wooden arms I kept knocking my elbows against as I tried in vain to comfortably position my pregnant body….

Chore Chart by Age & the Benefits of Teaching Responsibility

With a family of five, there is a lot to be done in and around the house! Thankfully I have three eager and able sets of little hands that like to jump in and help out! But each one is a different age, and they each have different strengths. So I take that into consideration before asking for their involvement or assigning any tasks. Continue reading for parenting tips and for a free printable chore chart broken down by age….

Parent Report Card (free printable for kids)

Day in and day out, we talk to our kids about how they can improve, what they need to work on, and how to go about doing that. We are, hopefully, offering a lot of praise and encouragement along the way as well! But how often are we asking our children for feedback on how we are doing as parents? Printing out copies of the parent report card below is a great way to start this process! It will allow you to see things through your children’s eyes and assess areas where you could use some improvement.

For more on this topic, check out the full Child Behavior collection

A Few Pointers for the Parent Report Card

Before you hand over this exercise to your children there are a few important points to keep in mind…

Create a No-Fear Environment

In order for this to be a positive and helpful exercise, your child needs to feel like they have the ability to share their feelings without consequence or without the fear of hurting your feelings. It is important for them to know that you love them no matter what, and that parents have things that they need to work on to!

It’s About the Child’s Perspective

This parent report card gives you insight into your child’s perspective. It may not seem factually accurate. It may not match your perception of the situation. BUT… it is their perception of the situation, which is very important in and of itself.

When your child gives the report card back to you, it is very important not to get defensive. You don’t want to start offering a defense of how you do spend a ton of time with them even though they gave you a “D” in that area. This opportunity to bond with your children and improve your relationship will have the opposite effect if you start telling them why their assessment is wrong.

Build on Your Strengths

Don’t forget to take notice of the areas where your child graded you very highly! All of us have our strengths and weaknesses. You may struggle to get them to eat well-balanced meals, but you may be fantastic at helping with homework. Take those strengths and continue to build on them as well.

Ask for Feedback

Take their feedback and ask questions about it. Maybe you spend a lot of time together, but they feel like they need more time with your full attention. Maybe you are a good role model overall, but your child is remembering that one time that you lost your cool and threw a toy across the room into the toy box. Maybe you value their opinion highly, but you are not vocalizing that as much as you could be so that they truly feel validated and heard. Your children’s feedback is a starting point to further conversation – it is never a black and white issue.

Take the time to talk things over with a friend or partner as well. If something your child says is hurtful to you, talk it out with a trusted adult – not your child. As parents, we try so hard to be everything for our children; and it is hard to hear that we might be falling short in an area since that is our biggest fear.

Most Important Advice for the Parent Report Card …

This parent report card is meant to be a fun, positive, and bonding experience for your family! So let it be just as simple as that 🙂

For more on this topic, check out the full Child Behavior collection

Teen Advice: 3 Important Topics That Every Parent Should Be Addressing

What if you had to switch places with your teen for a day? How do you think you would fare? It’s difficult to wrap our heads around how challenging it is to be a teen in today’s world. The truth is it isn’t what it was fifteen or twenty years ago; technology has blown all of what you knew out of the water. It’s a whole new ball game! Read below for some important teen advice that every parent should know!…

Four Steps to Stand Your Ground and Outlast Your Teen

I remember when my kids were toddlers and wouldn’t let up about something they wanted. Fast forward 10 plus years, and it now seems as if nothing much has changed. They still wheedle and whine. You know what I’m talking about. As teens, your kids are bigger, louder, have more words, and want more than anything to be accepted by their peers. The stakes are higher, and you have more reasons to say no. Now you need nerves of steel. And a plan! Read below for 4 steps to stand your ground….

The Best Way to Pay Your Child a Compliment

“Of course you’re good-looking.” “You’re the best friend ever.” “Who wouldn’t want you on their team?” Is there a parent out there (including me) who hasn’t praised a child in order to make him or her feel better? Sometimes it’s true, and sometimes we say it because we just can’t stand to see them hurt. But our kids usually know the difference. We’ve missed the mark, and they tell us so. This kind of well-intentioned compliment doesn’t work….

Connectedness – How to Successfully Help Your Teen Get Through Puberty

For some reason unbeknown to most, there is very little in the way of advice or support for parents who have adolescent aged children. And even more so, information on how to successfully help your teen throughout the puberty phase.

It could be that after the initial tentative steps into parenthood, most people assume that they should be able to manage. After all, they’ve got their child through the ‘tying-of-the-shoe-laces-phase’, and teachers then take over in the learning field; what more is there to do after the child hits the school years?

I can totally understand this sentiment. Things are generally quite settled for the next few years – that is until puberty! Keep reading below to learn how to help your teen through puberty….

The Truth About Lies

Are you ever completely baffled by your kids? Like you don’t understand why they’re acting in a certain way? The one that always gets me is lying. I catch him lying, he knows he’s lying, he knows I know he’s lying…and he lies anyway. And keeps doing it. What is that? Read below to learn the truth about lies.…

Multiple Miscarriages and A Story with a Happy Ending

The first time I found out I was pregnant, I had just gotten home from work to our apartment. No where in my mind was I even thinking about what was yet to come… or the possibility of our hard emotional journey through multiple miscarriages.

I was changing out of my work clothes and into something more comfortable when I noticed my chest in the bedroom mirror. It looked different. And a lot bigger. Is it possible? Could I really be pregnant the first month we tried?…

Look for the Good in Other People in Moments of Tragedy

After the Boston Marathon bombing a few years ago, I heard someone say that their mother taught them to always look for the good people.

We live in a society where media is everywhere and always accessible. While there are many advantages to this, there are also a few negatives. The thing that I hate most is hearing all of the sad and tragic news ALL the time!

It’s good to be aware of what’s going on in our communities and around the world, but some days I feel like all I hear is tragedy. And when there is a major event like the Boston Marathon bombing, I feel like you can’t get away from it. Every news station reports on it all day long, and every news alert my phone receives is in reference to the horrific event.

This article is written by Karissa Tunis
For more on this topic, check out the full Tough Times collection

Continue reading this article below, or click play to listen to this article being read to you!

How Do You Look For The Good?

I understand that the networks and media companies profit off ratings, but I wish more of it would be censored. It’s gotten to the point that I hardly watch the news anymore when my children are in the room. And it’s becoming easier to get anxiety when I have to leave my house, or when I find myself in a large crowd. It’s scary to think that at any moment something crazy could happen that I have absolutely no control over. And if I dwell on it too much, it’s easy to get depressed and question the world we live in.

It’s crazy to think, that in this country, a lot of our tragedies are caused by 1 person, or a small group of people. Those few individuals can create utter chaos and extreme devastation for many, so I understand why it makes the news.

But, if you step back and follow this wise Mother’s advice, you will see that there are still good people out there. And, in most situations, the good people out-number the bad.

Set Your Focus

If you focused on the bombers and their accomplices, it’s all negative. But if you look for the people who ran to help, that offered assistance, you will see that the good outnumbered the bad.

When you focus on this, you realize that there is still HOPE.

When you hear about the heroes that stepped forward and ran into the danger to save others, you feel LOVE.

And when you hear about those that risked their lives to save an innocent child you feel APPRECIATION and ADMIRATION.

Moving Forward

If we focus on the good, it does not mean that we are belittling the severity of the situation; but we are finding a way to move forward. Putting my kids in bubbles is not a realistic option, although I sometimes wish it was! So I believe it is better to look for the good, and to give that the attention.

I read a quote by Mother Teresa that said

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

What an incredible challenge! And what a great simple point. It does start at home. It’s what we teach our children, what they learn in our schools, what the TV and the media are telling them, what movies and video games are portraying to them. But most importantly, it’s what WE as parents and guardians are teaching and focusing on. And it starts in our homes.

I want my kids to always look for the good, seek out the good, and surround themselves with good people. Hopefully then they will reduce their chances of being in a bad situation. But if one ever unfolds in front of them, I want their instinct to be good, and I hope that they will be able to help in a positive way.

For more on this topic, check out the full Tough Times collection