Parent with Purpose
MiaLisa Millares
Embrace the Chaos: Supporting a Child’s Growth ...

Buckling up for a metaphorical bumpy ride from time to time as you enter a new job, experience a change in leadership, or encounter a developmental growth spurt is something that begins at birth and follows us until life’s conclusion. The winds of change blow strong. With children, we sometimes don’t see the changes themselves right away; instead, we see the impact of the changes in personal barometers of behavior and mood. How can we as supportive humans respond effectively to the need for change and see the purpose behind the disequilibrium?

Embrace the Chaos: Supporting a Child’s Growth Through Turbulent Times
Start Kind Conversations, Parent with Purpose, Pick a Project, Quick Acts of Kindness
MiaLisa Millares
Shine Your Light: 5 Strategies to Empower ...

People want and need to be seen. It is a fundamental characteristic of humans that we seek opportunities to connect with others in an authentic way. We want to feel noticed and valued as a member of the human community. We want to understand AND be understood. This connection is vital to our feelings of safety and happiness, and ultimately is foundational to our ability to work through challenges, think critically, be planful, and other executive function skills. How can adults use that in-born inclination to shine a light on actions that we wish to reinforce in our children? 

Shine Your Light: 5 Strategies to Empower Children by Reinforcing Positive Actions
Start Kind Conversations, Parent with Purpose, Advocate, Kindness Practice, Pick a Project, Read Together
MiaLisa Millares
Transforming a Child’s “I Can’t” into “I Can!”

As adults, we have a better sense of what is within our locus of control and how we can approach solving problems from our mature perspective, whereas young children see a lot of problems as big and insurmountable even if they are not. The good news is that we can cultivate the growth of our child’s sense of helpfulness over time in ways that match their developmental stage, while teaching about both agency AND the interconnectedness of humanity.

Transforming a Child’s “I Can’t” into “I Can!”
Start Kind Conversations, Parent with Purpose
MiaLisa Millares
Inspiring a Growth Mindset for Kids: How ...

in the last few years, I have worked diligently to cultivate a growth mindset and to model that approach for my teenage children. The basic idea behind this concept is that by using “yet” at the end of a sentence, we reframe our approach to problems and retrain our brains to see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. 

Inspiring a Growth Mindset for Kids: How Parents Can Lead by Example
Start Kind Conversations, Parent with Purpose
MiaLisa Millares
How to Talk to Kids About Poverty, Mental ...

The world in which we are helping our children to grow is not free from adversity, small or large. We cannot shield young people from the troubles of their community and world. And while it might make us caring adults feel better to try, research shows that doing so is not to their benefit, either. Children are innately curious and working continuously on relating to others as their empathy skills develop. They wonder about big questions like, “how am I similar or different to people I see suffering,” “could that happen to me,” and “my heart hurts for them; how do I help them.” Many who witness tragedy or challenges faced by other people in the world ask the same questions. How do we explain problems like poverty, mental illness, systemic racism, and violence to these small humans?

How to Talk to Kids About Poverty, Mental Illness, Systemic Racism, and Violence

Posts for a New Year

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Big-Hearted Projects to Build Strong Character

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DGT offers this collection of character-building projects and kindness-themed activities to make it easier for your family to act with purpose, build strong character, and strengthen your communities. Everyday family moments set the tone for the sort of people our children will become, making family time the ideal jumping-off point for big-hearted, character-building acts of kindness. Choose your favorite and get started with our conversation starters and video suggestions!

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Resolved: How DGT Can Help You Live Toward Your Big-Hearted Goals

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This post is for you, the big-hearted parent who has set the earnest but seemingly sprawling intention to live more compassionately in the coming year. Doing Good Together’s Big-Hearted Families Program was created specifically to help parents seeking the tools, inspiration, and expertise to practice compassion and engagement as a regular part of your busy lives. Here we’ve gathered our favorite resources to get you started.

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Words Matter: Harness the Power of Poetry

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At Doing Good Together, we know how the right turn of phrase can encourage more kindness. We know how a great book can cultivate empathy, opening a child up to the feelings and experiences of a stranger. And just in time for the last weekend of National Poetry Month, we have added a new project harnessing the power of poetry for good.

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How to Quiet Distractions and Focus on Doing Good

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Sharing compassion with others meets critical needs in our communities, even as it heals our spirits. With each act of service, our families can be a force for love and kindness, helping to heal our fractured country and connect meaningfully with those around us.

And along the way, our children will discover what it means to live an engaged and compassionate life.

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Unfrazzle Family Life: Make More Time for What Matters Most

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Even when you're doing your best to keep things simple, family life can be full at best. Often it's downright frazzled and unruly. To help your family make room for kindness, Doing Good Together™ has created a unique Family Meeting Agenda designed to unfrazzle family life.

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Expand Your Circle: 6 Fun Ways to Reach Out, Teach Empathy, and Embrace Differences

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Finding our tribe is good for our health. It's good for our jobs. It helps us live longer. But do our tribes limit our social experiences? We need to intentionally throw open the gates to new friendships and new social experiences if we’re going to expand our cultural boundaries and unlearn the prejudice that's unraveling our country.

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On Mindfulness: Nine Tools for a More Grateful, Peaceful, and Connected Family Life

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Unless we adopt healthy, intentional habits in our everyday family life, our best efforts at mindfulness will wind up like so many other things on our check lists: multi-tasked into meaninglessness, plowed through quickly, and crossed off before our goal is reached.

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The Wisdom of Kindness: 10 Life Lessons Children Learn by Doing Good

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Helping others is reward enough. Yet an intentional family practice of kindness and volunteering teaches lessons that will last a lifetime.