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

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Raise Kindness! How Can Your Busy Family Practice Compassion Every Day?

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At Doing Good Together, we help families start and sustain an intentional “ kindness practice,” a powerful combination of daily habits, big-hearted conversations, great books, and volunteer experiences. Starting - and sustaining - an intentional kindness practice with your busy family is easier than you’d think. Here are the tools to get you started!

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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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Raising Engaged Humans: A Book List for Big-Hearted Parents

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Raising Engaged Humans: A Book List for Big-Hearted Parents

At DGT we know that books give us the gift of perspective, a sense that we are not alone on this journey to raise empowered, engaged kids. The books we’ve gathered here offer

  • inspiration to try something new when the status quo isn’t working,

  • encouragement and hope at the end of a hard day, and

  • practical, doable ideas to help you raise kind, community-minded kids.

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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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Ready Set Give: 6 Simple Projects for Big-Hearted Beginners

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Ready Set Give: 6 Simple Projects for Big-Hearted Beginners

We’ll make it easy for you to get started! Doing Good Together has distilled six of our best projects for beginners into a new printable. Parents tell us they love how straightforward it is to start with these doable (and fun) activities. The projects below lay the groundwork for you to make a difference in a million different ways as your family grows accustomed to making time to do good.

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6 Ways to Work for a More Compassionate Community

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In his rendition of Stone Soup, Jon J Muth offers a lovely example of the way individual generosity can lead to a more compassionate community. Building on this inspiration, Doing Good Together offers several practical suggestions to help your family enrich your community in simple, everyday ways.