The internet is a fantastic thing — Endless information at our disposal within seconds. While the internet has made it easy for women to find information on topics such as breast cancer, it also is ripe with bogus information. Myths about breast cancer are often circulated online and through social media. Here are five common breast cancer myths:
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One is when CNBC’s Squawk Box senior economics reporter Steve Liesman discusses the bond market. While I recognize the words he uses as English grammar, I find almost every word to be incomprehensible gibberish. Read more
A prominent rapper came out earlier this month discussing how he takes his teenage daughter to the OBGYN office yearly to make sure her hymen is still intact to ensure her virginity. Read more
Use Opportunities in their Context.
“How was your day?”
“Fine”
“What did you do at school today?”
“Nothing”
Riveting conversation for sure. We all want our children to be successful. Things would be so much easier if during the teen years we just did not have to talk to them.
Our goal is to raise children who are ready to leave our house and survive in the world on their own. How do we do this? One key aspect is effective communication.
Your teenager’s job is to prepare themself to leave — to pull away and to be able to survive in the world on their own. This creates tension between parent and child. It makes communication much more difficult. This tension is illustrated in the title of one of my favorite parenting books called Get Out of My Life but Could you First Drive Cheryl and I to the Mall.
Parent-Child discussions about sex often break down because adults fail to accept one key concept. When our kids are young we tell them what our family believes. We explain what is right and what is wrong. As children age, they incorporate everything they learned from us and develop their own belief system. Their belief system is what guides their decisions. OUR opinions matter but THEIR opinion matters more. Here is the key concept:
The thoughts in THEIR heads guide their decisions.
As a parent we should be more focused on what your teenager thinks about sex and less focused on what want to tell them. What was once a monologue of one directional communication must evolve into a dialogue. Communicate often but as a conversation. Don’t give a lecture.
Opportunities for meaningful Parent-Teen dialogue pop up every day. You want to be ready when one arises. Imagine you are listening to a song or watching a movie. Something you find inappropriate comes up. Don’t tell your teen how awful the lyrics are. Don’t judge. Engage instead. Ask you teen what the song means. Ask what they like about it. Ask them to tell you what the TV show is about. If they answer, ask another question.
Be genuinely interested. Keep asking and allow the conversation to develop. Resist the urge to give your opinion. Seek to understand theirs. Notice as soon as you make a statement of judgment the conversation will end. They teen will shut down. Your goal is to keep the conversation going. Speak less, listen more when you are talking to teenagers.
When my son’s friends are at my house I always ask them lots of questions. Your child may hold out, but the friends will spill the beans if you get a conversation going. One day the topic of birth control came up. I was fascinated how much they knew. Their information was terribly inaccurate, but I was impressed they actually knew what the methods were. When I asked how they knew this they informed me they learned it from Big Mouth. It’s the Beavis and Butt-Head of 2019. It’s a show with inappropriate humor extremely popular with junior school boys. Watching the show with them opened up endless potential conversations — opportunities in context. Hit the pause button and ask them lots of questions.
Another example for younger children is the TV show Fuller House. My 9 and 11 year old’s don’t get the thinly veiled sexual innuendo jokes, but I certainly do. In each episode there are opportunities to bring up various subjects and have a productive dialogue with your child.
Music is a child’s language. Music presents a great opportunity for meaningful conversation. Next time you are in the car playing UberParent let them choose the music. Turn the volume down and ask them a question about the song. What did you think about what she just sang?”
Let them talk it out. Ask probing questions to go deeper. For example, here is the chorus from Milley Cyrus Wrecking Ball
“I came in like a wrecking ball
I never hit so hard in love
All I wanted was to break your walls
All you ever did was break me
Yeah, you wreck me”
Inevitable eye rolling
I know when you ask a teenager “What do you think she means by wrecking ball?” They will roll their eyes at you. That’s expected. Ask again. This time the answer is going to be, “I don’t know.” Don’t stop there. Ask a follow-up question… and another….and another…..be persistent. Be interested in the answer. Listen intently. You will learn more about your child. Overtime your relationship will grow. The lifelong conversation between a parent and child will ultimately create the thoughts in their heads that guide their decisions.
……
Blog Author: Dr. Jeff Livingston
No question about it parenting teenagers is a tough job. This is a crucial time to make a huge impact on their lives. During adolescence, there is a natural tension between parent and child. The teen is trying to separate themselves from the parents and establish their own independence. While at the same time they want you to do their laundry. There are some specific things to watch for to make sure your teen is on the right track. These are the red flags!
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So this is my little boy —doctor in training —equipped with mom’s purse and dad’s stethoscope. Just before sixth grade I overheard heard him and his friends talking about something that seemed a little bit sexual. Read more
Have you noticed that your Facebook feed is full of ads asking you if you are tired or feeling burned out? Have you noticed that each company asking these questions then promotes a solution? This constantly negativity can affect the way we feel about our jobs and our lives. I recently appeared on this podcast for Greenway Health discussing physician burnout. The ideas we discussed apply to everyone regardless of your job or life situation. Take a few minutes and enjoy this episode.
My wife is one of those lucky people who falls asleep before her head hits the pillow. I am not so lucky. When I lie down my mind begins to race at Quantum speeds processing a million random thoughts. My parents tell the story of waking up in the middle of the night finding the three year old me playing my Mr Roger’s records while singing “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” 40+ years later. It still happens…well without the Mr. Roger’s records.
Sometimes insomnia comes in handy for an Obgyn since babies do not seem to follow the Monday through Friday 9 to 5 schedule. I hear from patients every day that they also suffer from insomnia. Over the years I have found a few things that help. I wanted to find tools that avoid addictive medication. Here is my TOP Seven List of all natural ways to treat insomnia.
Get inspired with The Seed by Jon Gordon
Get Motivated with The Miracle Equation by Hal Elrod
Got Focused with The One Thing by Gary Keller
Get life started with The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
Thank you to Live Your Life on Purpose for publishing this a article on Medium.
¿Ya no desea más hijos? ¿Está completa su familia? ¿Está cansado de lidiar con el control de la natalidad? ¿Sabía que hay una opción permanente donde usted puede tomar el control y no preocuparse por volver a quedar embarazada?
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A great video of Dr. Livingston covering lots of different birth control options.
