Proactive Parenting with Deanna Marie Mason PhD

Everyone knows that social media is highly edited. Only the best photos make the cut and normally only positive status updates are shared. Displaying overly-perfect images alerts people that it’s just too good to be true. This can cause feelings of distrust, envy or aggression if people feel you are creating separation, which is the opposite of what we should be doing with social media. We should want to create connection because connection helps us reduce stress and anxiety.

Allowing real life to be present in social media keeps you and your contacts close. When we share both positive and negative aspects of life online, and everything in between, more realistic relationships can be fostered and maintained. This leads to real closeness and strengthened bonds of friendship and kinship. If we are worried about sharing the negative stuff online, remember that our phones still work and we can give a good friend or family member a call to talk about the touch stuff.

Of course, being honest to ourselves is also really important. We are perfect just as we are. Our family is perfect just as they are. There is no reason to present ourselves or our family differently. You and I, and our families, are exactly where we are supposed to be in this moment. We need to let go of the need for perfection.

This is the final episode of Season 1. Please feel free to go back and listen to any episodes you may have missed. It would be so helpful if you dropped us a note or review so we know if this podcast is meeting your needs. You can email comments or questions to me at [email protected]. The feedback we receive will help us structure Season 2 content. Thank you in advance for your help!

Proactive Parenting is based on validated theories and scientific research to provide the information you need to care for your modern family. Not everyone grew up in a completely healthy family of origin and consequently may be unsure of how to be a parent when they start a family. Proactive Parenting was created for parents who need a solid foundation to start raising their children, and for parents who want to do better. It is a way to move past old behaviours, break unhealthy habits, and replace them with parenting actions that will lead to a healthy family life for both children and parents.

If you want to learn more about Proactive Parenting, please visit my webpage and social media sites:

This episode concentrates on how families can use traditions to strengthen family bonds while communicating values to children. Traditions, both the big ones as well as the day-to-day ones, teach our children about what family looks and behaves like. Both types are useful because they mark different times circuits. Holiday traditions mark the calendar year while day-to-day traditions create a routine and flow in a family. These are important because they are something kids can rely and depend on.

Traditions are sets of activities that are repeated on a regular schedule and can be used to mark the rhythm of the day, week, month, and year. We can define and customise our family traditions in a manner that we find appropriate for our family because, ultimately, these traditions communicate our family's values. They show what is important and why those things are important to us. Yet, the best part about traditions is the ability to carry them with us no matter what is happening because they are activities that are most often done at home. We can all use traditions can make our homes a “safe zone” where we can maintain control of what is happening in our lives. Ultimately, this instills a sense of family, values, and belonging, especially with children.

So, check out this episode to learn more about the power of traditions in supporting a strong family unity.

New episodes are published each Tuesday so stay tuned for more science-based Proactive Parenting information.

Proactive Parenting is based on validated theories and scientific research to provide the information you need to care for your modern family. Not everyone grew up in a completely healthy family of origin and consequently may be unsure of how to be a parent when they start a family. Proactive Parenting was created for parents who need a solid foundation to start raising their children, and for parents who want to do better. It is a way to move past old behaviours, break unhealthy habits, and replace them with parenting actions that will lead to a healthy family life for both children and parents.

If you want to learn more about Proactive Parenting, please visit my webpage and social media sites:

Most parents are familiar with spending a lot of time and money searching for gifts that after being unwrapped and briefly explored, end up in the back of a closet, tucked into a toy box, or simply discarded.  Most of the highly advertised, “top toys,” or “must have gifts” are  just marketing successes sold to children and parents rather than meeting anyone’s real desires or needs. 

It's hard not to fall prey to savvy marketing and repeated advertising. It’s difficult to overcome the persuasive influence that advertising firms have, even if you are watching for it. And it is virtually impossible for our little ones to avoid being influenced by what they see in commercials, product placements in their favorite YouTube videos, and pop-up ads while hanging out online. And for us, as parents, it’s hard not to get your kid what everyone else has. There is real peer-pressure amongst parents too. 

So, this episode has been developed with all of these influences in mind and as a way to offset some of the pressures we feel during this season of celebration and gift giving. To give toys or gifts that our children will play with throughout the year and look back on fondly when they are older (you know those toys you still keep from your childhood because you can’t bear to separate from them?),  we have to really pay attention to development. If we evaluate if our child has the ability to manipulate the toy, interact with it without becoming frustrated, and still explore and expand their understanding while playing, well, then we have hit the ball out of the park. 

Keep listening to find out recommendations for all ages and stages from babies to adolescents so you can avoid the pitfalls of gift giving and really surprise your child with a wonderful gift this holiday season.

New episodes are published each Tuesday so stay tuned for more science-based Proactive Parenting information.

Proactive Parenting is based on validated theories and scientific research to provide the information you need to care for your modern family. Not everyone grew up in a completely healthy family of origin and consequently may be unsure of how to be a parent when they start a family. Proactive Parenting was created for parents who need a solid foundation to start raising their children, and for parents who want to do better. It is a way to move past old behaviours, break unhealthy habits, and replace them with parenting actions that will lead to a healthy family life for both children and parents.

If you want to learn more about Proactive Parenting, please visit my webpage and social media sites:

When we talk about new parents, there is a tendency to focus on the moms and babies. Dads often get dismissed or pushed to the sidelines. But today, dads are more involved with their children than in previous generations.  New research is showing that dads do better psychologically and are more confident in their role function if they get involved right away, during the first year of their baby’s life. 

This episode explores this issue more to see how fathers can positively influence the health and well-being of their infants, their partners, and, as an added bonus, themselves. 

New episodes are published each Tuesday so stay tuned for more science-based Proactive Parenting information.

Proactive Parenting is based on validated theories and scientific research to provide the information you need to care for your modern family. Not everyone grew up in a completely healthy family of origin and consequently may be unsure of how to be a parent when they start a family. Proactive Parenting was created for parents who need a solid foundation to start raising their children, and for parents who want to do better. It is a way to move past old behaviours, break unhealthy habits, and replace them with parenting actions that will lead to a healthy family life for both children and parents.

If you want to learn more about Proactive Parenting, please visit my webpage and social media sites:

In this episode, we explore the data and research being conducted on when solid foods should be introduced to infants as well as how and when foods are introduced influence food allergy development. The information  covered draws heavily from the American Academy of Pediatrics and  Centers for Disease Control as well as the European Paediatric Association.  Additionally, discussion of two new research studies published in October on the development of food allergies in relation to infant food introduction are also reviewed to gain insight on how recommendations are evolving based on new data.

New episodes are published each Tuesday so stay tuned for more science-based Proactive Parenting information.

Proactive Parenting is based on validated theories and scientific research to provide the information you need to care for your modern family. Not everyone grew up in a completely healthy family of origin and consequently may be unsure of how to be a parent when they start a family. Proactive Parenting was created for parents who need a solid foundation to start raising their children, and for parents who want to do better. It is a way to move past old behaviours, break unhealthy habits, and replace them with parenting actions that will lead to a healthy family life for both children and parents.

If you want to learn more about Proactive Parenting, please visit my webpage and social media sites: