Proactive Parenting with Deanna Marie Mason PhD Dr. 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 lif...

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...

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 overcom...

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...

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...

This episode is based on new research about how the risk of cyberbullying is increasing because our children are spending more time online for learning and socialising. While we can't change how our children's education is being conducted during these uncertain times with COVID-19, we can support and monitor them to reduce the negative effects of cyberbullying.Topics included in this episode revolve around the issue of bullying in general for those who are victims of bullying, for those...