A parent’s primary responsibility is to support the physical and emotional development of their children. As the child grows and learns to communicate, think and socialize, parents both expand their supporting net while giving up a bit more control each day so the child can eventually grow into an independent adult individual.

The relationship you share with your child is one of the most important influences on his/her learning and development. Providing for your child’s physical needs (food, shelter, and clothing) is a fairly straightforward matter. Trying to provide for your child’s emotional needs can be more challenging.

So, how do you raise a happy and healthy child?  Experts, physicians, psychologists have different lists of things that are right and/or wrong when raising happy children. Those lists are long, but our research shows there are few things in common across the literature.

This article revisits the three most essential—and in our experience most useful—tips for raising happy and healthy kids. Continue reading →