"UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me-World"
Author: Michele Borba
February Readings
- xi-xxi | INTRODUCTION--The Hidden Advantage of Empathy and Why it Matters for Our Children PART ONE--DEVELOPING EMPATHY
- 3-24 | Empathetic Children Can Recognize Feelings : Teaching Emotional Literacy
At long last, our book club page is here! Thank you very much for your patience, while I've been getting things started. I'm so thankful you are willing to join me on this journey!
Hopefully, you've all ordered your book or picked one up at the library and are ready to begin reading, if you haven't already.
As for a format to our book club, I was thinking we would get the most out of our readings by posting at least one observation a month. It can be anything-a musing over what you read, a question for the group, something you want to explore deeper but aren't quite sure where it's going... Then, I'd like us to try to implement at least one suggestion from the reading and write about the effects you noticed in your household when you did. If everyone does this throughout the month, meaning, don't leave it until the end of the month, we'll get a lot out of what everybody is trying and thinking. At the end of the month, for those of us in town, it would be great if we could all get together for a couple of hours, with our without the kids. We won't spend the entire time on the book of course but I'm thinking it would be a great way to spark even more conversation about what we read.
I began reading this book in mid-December 2016 and remember feeling overwhelmed with the amount of advice she shares. Perhaps, it was the time of year I decided to start reading such a book but with the election results, I found myself contemplating what societal behaviors led so many Americans to feel America wasn't great anymore. I wondered why a man, who clearly is a narcissist, could be a person so many believe can help them? I became concerned about Michele Borba's assertions that America is grooming narcissists and not enough people seem to be taking notice of this alarming trend.
I've asked for your help and offering mine because I believe this topic deserves attention. Typically, I'll read a book like this quickly because it's a "Lucky Day" book with a three week check-out window from the library. While I'm reading it, I'm consumed but unable to recall the helpful tips when the time comes because I haven't had time to internalize it. My hope is we'll share our reflections upon reading the monthly chapters and share our experiences as we try out Borba's suggestions with our own families.
I'd like us to include any links we find that we think the group might appreciate. I've included a few below. The "Science of Well Being" has been included because it's a theme that I keep coming across concerning the difference between compassion and empathy. I believe it's worth discussing. Apparently, a person can burn out with empathy if it's their main behavior motivator. Compassion may be the next step in evolving into the joyful person we want to be. Seems we may need to understand empathy and how to practice it, first...
I enjoyed the first chapter and have been able to implement a few different things from the ideas given.
ReplyDeleteIn October 2016 my husband returned to work full-time for the first time in four years. My children had never known him not being at home, so it has been a HUGE transition. I'm hoping some of these strategies will help the kids adjust a little easier and keep the close connection we have built as a family.
1) Every night when my husband gets home, everyone is on a Technology Time-Out. No screens for anyone from the time he gets home until the kids are in bed. This is already helping with the connection between my husband, myself, and the kiddos.
2) Each night at dinnertime we choose an emotion and go around and ask each other when we experienced that emotion during the day and what was happening at that time. The kids are really liking this...my oldest (5.5 years) has even started taking charge of it and starting us off.
What has everyone else tried? What's working? What's not? How did you guys like the first chapter?