Let me explain two appreciation categories — one is the gratitude type. You can be really appreciative, i.e., grateful, that someone helped you move from one apartment to another or they watched your child while you did some errands. A teen might appreciate that their sister took the blame for the messy kitchen even though they had a part in it.
The other category of appreciation is awe and amazement. You have a great appreciation, i.e., awe, for someone's ability to do something well. Awe could be related to something big such as someone who uses their organizational skills to pull off an event that feeds hundreds of at-risk youth. Or it could be something smaller, such as appreciating a friend’s ability to get people laughing with their clever storytelling.
Today, I’m focusing on this awe-form of appreciation and how we can foster it in our kids. I believe one key way to do this is to get them to try new things. I notice my sense of awe is much greater for something I have tried myself.
Below are some examples of the power of experience as an appreciation builder.
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I am in jaw-dropping awe when I watch gymnasts. Starting at 8-years old until I was eleven, I did gymnastics at the YMCA. I loved doing things like back walkovers and one-handed cartwheels. At the same time, many things scared the Dickens out of me. For example, when we did the vault, more times than not, I peeled away to the bathroom to hide out for a while. Another thing that didn’t scare me but I could never master was a press to handstand.
Through my own experiences and struggles with gymnastics, I gained a deep appreciation for the sport. I wanted to build that same appreciation in my kids, so I signed them up for tumbling and gymnastic classes.
My kids’ decided to do gymnastics for a relatively short time, but I am convinced that it was plenty to boost a deeper appreciation of the sport. As kids they really enjoyed our family outings to go see gymnastic meets at the University of Washington. Backflip on a balance beam — amazing!
Think about appreciating art. Do you agree that part of why we find ourselves marveling at an intricate realistic painting is that we’ve tried painting as kids?
Or let’s take a beautifully frosted cake. It is when we have tried frosting cakes do we truly appreciate the skill involved. It takes immense skill and patience. I have never come close to anything a professional baker can do. The cake crumbs always get into the frosting, the amount of frosting is never evenly spread, and my strokes never look right.
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
I am certain that all my mishaps with frosting help explain why one of my favorite delights is oohing and awing at cakes whenever I see them — be it at my local grocery store or a bakery I pass.
Summertime is a wonderful time to help increase feelings of awe in our kids by providing them opportunities to try new things, even the littlest of things.
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Let me explain two appreciation categories — one is the gratitude type. You can be really appreciative, i.e., grateful, that someone helped you move from one apartment to another or they watched your child while you did some errands. A teen might appreciate that their sister took the blame for the messy kitchen even though they had a part in it.
The other category of appreciation is awe and amazement. You have a great appreciation, i.e., awe, for someone's ability to do something well. Awe could be related to something big such as someone who uses their organizational skills to pull off an event that feeds hundreds of at-risk youth. Or it could be something smaller, such as appreciating a friend’s ability to get people laughing with their clever storytelling.
Today, I’m focusing on this awe-form of appreciation and how we can foster it in our kids. I believe one key way to do this is to get them to try new things. I notice my sense of awe is much greater for something I have tried myself.
Below are some examples of the power of experience as an appreciation builder.
I am in jaw-dropping awe when I watch gymnasts. Starting at 8-years old until I was eleven, I did gymnastics at the YMCA. I loved doing things like back walkovers and one-handed cartwheels. At the same time, many things scared the Dickens out of me. For example, when we did the vault, more times than not, I peeled away to the bathroom to hide out for a while. Another thing that didn’t scare me but I could never master was a press to handstand.
Through my own experiences and struggles with gymnastics, I gained a deep appreciation for the sport. I wanted to build that same appreciation in my kids, so I signed them up for tumbling and gymnastic classes.
My kids’ decided to do gymnastics for a relatively short time, but I am convinced that it was plenty to boost a deeper appreciation of the sport. As kids they really enjoyed our family outings to go see gymnastic meets at the University of Washington. Backflip on a balance beam — amazing!
Think about appreciating art. Do you agree that part of why we find ourselves marveling at an intricate realistic painting is that we’ve tried painting as kids?
Or let’s take a beautifully frosted cake. It is when we have tried frosting cakes do we truly appreciate the skill involved. It takes immense skill and patience. I have never come close to anything a professional baker can do. The cake crumbs always get into the frosting, the amount of frosting is never evenly spread, and my strokes never look right.
I am certain that all my mishaps with frosting help explain why one of my favorite delights is oohing and awing at cakes whenever I see them — be it at my local grocery store or a bakery I pass.
Summertime is a wonderful time to help increase feelings of awe in our kids by providing them opportunities to try new things, even the littlest of things.
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Let me explain two appreciation categories — one is the gratitude type. You can be really appreciative, i.e., grateful, that someone helped you move from one apartment to another or they watched your child while you did some errands. A teen might appreciate that their sister took the blame for the messy kitchen even though they had a part in it.
The other category of appreciation is awe and amazement. You have a great appreciation, i.e., awe, for someone's ability to do something well. Awe could be related to something big such as someone who uses their organizational skills to pull off an event that feeds hundreds of at-risk youth. Or it could be something smaller, such as appreciating a friend’s ability to get people laughing with their clever storytelling.
Today, I’m focusing on this awe-form of appreciation and how we can foster it in our kids. I believe one key way to do this is to get them to try new things. I notice my sense of awe is much greater for something I have tried myself.
Below are some examples of the power of experience as an appreciation builder.
Hobbies offer benefits at every age, from helping children build a sense of self to giving retirees a renewed sense of purpose. The word traces back to the 1400s as a nickname for a small horse, later evolving into today's meaning of a pastime pursued for its own sake. Parents can spark interest by sharing their own hobby histories, building a family-history hobby list, and trying new activities together. Summer is an ideal time to lean into offline hobbies as an antidote to screen saturation.
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When kids break a rule, most parents default to handing down a consequence. But research on autonomy-supportive parenting shows that inviting kids to help decide the consequence leads to deeper learning, stronger accountability, and even kinder behavior toward others. Younger kids tend to overpunish themselves while teens often go easy, and both create natural openings for parents to guide the conversation. The goal isn't softer consequences. It's consequences that actually teach.
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Kids with ADHD benefit most when parents provide support at the exact moment behavior happens, a science-backed approach called "point of performance." Abruptly shifting from high-stimulation screen time to demanding tasks creates a "dopamine cliff," a brain chemistry drop that often shows up as resistance and conflict. Understanding both concepts helps parents smooth those transitions and build real skills and confidence in their kids over time.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
