Do you ever experience getting angry, frustrated, and possibly losing it with your kids? You are a rare parent if you replied, “No.” The question to ask yourself is, “Why am I getting triggered and other parents are, too?” There are 3 main reasons why parents get triggered by their children. 1. You have Inflexible…
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Do your children ever get so upset that you don’t know what to do to calm them down? When you need to respond to an upset child, it can be difficult to know which approach actually works. Maybe you: Try to soothe them and tell them everything will be alright. Tell them, “Don’t be so…
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Recently, I taught the Mothers and Daughters: Keeping the Closeness parenting class. The moms had an inspirational evening because they learned how to choose the best words to keep their girls connected and talking with them no matter how old they become. A strong mother-daughter relationship depends on communication and emotional connection. There is a…
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It’s a new year! It’s time to reflect, appreciate what we’ve created and achieved in 2023, and make new determinations for 2024. What aspects of your family would you like to improve? Here are some ideas to get you inspired. I wish my children…. Would argue less. Would take more responsibility and not blame others.…
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Teach Your Kids Appreciation Beyond “Please” and “Thank You” It’s common to tell your kids, “Say thank you”, “Say please”, and “Ask me when you want to go to a friend’s house rather than telling me.” I’m sure you have many more directions that you give your kids to mold them into being appreciative children.…
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Have you gotten yourself into a rut of doing most of the planning and preparing for the holidays? Perhaps you end up “asking” for help and you get resistance such as “Why do I have to? Can’t you do it? “I’m too busy.” “I don’t want to help.” In this scenario, you are acting as though…
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When I talk to parents about improving their parent-child relationships, there is often a look of uncertainty on their faces. They question whether they can really change. Often, these doubts stem from deep-seated mental blocks of parenting that prevent growth. Here are examples of what they say to me. Which ones do you recognize in…
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On Wednesday, October 25th, I taught the “How to Relieve Tween’s Stress and Anxiety Confidently and Create Calm” class. I included a new interactive activity on Zoom where folks could annotate on the slide with a circle, underline, check, etc. to show their choices. Many parents passionately underlined and pointed to “not doing chores” as…
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When used correctly, the After-Then Parenting Strategy is an effective soft-power approach to guiding kids to do chores in particular. I used this strategy to get Jen to do her chores of cleaning the bathroom and emptying the dishwasher instead of nagging her. Many clients love this strategy because it is so effective when done…
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Yesterday I spoke for several schools on the topic Win Kids Over Without Punishments or Rewards. I asked myself, what do I want to tell them in 45 minutes about the keys to “winning” kids over? How do we do that rather than trying to control, threaten, manipulate, or shame them into doing what we…
DetailsTerms of Use: The articles in my blog are a matter of my opinion and perspective, offered to help stimulate parents' thinking about their child raising and common concerns, conflicts, and changes that typically occur. They are meant to be educational only. Because they are general in nature, they should NOT be used as a substitute for getting qualified professional psychological, medical, or legal help should serious need arise. The resources I recommend are mostly consistent with my parenting approach. Use them at your own discretion as you would my articles. The parents’ success stories are particular to their family situation. This does not mean that you would get the same results. They are to be used for inspiration that by you changing first, you have the greatest chance of creating a positive change in your family.