Do you find yourself making threats, inflicting punishments, or screaming in anger? Do you feel overwhelmed, tired or stressed, and unsure how to handle your anger differently? Do you feel like a horrible parent? You are not alone. Many parents struggle to control their anger. If you are tired of being an … [Read more...]
7 Summer Survival Strategies For Parents
School's out! Hooray for summer vacation...or maybe not. Let's face it, summer break may be full of fun family activities, but it may also mean more arguing, less compliance with chores, and those dreaded words: "I'm Bored!" Before you start counting the days until school starts again, check this list and see if there is … [Read more...]
How to respond when your child says, “Mom, Can We Talk?”
Sometimes, it's the simplest words that are the most important. "I'm going to throw up." "The kitchen is on fire." "Mom, can we talk?" They are important, significant, meaningful words. While you would probably immediately respond to the first two statements, the third is often overlooked, minimized, or ignored. You don't mean to … [Read more...]
Beyond “I’m Sorry:” Teach Your Child To Apologize
You heard the smack from the kitchen. Followed by wailing. Entering the room, you demand, "Tell your sister you're sorry." "Soorrry." It reeks with sarcasm. "Say 'sorry' like you mean it," you prompt again. "I'm not sorry!" he yells back. What?! How dare he say that. Teaching your child to apologize. You are probably all too … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Help Your Anxious Child
Once again, your child is refusing to go to bed because there might be a spider in their room. You've checked every corner of the room – no spiders. You've reassured him that there probably won't be a spider. Finally, you run out of options and allow him to sleep in your bed, again. You want this cycle to change, but you are not sure … [Read more...]
Don’t Cancel Christmas! 5 Tips to Relieve Holiday Stress
It's a miracle that the tree is actually still standing. Between the impromptu pillow fight in the living room and your toddler's never-ending interest in rearranging the ornaments, it's still in pretty good shape. Still, you have your doubts that it will last until Christmas. Unfortunately, the tree is only one of your concerns right now. … [Read more...]
Is it time for your parenting to grow up?
You focus so much on milestones when your kids are babies. Are they walking yet? Talking in complete sentences? Using the potty? After the toddler years, you stop tracking milestones. And unfortunately, many people stop changing the way they parent. Suddenly, you're having huge battles with your grade school age child and wondering why … [Read more...]
Parenting Regrets? It’s not too late to make a change.
"I'd like to do things differently, but my kids are almost teenagers, it's too late to make a difference." "You can't believe the things I've done - I've yelled, spanked, even swore at my kids - I'll never be able to change." Sometimes, our own thinking keeps us trapped. We start to believe that there is no hope for us. No room for change. No … [Read more...]