Do you tend to react or respond as a parent?

In last week’s article, I shared how much of our kids’ behavior is caught, not taught. They don’t just learn from what we say.  They absorb how we handle stress, frustration, and disappointment in real life.

One of the clearest places this shows up is when things don’t go the way we expect.

In those moments, do we react…
or do we respond?

At first glance, it might sound lik...

Every January, I feel the pull to reset.  I want to get more organized. Clean out closets. Simplify schedules. Clear the clutter that somehow built up without my permission.

But one year, the reset I needed had nothing to do with bins or calendars.

It started with my daughter.

I was listening to her interact with her friends and noticed how often she was yelling. Not playful yelling. Not excitement. But frustration. Sh...

For many parents, the hardest part of the holidays isn’t the travel, the sugar, or even the meltdowns.  It’s the relatives.

I hear it from parents every year:  “I’m not stressed about my kids… I’m stressed about what everyone else will think about my kids.”

And you’re not alone.   The holidays come with a perfect storm of:

• old family dynamics
• pressure to keep everyone happy
• unsolicited advice
• overstimulated kids
...

The holiday season is both wonderful and wildly overstimulating for kids. Routines shift, events stack up, sugar increases, sleep decreases, excitement runs high, and behavior often slides.

This is exactly when kids need boundaries the most. And also exactly when boundaries feel hardest for parents to hold.

Let’s walk through why limits are so important this time of year and how to hold them with confidence and calm.

W...

I was recently talking to a mom who struggled with holding any sort of boundary. If her 7-year-old son said he didn’t want to go to hockey practice, she’d tell him he didn’t have to go... only for him to flip back and say he did want to go. They’d bounce back and forth while she waited for him to make up his mind.

From the outside, it might look like indecision.
But underneath is something deeper: Kids don’t actually want...

Family gatherings over the holidays can be exciting, but also overwhelming for kids.  There are new environments, different routines, unfamiliar foods, and lots of people (many of whom they only see once or twice a year). Add sugar, late bedtimes, and noise to the mix, and even the calmest kids can reach their breaking point.

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “They’re acting completely out of control… what happened...

The holidays are supposed to be filled with warmth, laughter, and connection, but if we’re being honest… They can also bring stress, overstimulation, and judgment.

Maybe it’s your mom giving you a disapproving look when your child has a meltdown. Or your sister-in-law offering “helpful advice” about discipline. Or maybe it’s just the stories running through your own head about what everyone else must be thinking.

We wan...

The school day is over, your child walks through the door, and the very first words out of their mouth are: “Can I go on my iPad? Can I watch TV? Can I play video games?”

If this scene plays out in your house daily, you’re not alone. After a long day of holding it together at school, many kids crave an instant break, and screens are their go-to. But when you say no (or “not yet”), the requests can escalate into whining, ...

Homework isn’t just hard on kids, it can be stressful for the whole family. One child is dragging their feet at the table, another needs help with spelling, and meanwhile dinner is burning, backpacks are still unpacked, and everyone is exhausted from the day.

If homework feels like it hijacks your evenings and leaves everyone frustrated, you’re not alone. The good news is that with some planning and small shifts, you can...

You sit down after a long day, and your child still has a math sheet, spelling practice, and reading to get through. What should take 20 minutes drags into two hours. You ask them to focus, but they wiggle in their chair, sharpen their pencil again, or find a dozen other ways to avoid getting it done. Sound familiar?

If homework feels like it takes forever in your house, you’re not alone. Many parents find themselves fru...

One of the hardest parts of parenting is knowing when to step in and when to step back. You see your child struggling, maybe with tying shoes, zipping a coat, building with blocks, or finishing a math worksheet, and your instinct is to help. You have the best intentions, and don’t want them to feel frustrated, and if we’re being honest - sometimes helping is just quicker and easier for everyone with way less drama.

But h...

How often do you hear your little one saying “I can’t” when you ask them to do something on their own? Maybe it’s putting on their shoes, tying a knot, or starting homework. For older kids, it might sound like “This is too hard” or “I don’t know how to do this.”

The problem is that when kids (and adults!) think “I can’t” or “I don’t know”, their brain stops trying because they’ve already told themselves they can’t do it....