When your child is frustrated or upset, how do you typically respond?  If you’re like me, you typically try to help fix whatever is causing the frustration, or you try to help them see it from a different perspective.  We just want to help, but unfortunately, that approach can often backfire.

This happened to my daughter and me one semester over her college schedule.  She had worked with her advisor to pick out her class...

Do you have an easily frustrated child who goes from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye? 
Do you tiptoe around your child, trying not to do anything that will set them off?

If you can relate, please know that you’re not alone! I often work on this with parents because it’s common for children to get frustrated and react inappropriately when things don’t go their way.  

The ability to tolerate frustration is a skill that must...

Do you have an easily frustrated child who goes from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye? 
Do you tiptoe around your child, trying not to do anything that will set them off?

If you can relate, please know that you’re not alone! I often work on this with parents because it’s common for children to get frustrated and react inappropriately when things don’t go their way.  

The ability to tolerate frustration is a skill that must...

Are disagreements over parenting affecting your relationship?  We all have thoughts about how our partner parents and disciplines, and it’s common to disagree.  We can think that our partner just needs to parent differently, but that thought won’t help you get on the same page, and it puts everything out of your control because you will never be able to control your partner. 

If you can relate, I invite you to consider t...

Do you wonder how you can raise kinder kids? As parents, we want our kids to be nice and kind, but how do we instill these qualities in them?

Most families and kids have busy schedules, and the days and weeks can fly by before we know it. So, if you want your kids to be kinder, you have to intentionally raise their awareness of kindness and the impact of being both kind and unkind.

Consider focusing on kindness as a fam...

I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on your discipline style and that of your parenting partner.  Do you have opinions about how your spouse or partner disciplines and parents?  We all have opinions about the best way to handle challenges with our kids.  Unfortunately, we usually have those opinions while watching them handle a situation with our kids.  

We think we can “help” or handle the situation better, so...

Do you think your parenting partner is too strict or too lenient?  We all have opinions about the best way to handle a situation or discipline in general, and it’s common to be on a different page than your partner.   However, you can run into problems when you think your partner, spouse, or co-parent is being too strict or too lenient — and often end up too far in the opposite direction.

In last week's article, I discus...

What would you tell me if I asked you what your parenting style was?

Do you tend to be more strict or rigid and good at following through on consequences, even if your child gets upset? This type of “because I said so” parenting is considered authoritarian and likely how your parents were raised.

Or are you on the opposite end of the spectrum and more in tune with how your child is feeling?  If you are more likely to go...

Does your child struggle with BIG feelings, and are their emotions all-consuming?   Are your child's emotions unpredictable — keeping you on edge because you're unsure how to parent through it or what to do? You are not alone.  Parenting kids through big feelings can be hard and scary.  Many parents find it either maddening or anxiety-provoking — and some parents find it a mixture of both and more.

I have parents telling...

When was the last time you got or gave a big bear hug, and you were really present for it?  Hugs make us feel good.  When someone hugs us, it’s comforting, and we give hugs to help comfort others.  We usually don’t give much thought to it, but there is so much research on the impact of hugs on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.  Hugs are very powerful from a parenting perspective!

Because January 21st is Nat...

Do you have an effective strategy for managing behavior challenges with your kids? Many, if not most, parents don’t. So when these challenges arise, parents become paralyzed because they don’t know what to do or they feel out of control and frustrated—and neither leads to effective parenting.

One of the most common things I hear when working with parents is, “I don’t know.”  They tell me they don’t know what to do or say...

Do you have behavior challenges with your kids? Many parents tend to think that their child’s behavior is random, and they never know what will set them off. However, when we take a step back and view it through a different lens, we almost always find some consistency in their behavior.

That’s why one of the first things I do when working with parents is to start by taking a big-picture overview of their family dynamics ...