Do you often find yourself in a battle of wills with your kids and wish they would cooperate more easily?  When this happens I hear parents describing their kids as stubborn, difficult, obstinate, or even defiant.  They tell me that their kids know better and that they don’t understand why their kids don’t simply do what they’re supposed to.  These parents are usually frustrated, and at...

As parents, we want to teach our kids appropriate behaviors to help them best navigate through life, but what’s the best way to go about correcting our kids for hitting, yelling, or throwing a fit when they don’t get their way?    These types of behaviors can trigger us as parents, and we may respond by putting our kids in a timeout, taking away privileges, or yelling and throwing a fit...

Do you find that when your kids complain about something or share something that didn’t go well your first instinct is to help them find a solution or at least a positive perspective?  I’ve had a lot of those moments myself lately, so I’ve been able to see how my responses affect whether I’m able to stay connected to my kids or if they end up more frustrated and then distance themselves. I...

As parents we all know that reading to our children is important, but did you know that you can help your child develop empathy for others and learn other lessons through reading?  Studies have been done with children as young as 18-24 months, finding that parents were able to help teach their children about helping and sharing through reading.  To teach your kids to help and share through reading, the key...

Is your child nervous about going back to school?  Even when kids are excited, each year brings some new unknowns which can cause some anxiety.  How we guide our kids through that anxiety is key, and is an area that I address with every parent that I coach.

I invite you to take a minute and think about your typical response when your child is hesitant of facing a new situation.  Is your first...

Do you find that your kids start to act irrationally in the weeks leading up to a major change or transition?  If your child starts to react or blow up over seemingly small things that aren’t typically a problem before an upcoming change — and you’re left wondering what in the world has gotten into them —  know that it’s completely normal and nothing has gone wrong.

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Do you think your parenting partner is too strict, or too lenient?  We all have opinions about the best way to parent, and it’s not uncommon to disagree with our partners about how to raise and discipline our kids.  But we can run into a problem when we are parenting in response to our partner, spouse, or co-parent — and then end up too far in the opposite direction.

This was an issue that I...

As a parent, do you spend more time focused on your child’s negative behavior that concerns you — or do you focus on helping your child develop skills that will help them thrive?  If you’re like most parents I coach (myself included!), you tend to focus on what you want your kids to stop or what you think they need to improve.

Before you have any self-recriminating thoughts, know that there is...

It’s summer and vacation time!  How are you envisioning your family vacation? I don’t know about you, but I always had visions of fun family times together with happy and grateful kids.  Unfortunately, my dreams of vacation never matched my reality.  As the vacation went on, my kids fell apart, and I couldn’t wait for it to end.

I was coaching a mom recently whose family had gone on...

Are you a parent that looks forward to summer and your kids being out of school, or does the lack of routine or change in schedule fill you with overwhelm or even dread?  In full transparency, I was one of the latter.  The end of the school year was always bittersweet.  Yes, it was nice to have a break from the early morning routine of getting the kids ready, lunches made, and making it to the bus on...

I connected with two of my child therapist friends this past week, and I took the opportunity to ask them what they want parents to know right now.  They both had similar answers but one rose to the top.  As child therapists, they wish parents would relax and stop catastrophizing.

Phones are ringing off the hook for child therapists everywhere — my friends included.  Parents are anxious and scared,...

Are you in the final countdown, pushing through to the end of the school year? 

Traditionally, this is a hectic time of year for many parents — All of the end of the year activities, awards, final parties, field trips, playoffs, recitals…  It can be overwhelming for even the most organized of parents!  I had one mom wonder recently if she was the only one wishing her son’s team...