How I killed my son’s love for piano (a cautionary tale about motivation)
3 Parenting Books That Changed My Life (For the Better)
When we move so quickly and expect our children to meet our fast pace, the result is that we lose patience, compassion, and connection.
3 Things That Make Sibling Conflict Worse (and what to do instead)
A little more peace at home would feel pretty good about now; so let’s take a look at how parents commonly and unknowingly make sibling rivalry worse.
How small tweaks in language can make a big difference in cooperation – a video demonstration
In this video, I demonstrate a simple and effective tool that not only invites better cooperation, but it also teaches long-term life skills and helps children develop self-efficacy (belief in self) and self-discipline.
An Essential Tool for When You “Lose It” With Your Kids
Learning to recognize when we’ve lost our cool and then take steps to calm down before reacting is one of the most important lessons I learned (and am still practicing!) from Positive Discipline.
5 Ways to Get Children to Follow Through (without nagging!)
Five ways to encourage follow-through without nagging
Child melting down? Try this
The story featured below is from Ranjana, mother of two children. She had recently attended a Positive Discipline class where the topic was setting limits. In class, we spent a lot of time talking about how hard it is to allow and accept our children’s big emotions, especially when they are screaming, tantruming, or crying incessantly. It’s uncomfortable (for everyone) … Read More
Don’t take sides when siblings fight!
I’ve heard it said that when siblings fight, the parent or caregiver should first attend to the victim by giving comfort and attention. This way, bullies aren’t rewarded with attention, and theoretically, they learn to never to repeat the behavior because they actually see the pain they’ve caused. This seems logical enough…but in the long term, deciding who’s right and … Read More
How parenting with a long-term view can transform behavior
While parenting with a long-term view (“long-term parenting”) can completely transform a situation and a relationship, I’ve struggled for years (literally) with how to write about it. I think it might sound a bit boring, and imply that one might not get immediate answers with its practice. Am I right? I imagine readers asking, How will long-term parenting help me … Read More
How much screen time is too much?
Everyone seems to know intuitively that too much screen time is not healthy, but no one seems to be able to say how much is too much. Experts (including Dr. Rachel Kowert, PhD and author of A Parent’s Guide to Video Games) note that even the “no more than 2 hours/day” recommendation for young children from the American Academy of … Read More
My child stole his teacher’s brownie. How and what came next…
Chapter 1: Mom Gets Dreaded Phone Call From School I was at work in the middle of the day when my phone began to ring. I looked down and noted the caller’s ID: it was my child’s school. Naturally, my heart began to race, butterflies fluttered in my gut, and my eyes got a bit wider. Do schools know that … Read More
7 Tips for Peaceful Holiday Parenting
As the holidays approach, I thought it would be a good time to share some quick tips that make it easier to parent with peace and actually enjoy holiday family time. I’m noticing that I feel a much greater sense of calm heading into the season and I think it’s because I’ve finally taken many of these tips to heart. … Read More
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