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.
Coping with Back-to-School Uncertainty
Will children go back to school and if so, how? Will we feel confident in their safety if they do? Will we ever know for sure what the Fall of 2020 will look like until we get there? How to cope with back to school uncertainty.
Anti-racism: from fixed vs. growth mindset + DEI children’s books
Things you can watch, read, listen to, or do in 10, 25, or 45-minute chunks each day to learn how to be an active ally.
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
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
Trusting your parenting intuition could be a really good thing — especially if you help it along
Many years ago, my mother-in-law told me that I was reading too many books about parenting. She said that I should trust my parenting intuition, because the right answers would just come to me. Her vote of confidence felt lovely…and yet, later that night, what “came to me” was a yelling match when my daughter refused to pick up her … Read More
Staying Connected to Your Child in a Peer-Dominated World
When my children were younger, I was dying for them not to need me so much. I was terribly concerned about them having friends and playdates, and being connected to their peers. Now that they are 11, 15, and 18, I want them back! But it’s harder now. Let’s face it, parents: we’ve got competition. Technology allows our children to … Read More
Getting on the same parenting page with your partner
Do you and your partner have different parenting styles? If so, you’re in good company. It comes up all the time and I mean all the time: “How do my partner and I get onto the same parenting page?” One parent is too kind and the other too firm, and they push each other, ever farther to extremes, by compensating … Read More
Two things that help kids WANT to cooperate
Your child’s behavior is not the problem. Really. If your child’s behavior is not the problem, then what is? Some parents reply, “I’m the problem!” It’s true that you may be part of the problem but here’s the real answer . . . The problem is the problem. There’s always something deeper that causes the behavior to show up. Always. … Read More
My struggle to get my child to scoop the freaking litter box – part 2 in a 2-part series on agreements and follow-through
But we had an agreement! Part II: What to do when kids don’t follow through with agreements (over and over again.) I regularly turned my head when I passed it to avoid the irritation bubbling in my chest. It’s not that it was smelly or even that gross (although sometimes it was both.) It was simply a daily reminder of … Read More
Three Parenting Beliefs that Kill Your Child’s Creativity, Joy, and Potential (and How to Turn Them Around)
We all carry beliefs that shape our parenting behavior. Many of these beliefs were formed in early childhood and are deeply lodged into our brains. Some of these beliefs are helpful in our quest to raise kind, compassionate, resilient and responsible children. Some of these beliefs are not. These are killer beliefs because they kill creativity, potential, joy, and relationship. … Read More
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