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
Why it’s Important to Create a Healthy Bond with Children as Early as Possible
From taking your child to their first day of school, to someday walking them down the aisle, some of life’s biggest milestones are between you and your child. But way before you reach any significant milestones, it’s important to strengthen your bond with your child as early as possible. As a parent, you are your child’s first connection to other … Read More
Top 6 Positive Discipline Tools for Preschoolers and Toddlers
I’ve been through it three times and the thought of doing it again feels absolutely exhausting: parenting toddlers and preschoolers. It’s true that the teen years present some emotionally exhausting issues (and I mean seriously exhausting), but those early years wore me out in all dimensions: physical, emotional, and cognitive. Why were my car keys in the refrigerator? Because I … 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
One way to get kids to take responsibility for their messes
Wouldn’t it be nice if children would take responsibility for cleaning up after themselves? It seems like such a basic thing; however, if you walk around my house on any given day, you might find: Dried up food bowls in the family room Cheap knick knacks from a birthday party goody bag Little bits of cut up paper, scissors and … Read More
I thought my child was being a brat. So I treated her that way. Oops.
I thought my child was being a brat. So I treated her that way. It seemed logical at the time, but my intervention actually invited more bratty behavior. Here’s why . . . “Your explanation of your child’s behavior guides your intervention.” — Ross Greene I will forever be transformed by having read, “The Explosive Child” by Ross Greene. Poorly … Read More
Your Child May Have The Best Solution For Unwanted Behavior
This story about giving up some parenting responsibility comes from Louann, who recently took my 8-week Parenting with Positive Discipline virtual class . . . My then 3-year old son and I were at our favorite family camp one summer. My son loved to play in the woods – grabbing handfuls of red earth, and throwing them up in the … Read More
3 Easy Ways to “Connect Before Correct” in parenting
Connection Before Correction is one of my all-time favorite Parenting with Positive Discipline mantras. I believe these are words to live by both in the moment of dissatisfying behavior, and in the long run as a foundation for any relationship. Several years ago I began to feel like a nag to my then 11 year-old son so I tracked the … Read More
When Kids Lie
The topic of lying came up in my parenting class last week. We were role-playing parents’ typical responses to a lying kid: “Honey, did you just lie about that? Are you sure?” (When parent already knows the child is lying) “Are you kidding me? You just lied straight to my face. How COULD you?” “That’s it, no more (fill in … Read More
6 Things Great Parents Do . . . at least sometimes
Let me start out by saying that if you do all of these things regularly, I bow down to you. In my view, these are 6 things that great parents do at least sometimes. Because doing them all, all the time, is a pretty tall order. It is for me, anyway. So here they are, 6 things great parents do … Read More
Struggling to come up with “the right” consequences? Try this!
Click here for an audio version of this blog: Over the past several months, I have heard some questionable tips from parenting experts on the topic of “consequences.” What’s surprising to me is that these are parenting experts I respect and agree with most of the time. But not this time. Here’s an example of one tip that raised my eyebrows: “The … Read More