Memorial Day has arrived, kicking off summer and a time when many families take vacations together!  I don’t know about you, but I tended to go into a vacation thinking that I would unplug and unwind.  Unfortunately, what I typically imagined and reality were worlds apart.  I often returned feeling more exhausted and needing a break from my kids.

Taking vacations as a family was often more...

What does raising an emotionally healthy child mean to you?  For many parents, it means raising kids that generally feel good and positive.  Unfortunately, this definition can have parents trying to protect their children from “negative” feelings and challenging situations and detract from their developing mental strength and resilience.

As a coach for parents of kids struggling with BIG Feelings,...

Do you have someone in your life that you look up to when things are challenging or hard?  When you’re struggling, who do you turn to?  For me, that person has always been my Mom, and I am beyond grateful for her.  

My Mom is one of the strongest and most resilient women that I know.  Her life wasn’t easy growing up — she lost her father when she was two, she lost her brother...

Have you ever stopped to think about what happens when you get triggered or activated as a parent?  Usually, one of our kids does or says something that sets us off.  They behave in a way that we don’t like, and we escalate.  When that happens, what do you do?

I don’t know about you…  But for me, I know that my blood pressure would start to rise. I would start asking myself...

When you are struggling through challenges with your kids, do you wonder what you should do?  Most parents come to me looking for strategies.  They want to know exactly what they should be doing to get their kids to listen, cooperate, or behave better.

If you read my articles or follow me on social media, you know that I share tips and strategies all the time.  But when I work directly with parents, we...

Do you ever give your kids a High Five as a way to celebrate an achievement or encourage them to keep going?  The power of High Fives has been well documented in a number of studies, and since April 18th is National High Five Day, I wanted to highlight the power of this great tool you can use with your kids and yourself.

In a study titled “High Fives Motivate”, published in Frontiers in...

Do you yell at home more often than you would like?  Life can be stressful, and when you're stressed and juggling lots of responsibilities it’s hard to remain patient and calm when your kids aren’t cooperating.

If you can relate, please know that you are not alone.  In full transparency, I used to yell quite often as my kids were growing up.  At the time, I was running and growing a...

When your child is upset and experiencing big feelings, is your first instinct to logically talk them through the issue, or help them problem-solve?  If you’re like most parents (me included!), your go-to response is typically to try to talk them through their feelings and help them understand why there is no need to be so upset.  We think that if they understand they will calm down.

This happened to a...

Do you have a child who struggles with BIG feelings?   Let’s be real — BIG feelings can cause both headaches and heartaches for parents and caregivers.  If you have a child who struggles with managing BIG feelings and it causes issues and conflicts with friends it can be heartbreaking.  If you have a child whose BIG feelings continually derail plans and affect the whole family it can be...

Let’s face it…  parenting can be really hard and lead to lots of headaches and heartaches.  We love our kids and want the absolute best for them, and it breaks our hearts to see them struggle. They can also drive us crazy and seem to know exactly how to push our buttons and drive us right to the edge of our sanity, and sometimes over.

Before I go any further, I truly want you to know that if...

When your kids are struggling, if you’re like me your first instinct is likely to step in to help them and either do it for them or tell them what they should do.  This is how we’re wired as parents which is a good thing in that it helps us protect our kids from danger and look out for their survival.  Unfortunately, this instinct can also hinder our child’s ability to develop their own...

If I told you there was one thing that you could teach your kids that would help them learn to solve problems every single time they were stuck not knowing what to do, can you imagine what it is? I’m guessing that many of you are going to answer “I don’t know”, and ironically, that is actually the answer!  

This is one concept that I teach and share with anyone who will listen...