When your child is frustrated or upset, how do you typically respond?  If you’re like me, you typically try to help fix whatever is causing the frustration or you try to help them see it from a different perspective.  We just want to help, but unfortunately that approach can often backfire.

This happened with me and my daughter over her college schedule.  She had worked with her advisor to pick out her classes, and ended...

In an average week, how much free time do your kids have to just play?  For many families and children, unstructured free time to play has decreased as practices, activities, lessons, and electronics have increased.  

As parents, we want what’s best for our kids and we think we are giving them a head start, but the research is telling a different story.  According to Boston College research professor Peter Gray, Ph.D, th...

Do you struggle to get your kids to help clean up after themselves?  Does the chaos and clutter that comes with young kids have you at your wits end?  A writer from the Redfin real estate and lifestyle blog reached out to me asking for tips on how to keep a clean house with kids recently, so know that you’re not alone!  

If you are a parent that has given up on the clutter or getting your kids to help, here are five diff...

Do you use threats to get your kids to behave?  If I ask parents how often they use threats, most don’t think they use threats all that often — but if I ask how often do you hear yourself saying “If you don’t sit down, we’re going to have to leave” or “If you don’t stop fighting, you’re both going to lose the iPad” they realize that they are using threats more often than they realized.

Many parents think they are using t...

Do you stress over whether you’re doing the right thing as a parent?  In my recent live workshops, I had almost every parent asking questions about challenges they were having with their kids.  There were also quite a few parents that were looking for confirmation that they were doing the right thing.  

I could feel the stress and tightness in their shoulders, the boulder pressing on their chest, and the pressure they we...

Do you have a child going through a tough time with a friend?  Learning how to navigate friendships can be hard for children, and heartbreaking for parents.  

At one of my recent workshops, there was a Mom whose 7-year-old was struggling with his long-time best friend.  Her son was coming home in tears, and she was in tears herself not knowing how to help.

I started by asking the Mom to check in with herself first.  Her...

Do your kids get super engrossed when they are in front of devices or playing video games?  Do feel like a broken record, having to repeat yourself over and over again, issuing threats until your kids finally break away?  Many parents tell me that they have issues with getting their kids to listen, especially when they are on devices.

They think that their kids are ignoring them and choosing not to listen, but I invite y...

Do you know any adults that lose it easily or really struggle emotionally when they are faced with challenges?  I don’t know about you but I’ve met my fair share!  Knowing what I know now, I do my best to be empathetic because chances are high that they simply weren’t taught how to cope as children.

This is an area that I work on with parents often because it’s common for children to react when things don’t go their way....

We are hearing the terms “emotional regulation”, and “co-regulation” more often in child development, parenting circles, and from pediatricians — but do you really know what they mean and why they’re important?  

According to Psychology Today, emotional regulation is the ability to exert control over one’s own emotional state. This can include rethinking a challenging situation to reduce anger or anxiety, hiding visible ...

When you’re getting ready for a trip, do you take the time to plan out what to bring with you and what you’re going to do?  

When my kids were little, we often took them to the beach.  We would get all packed up, and invariably once we were there I would have forgotten something — a garbage bag, the sunblock stick for the nose, the baby powder to get the sand off the kids before a fresh diaper at the end of the day…  it ...

As a parent, how do you handle your child’s big feelings that lead to unwanted behavior?  When your child is not behaving as you would like, do you get frustrated and start focusing on getting them to STOP?

It seems like the logical answer.  That’s what I did when my children were little and what many parents do today.  Because let’s face it, unwanted behavior from our kids can trigger us as parents in all sorts of ways....

Before you had kids, did you imagine what kind of parent you would be?  

Years ago (before I had children), I read a story about a boy that tried to pour himself a glass of milk from a pitcher.  The pitcher was too heavy, so he ended up spilling the milk all over the kitchen floor.  Instead of being upset, his mother took the time to work with him, filling the pitcher to different levels and then having him test pouring ...