It was 5:30 AM and I was again comforting my older son as he continually vomited. Over and over it became our morning ritual from 4:30 to 6 every day. The doctor diagnosed him with a condition that is basically childhood migraines. I knew there was something else wrong. It was rooted in anxiety. …
I was exiting the highway on Friday and trying to merge across three lanes of traffic when my kids start chanting: “Taco Bell, Taco Bell, Taco Bell, Taco Bell” Me, “no, we just had Taco Bell on Tuesday.” We stopped at a stoplight… “Mango whip, Mango whip, Mango whip” I ignored the request hoping it …
Have you ever felt like your small child is manipulating you? Recently a parent came to me who was concerned that her six-year-old was manipulating her. When she told him “no,” he would cry and tantrum trying to get his way. Children will go to extremes to get what they want. They will look straight …
My son said, “Acceptance. I need acceptance.” This moment felt like a miracle. It took two years of working diligently with feelings and needs for this moment. My son could finally, verbally, tell me what he needed when he was upset. During that time, tremendous tantrums with kicking, hitting, and throwing became more …
I exhaled and listened with my eyes closed as my son ran to his room. His feet pounded the hallway and the door slammed shut with a swoosh and a crash. I heard the all-too-familiar sounds of paper flying up from the wind of the door and the door key crashing to the wood hallway …
What are the qualities you want to see in your child when they grow up? Do you want them to be trustworthy? Independent? Resilient? Creative problem-solvers? Critical thinkers? Most people agree on the qualities that would be ideal to instill in their children by adulthood. Aside from the above, we want them to: …
My older son was about four when I decided to lock all of his toys away in a closet. I was so tired. And he wouldn’t help with clean-up, so I decided locking his toys away was a fair consequence. I tried to prevent him from playing – I thought he should feel the weight …
Previously I talked about how the Modern Parenting Mindset (compassionate parenting) differs from authoritarian and permissive parenting. Here I will answer the question of what is the Modern Parenting Mindset? At the heart, it is a belief that a joyful life can be lived in tandem by parent and child. The strategy to …
Our children are watching us. Now more than ever we need to take action to support others and increase our awareness of racism. We need to raise the next generation with a deeper understanding than we ever imagined while we grew up. I hope that all of you are with me in making …
It’s dizzying. There seem to be so many parenting styles and methods and programs. Every day or so a new or different one pops up with the latest “fix”. You may be asking yourself – Are there truly hundreds of different ways to parent? Can there really be that many different strategies? What is …