Positive Parenting can help toddlers feel safe, loved, capable and cooperative. Toddlers love to test limits and say no. Sometimes toddlers may cry a lot. For that reason, toddlers get quite the reputation for being terrible… But the toddler years don’t have to be terrible. The so called terrible two’s can be in fact quite terrific.… Continue Reading
Using Empathy to Connect with Your Kids
Positive parenting educators and mental health therapists talk a lot about empathy. When when parents want to know how to respond when their kids are angry or anxious, I suggest responding with empathy first. I tell parents to think of empathy as “finding the feeling” in what their child is saying or experiencing. If your…
When Children Test Limits and Don’t Accept Choices
Consider this. Your child chose C because it is his job. His job to practice being in charge of himself as often as possible. Her job to test you, to let you know HER preference, to state loud and clear “I am the boss of ME!” And your child is right. He IS the boss of himself, and as the boss, he gets to ultimately decide what choice he will make. This is truly evidence of just the kind of self-directed, independent soul you (most of the time) want to grow. Someone who is in charge of themselves.
Okay, but you still need to get out the door. To continue to support your child in their quest to be independent it is important to respect their choice. How does this look and still get out the door–maybe on time?
Connecting with Children Through Play
The importance of play doesn’t end there. Yes it’s enjoyable for them and yes play is important in child development but play also provides parents with a door to connect with their child on a deep level. I always love to say that I am hands on, this I feel sums up the play connection I am referring to. Engaging and being present in play is a hands-on way to establish a deep connection and strengthen a healthy relationship with your child.
Positive Parenting: Why Keeping Our Limits When Children Become Upset is Important
When we let go of punitive parenting and authority over the child style of parenting, setting a limit with kindness and consistency and then actually holding it may at first feel similar to punishing or being authoritarian. With time and practice though, it is possible to be confident, calm and consistent in a way that conveys that the limits are about creating safety, building trust and guidance.
Kindness During a Tantrum: 10 Ways to Show you Care
Kindness is a wonderful thing. Surprising your child with a new book, fresh whipped cream atop their favorite fruits or letting them stay awake to talk with you for an extra ten minutes, whatever kind act it may be, children thrive on love and kindness. What about when your child is having a tantrum? Did you…
How to Get Kids To Listen Without Yelling
Many parents I work with confess to yelling at their kids upwards of ten times a day. Parents say they do this most of all because they want their children to listen but they get zero cooperation. When promises, pleading and threats no longer work, yelling can feel like the only option. Especially if time is…
How to move your child from “I can’t” to “I’m capable”
The “I can’t” stage is a tough one. Parents often feel torn about how to handle these two words. Some parents feel that they should step right in and help because it is their parental duty. Others feel that those two words are unacceptable and that their child must at least “try.” The optimal way to…
Behavior Changes you Can Expect to see in your Child as you Shelter In Place
Sheltering in place can create behavior changes for the whole family. Here you can find information on what you can expect and how you can respond to these behaviors in a helpful and positive way. Quick guide on setting limits included below. With the ongoing pandemic, we are living through very are uncertain times. Routine…
Toddlers: Competent & Capable As They Grow
Including your toddler in the process of life—be it dressing, eating, cooking, cleaning, loading in the car, doing errands—is essential for building healthy, strong relationships and self-directed, capable, confident adults.
Toddlers making Trouble: 11 Helpful Alternatives to Timeout
Toddlers don’t really mean to be making trouble, they spend their days trying to understand and discover their environment, their place and space in the world.
Often, it’s hard to know how to best handle the messy, sassy, yucky situations. Time outs are so popular in the toddler years, yet just placing a toddler in the corner or on a naughty chair is unlikely to prevent a re-occurance as toddlers will not really learn by pouting all alone
Follow Us
Copyright Notice: It is not permitted to copy, re-blog or distribute contents without prior written permission from the Positive Parenting Connection.