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

Why Timeouts Make Tantrums And Power Struggles Worse (And What To Do Instead)

Why Timeouts Make Tantrums And Power Struggles Worse (And What To Do Instead)

A parent wrote in recently asking why timeouts are making her daughters behavior worse instead of better. She shares: I have a 3 year old daughter that throws the biggest tantrums whenever i simply say no or disagree with her. She has picked up negative behaviors to calm herself. Such as slamming doors and using aggression….

How to Get Kids To Listen Without Yelling

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…

Positive Parenting: How to Follow Through With Limits

Positive Parenting: How to Follow Through With Limits

Most parents have great intentions when they come up with limits and boundaries. Which rules to set and why they are important are usually clear.  The power struggles and negotiation start when parents find that  keeping those limits, following through, just doesn’t go so well. While most children will not actually admit to wanting or…

Why Children Misbehave Again and Again – And How to Stop It without Yelling

Why Children Misbehave Again and Again – And How to Stop It without Yelling

Inside: Why young children misbehave even when you tell them not to do something. Learn what you can do to discipline in a positive way that helps children behave better. It was mid morning at playgroup and tension was rising between Theo and his mother. There was a phone,  perfectly placed on the edge of…

Using Empathy to Connect with Your Kids

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…

Toddlers: Competent & Capable As They Grow

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.

One Important Step To Take After Correcting Misbehavior

One Important Step To Take After Correcting Misbehavior

To encourage better behavior, make sure you are taking this important step after disciplining your child. Books went flying down to the ground. Screams filled the dining room. My heart skipped a beat as I quickly assessed the situation for injuries and damages. You know that feelings when you aren’t so sure if all your kids…

When Children Test Limits and Don’t Accept Choices

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?

What you Don’t Want to Say to Stop Unwanted Behaviors

What you Don’t Want to Say to Stop Unwanted Behaviors

How often do you use the word ‘don’t’ to stop unwanted behaviour in your children? Does it actually work? Most parents say it does not. When I first became aware of the little impact this word has, it threw me. I had no idea how often I was using it, and how often it left…

Behavior Changes you Can Expect to see in your Child as you Shelter In Place

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…

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