As parents, you often see how your stress affects your kids–maybe you see it in their eyes or in their behavior. There are even studies that suggest that a parent’s stress level can affect a child’s makeup, including their risk for mood disorders, addiction, or learning disorders. It’s not something parents want to hear, but…
Managing Your Anger When Your Child Pushes Your Buttons
Managing your anger when your child does something that royally ticks you off is a huge challenge for most parents. But disciplining your kids in the heat of anger often causes more harm than good. You see, when parents react, they often say things they later regret. The honest truth is that what you say…
Your Kids are NOT Listening if You Do This
When your kids are not listening, do you have any idea why? Maybe you feel like you are the only one listening to yourself when you are talking to them about something you feel is very important. Let’s be honest, if you are doing a lot of talking, they may very well NOT be listening….
9 Steps to Being a Full-time Parent
Are you a full-time parent? This has nothing to do with whether you have a job/stay at home or homeschool/send them to school. It has everything to do with building a healthy, whole relationship with your child. With all that you do every day for your kids, you know that parenting is very demanding. Parenting…
What is Your Child Thinking About? 12 Tugs-of-War That are Going on in Your Child’s Mind Every Day
What is your child thinking? Ever wish you could read their minds? Every day, there is a tug of war going on in your child’s mind and heart. No, it’s not “should I play video games or do my homework?” or “should I hit my sister or not?”. The conflicts go deeper; however, they are…
10 Parenting Principles That Will Help You to “Lay Down the Law” for Your Kids
What are your parenting principles? Have you taken the time to think through them? I’d like to suggest 10 parenting principles that will help you “lay down the law” for your kids. Your ultimate goal as a parent is to help your child learn how to manage their behavior so that when you are not…
How to Teach Your Child Problem-Solving Skills
Problem-solving skills will help your child much more than lecturing or sermonizing. In fact, parenting sermonettes rarely communicate lasting truths and will not help your children learn how to solve their own problems. Helping them solve their own problems starts with you asking your kids questions that will help them think through the problem and…
5 Lessons That Will Teach Your Kids to Be Team Players
On a sports team, there are players and there are team players. A team player knows that what’s best for the team may not always agree with what he wants as a player. When my daughter went to college to play softball, she was reminded of the importance of having a team player attitude. She…
The Secret to Getting Kids to Listen
Getting kids to listen is a challenge in every home. Perhaps this scene plays out in your home: You’ve asked your child to do something…once, twice, three, even four times. And no response. “Maybe they didn’t hear me?” you think. So, you ask again calmly. Still Nothing. It doesn’t take long for you to feel yourself…
“Why Does My Child Disobey?”
Every parent wonders at one time or another, “why does my child disobey?” You’ve told them over and over what to do, you’ve talked about the reasons why, you’ve discussed the consequences, and so you are left wondering, “what the heck?” when your child STILL does not cooperate. Don’t be shocked by your child’s disobedience….