“It was hard to be mad when you were so kind to me.”
In my role as a parenting speaker I do a lot of role plays with people in the audience. Though I had seen a lot of yelling, whining, and laughter from these role plays, I had never seen tears —…
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When You Want to Be Heard… Whisper
In our online course a parent once asked the following question: I see the difference you’re talking about between typical parenting and parenting with the four messages in mind… and I like the difference I see… here comes the BUT… what…
3 Signs of Unhelpful Consequences… and How to Fix Them!
“You’re stupid!” says the frustrated child. The parent feels annoyed, even a bit angry and responds, “You can’t talk to me that way! You’re grounded for the rest of the day! You go to your room and think about what…
Some Practical Tips for a Truly Christ-filled Christmas
Whether you’re feeling totally frazzled or totally prepared, here are some of our favorite parenting tips to help you and your family not only survive but find connection, faith, and the peace of Christ through this Christmas season.
Five Strategies for Gaining Your Kids’ Respect
Parents usually have good desires for their kids. They want kids to be respectful, responsible, faithful, obedient, and so on. But when parents make these behaviors their primary goals for parenting, their kids tend to resist. Why? Kids tend to resist because…
An Unconventional Solution to a Child’s Resistance
We often see a common parenting cycle when kids are prone to anxiety. In short, it goes like this: Child feels anxious Worried, but well-meaning parent “encourages” the child toward to overcome the anxiety by pushing the child The…
When kids fly into a rage, try this!
In response to a recent Facebook post we shared, Michelle, one of our followers, shared a fantastic story of connecting with her little one even in the midst of disrespectful misbehavior.
Teach Kids to Be Responsible for Their Own Actions
When our kids hurt their siblings, our sense of justice compels us to punish them. But sometimes punishment is not the best way to teach responsibility and wisdom. Check out this story from Jess:
What to Do When Your Family Meeting Turns into Target Practice… Literally.
Sometimes it can be hard and scary to start something new, especially with a blended family, and especially with teenagers! See how Tom and Shelly handled things when their first family meeting blew up in their faces… literally!
The Benefits of Letting Our Kids Experience Conflict
Sometimes it can be a good thing to let kids fight. This played itself out last week as I was caring for my niece and nephews (4th – 7th grade). During dinner they began to argue the sort of argument…