Receiving Unsolicited Parenting Advice?
4 Tips to Respond with Confidence
Tag disrespect
I Was a Critical Parent: 7 Steps I Took to Find a More Loving Way
“Mom, whenever I clean, you just notice what I missed or didn’t do good enough!” I can still remember one of my kids saying that, and how discouraging it was to me. It was a reckoning moment. I didn’t want…
To Spank or Not to Spank?
If you work with Christian parents, it’s tempting to stay far away from the spanking debate. There are the “never spank” parents, the “immediate obedience or get spanked” parents, and everything in-between. The question over whether to spank or not…
We Say “Stop!” They say, “NO!”
Working with parents for over twenty years, we consistently see the following scenarios play out with kids of all ages: Parents say “Do this!” Kids refuse. Parents say “Stop!” Kids do it anyway. Parents say, “Come!” Kids dash the other…
Keep Calm and Stay Connected (to your teen!)
Teens long for independence. As kids get older, parents and teens often begin to have opposing goals which may create varied degrees of conflict. Kids are working to become free from their parents, while parents are still working at setting…
Don’t Settle for Fake Respect
Look, you don’t set out to teach your child fake respect. Obviously, not. But the pressures of parenting are high. You’ve got a lot to do, and sometimes you respond in the quickest, most efficient way. Maybe that looks like……
“I will love you simply because you are my son.”
One of the things we love most at Connected Families is when parents contact us to tell us how our resources have made a positive impact in their parenting journey. Check out this letter from a dad (Royston)* living in…
Parent or Friend? Can You Be Both to Your Child?
“Kids don’t need us to be their friends, they need us to be their parents!” The dad huffed, frustrated that I had suggested his teen daughter might be seeing her mom and dad more as enemies than allies. So what…
“I Was Meeting HIS Disrespect with MY Disrespect”
November is adoption/foster care awareness month. We often have the privilege of coaching parents who have built their families through adoption. Even though adoption can add intensity and complexity, the challenges adoptive families face are ones we can all relate…
Turn Name-Calling Into Connection
“You’re dumb!”“No, YOU’RE dumb!”“Well, you’re a loser!”“I know you are, but what am I?”“You’re a butthead!” “MOMMMMMMMMM!!!!” Name-calling between children is a challenge for many families. Once kids get on a roll of slinging names back and forth it can…