Tag disrespect
“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…
Staying Connected With Your Teen
When kids become teens, they start acting like they don’t need us. If we don’t understand why they’re doing this, and figure out ways to respond gracefully, we risk building resentment in the relationship. It helps to understand that teens…
The Power of Defiance
Jesus was defiant. He defied Satan’s temptation. He defied the religious structures of the day. He defied legalism. He even defied death. One of our problems as parents is that we treat our kids’ defiance as if it is entirely…
When Kids Say “I Hate You!” How Can Parents Respond?
“I hate you!” There are certainly plenty of parents who have heard those disrespectful words. Some parents are deeply hurt (“I can’t believe you would say that, after all I do…”) while others get intensely angry (“It’s not okay to…
“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 —…
How do I get my son to stop talking back?
How do I get my 7-year-old son to stop talking back to everything we say? He is always right and we are always wrong! … We try discipline, taking away some of his toys, etc. but nothing seems to work.…
What do I do when my child just says no?
Recently we received this question from Michelle: I am struggling with a tween who often says no to my requests. She is a good girl most of the time, but she will be disrespectful to me and I have no…
How to Turn a Parenting Fail into a Parenting Win
It was a Sunday evening. I was emotionally and physically done for the day and looking forward to a quiet house. Suddenly I overheard squabbling about who was the rightful owner of a large stuffed panda bear. My engagement with…