Tag emotions
My Kids’ Messes Drive Me CRAZY!
For years I have struggled with the mess that our lively, spontaneous, creative, frequently disorganized children made at high speed. I used to call it “Trash and Dash.” Since their father has somewhat more “relaxed” standards of housekeeping than I…
“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 —…
Is Your Kid a Drama Queen? Great!
Ever roll your eyes and and internally judge a child as a “drama queen” or “king”? Time to stop judging and start guiding that drama talent to empower kids to turn their misbehavior around! And here’s why:
What to Do When You Dislike Your Child
During the very difficult years of early parenting, I would go through long times of despair, as well as periods of dislike for one or more of my children. I felt horribly guilty as well as angry with my family…
What to Do When Kids Go Crazy? Do a Do-Over!
“I call the window seat!” “Nu-uhhh, it’s MY turn!” “No way!” “OW! Mom, she hit me!” Sometimes it can seem like the simplest interactions are the ones that explode out of nowhere. Getting out the door to school, getting in…
When Parenting Seems About to Boil Over
Today we’d like to introduce you to Joel and Amy. We’ve invited them to share their story of learning to parent their two sons. There is a wise old tale that is told about the frog in the pot. If…
Are We Teaching Our Kids to Be the Wrong Kind of Smart?
A recent article published in Time Magazine found that people with average IQ outperform people with high IQ 70% of the time. 90% of high performers have high emotional intelligence. Could it be we’re focusing way too much on one…
Your Parenting Skills Are Not the Most Important Thing. This Is.
Jesus said that “smart carpenters” build a sturdy house on solid rock. Then when the storms of life hit, nothing will move the house. This doesn’t mean storms won’t pelt the house from time to time, and even inflict some…
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…
“You’re the worst mom ever! Everybody hates you!”
Sometimes when parents make constructive parenting changes, things appear to get worse before they get better. This is because changes, even positive ones, throw kids off-balance. They live by a well-learned set of unwritten rules and it sometimes takes a…