Give the Gift of Connection
Tag preschoolers
Hitting & Biting: How the Right Consequence Might Be Simpler Than You Think
Hitting and biting are really difficult phases for some kids. It’s completely natural if all your mama or papa bear instincts come out to protect their siblings. However, so often, when thinking about appropriate “consequences” for hitting, biting, and other…
4 Simple Mealtime Rules You and Your Kids Can Embrace
Mealtimes are a vital part of the rhythm of family life! “Research suggests that having dinner together as a family at least four times a week has positive effects on child development. Family dinners have been linked to a lower…
Get Ready for Pandemic Schooling…Round 2
Heading back to school can be an anxious and stressful time for kids and parents– especially during a pandemic! The idea of another round of “pandemic schooling” can get everyone in the family into a tizzy. If your kids have…
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…
To Unlock Your Child’s Heart, Just Ask for the Key!
If you are reading this, you probably want your kids to know how much you love them. And you probably tell them often that you do. But effectively communicating love is not always so simple. How can we be…
5 Ways to Find Sanity During Family Car Trips
Ahh, the bliss of car-trip vacations. Do family car trips tend to drive you insane? Does it feel like your kids will have more memories of annoyed parents than exciting memories of adventure? Whether our children are toddlers or teens,…
Feeling Stuck? Move Toward the Struggling Child.
Parents often find themselves at a loss when kids are particularly discouraged or struggling. It can begin to feel hopeless when everything you’ve tried to motivate them past the challenge has failed. You may start to feel more and…
The Five Powerful Results of Empathy
There is no more important time for kids to know they're loved than when they misbehave. If the love message misses them then, they may think that love is conditional. People who believe that tend to rise and fall with their performance and compromise themselves for approval. Not what we want for our kids. So communicate love through empathy!
What’s Your Child Really Saying?
It was the first warm day of spring in Minnesota, which usually means MUD. The ground was still soggy from the snow melt, but the air was clean and fresh and the flowers were just beginning to peek through the soil. I was outside with two of our three kids...
How to Deal with an Attention Addict
Recently, on a weekend when all our kids were home, we dug out the family videos for a trip down memory lane (or, in the case of our daughter-in-law, a crash-course in Jackson family history). Our kids’ childhood antics…