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Tag tantrums
A Better Way to Respond to Tantrums
Whether you call them tantrums, meltdowns, or “big feelings” – we all know that most kids (and therefore most parents) struggle at times when emotions overtake the ability to think and reason well. When it comes to dealing with kids’…
7 Peaceful, Powerful Ways to Connect with an Angry Child
Everyone would agree that loving our children is one of the most important things a parent can do. But sometimes expressing that love isn’t as easy as it sounds. Sarafina wrote about a breakthrough she had in learning to connect…
How to Avoid Being Taken Hostage by Kids’ Demands
Parents sometimes feel like hostages to the intense demands of their children, intimidated into submission with the threat of “the big gun” – a deafening meltdown. One of our online course participants asked for help: Our 3 1/2 year old…
10 Best on the Connected Families Blog 2014
We can hardly believe it’s 2015 already! Before we dive into a year of new blog posts, we thought we’d dwell for just a moment on some of your favorites from 2014. Here are the ten most-clicked parenting tips of…
Why Do Kids Tantrum?
Simply stated, kids have tantrums because they pay off. In some convoluted sort of way they get what they want. Even if it means they lose their cool and wear themselves out. The challenge for a parent is determining what exactly a…
How Parents Can Predict a Meltdown…
Fists clench. Ears turn red. Lips quiver. The tiny chest heaves to draw in a breath and then — “NOOOOOOOO!!” When your child starts working up to a tantrum, those tell-tale warning signs can make an explosion seem expected or…
Why Kids Explode and What to Do About It
Just like us, our kids sometimes react angrily when something important to them feels attacked. First expressions of anger are almost always aggressive. As kids get old enough to express themselves, the aggression becomes words and actions. One day I…
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!
The Bigger the Meltdown, the Bigger the Opportunity
“Where sin abounds, Grace abounds more” When a child really “loses it” – the freakin’ out, screaming and kicking kind of lose it – parents have a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate either grace or “ungrace.” Having done the “ungrace” response…
Tantrums From Tots To Teens
Teen Tantrums Teen Tantrums are not all that different than two-year-old tantrums. So read the tip below and apply those principles. But there are some distinctions, too. Because teen tantrums are usually verbal, the teens frequently say things that…