Teaching kids how to help with their own discipline isn’t as hard as it might sound. It’s simply a matter of intentional parenting that teaches them important lessons to build character. In fact, my almost-five-year-old has learned to remove herself from situations when she feels her emotions spiraling out of control and has started to self-discipline…
Think back to your childhood. Slowly sift through your memories and think of the times your own parents felt like they were at the end of their rope with you from being uncooperative, disobedient, and ultimately a defiant child. Does anything stand out? Can you relate to your child better or understand your parent a…
As a child development psychologist, I had some ideas about how I wanted to parent long before I became one myself. But, the knowledge I relied on the most as a new parent surprised me — it wasn’t all of the charts of expected developmental milestones or the research on successful development instead, it was some…
When my oldest was 6 months old, we did 10 hours of tornado disaster relief with her on my back. When my middle daughter was one, our family served other children in the community teaching them how to play soccer and fulfilling their every need. And now with my youngest, we regularly go grocery shopping…
By 10 AM today my toddler was eating a vanilla ice cream shake. Why? Because I negotiated with my child. We’re in the middle of a move across country and my heart knows I need to loosen my grip on our day in order to get things done. So today? I will compromise on food because…
Today it was a blue slushie. Yesterday it was the iPad. They’re things that my nearly 4-year-old daughter feels entitled to. She pleaded her case declaring that she ate “real food” and reminded me that she spent countless hours frolicking around the house and playing outside. Her righteous indignation came out demanding that she deserved…
Through tears my four-year-old exclaims “but I just need space and Emma won’t leave me alone!” In fact, Jenn will regularly tell me that Emma is just not giving her space and she just wants to be left alone right now because her sister is not respecting boundaries or personal space. And that’s hard. Especially because…
Tall and skinny. Those were the words the doctor used to describe my picky eating child. He dropped to the 10th percentile for weight, and while he was still growing, it was concerning. The doctor glanced over in my direction, cocked her head to the side and reassured me with a variety of tips to…
From the back of the van I heard Jenn jabbering about a memory she had as we drove past a nearby park and wildlife reservation. “Daddy climbed this HUGE rock and then he let me climb a big one too!” It sparked memories of my husband explaining the adventures that the two of them had…
My whole world slowed down to a screeching halt and spun past me in slow motion as I screamed in sheer panic “WHERE ARE YOU JENN?!?!” I was in my own 900 square foot home and yet somehow could not find my 3-year-old daughter. Really. How does that even happen? The following minutes on the phone with…
Last week out family had plans that fell through and when we mentioned this to our 4-year-old happily declared “That’s ok. You don’t have to apologize to me. I understand.” I sat there in a little bit of disbelief, expecting to have to squash the meltdowns and fires that I just knew would burst onto the…
Scrolling through my social media feed I see angry people daily. Threats to “unfriend me if you believe in…”, “I will delete you if you…”, or “I just lost 20 friends because of my last post” and bright red emojis that look like they’re going to pop litter comments on every thread. But friends, aren’t…