Sometimes, there are problems on the “home front”. As a parent, we are the role model, the disciplinarian, the encourager, the provider and emotional support our children need. But, what happens when there is trouble at school… or with teachers? We are still all those things, we just have to handle situations differently than if we were at home. If an issue comes up that...
Read More
As our children move from tricycles and cartoons to iPods and car insurance, they are “fighting” for independence and their appearance is outward evidence. For the most part, considering all the other ways kids can show independence, appearance issues are fairly harmless. So, how do you know when to let you kids “fit in” and we “step in”? “Teens struggle with the need to fit...
Read More
Even as adults, we try so hard to get the things that we know we can’t have. Although we want different things than kids, sometimes adults don’t act too much differently than children do. Characteristics like persistence and determination, especially in public, don’t look like attractive traits. But as a positive parent, encouraging a child to grow natural actions into positive life tools. Here are...
Read More
If you have a tween or teen, then you know how important having a curfew is. They say they don’t like it, but all adolescents need (and actually crave) boundaries. They may act like they are 20 when they are 12, but emotionally they are still 12 and it is a big scary world out there if no one has your back. Boundaries, like a...
Read More
As your children grow and learn from life’s conflicts, as parents, we have the best opportunity to share and show them the powerful skills needed to handle disagreements and conflicts and turn them into win-win situations. Because all relationships experience conflict, learning how to maintain friendships despite friction will make life much more enjoyable. Lacking these skills, will make for a life filled with broken...
Read More
We’ve heard the expression, “Parenting doesn’t come with a manual.” Some days, that seems so much truer than others. Whether you are having one of those “HELP!!!” days or an ideal day, stick around because it will probably change. So consider adopting Love and Logic’s rule: “Take good care of yourself by setting limits without anger, lectures, threats or repeated warnings”. While it may make...
Read More
Do begging, pouty lips and puppy-dog faces send you over the edge of giving in? While thinking that giving in every now and then won’t hurt, you could be creating a habit of easily giving in way more than you intended to. I don’t think too many parents make plans to spoil their kids. However, it is easy to feel guilty. And, we tend to...
Read More
With the recent issues in the “friendly skies” with irate passengers and reclining seats, it leads me to wonder if the reports are true that the use of manners is on the decline. This pictograph shows the sad decline in the use of manners in our society today. But as parents, I don’t think we have to be part of this trend. Simple things like...
Read More
Kathy Jenkins joins Paige Trevor for this article published on Washington Parent {dot} com. Parents tend to see most aspects of child rearing as a matter of getting our words right. In order to teach our kids how to do everything from dressing themselves to packing their backpacks to cleaning their rooms, we talk: we explain, direct, coax and remind. When none of that works,...
Read More
Lazy summer days will be gone before we know it and the routine of a new school year will quickly be setting in! As parents, we always want to make transitions from one thing to another as easy for our children as we can. And, the end of an unstructured summer transitioning back into the demanding routines and pressures of school is no exception. Here...
Read More