December Holidays: Is it Okay to Use Threats About Santas Good Bad List For Child Discipline?

December Holidays:  Is it Okay to Use Threats About Santas Good Bad List For Child Discipline? You are busy getting ready for the holiday family gatherings that are quickly approaching. While out shopping at the mall, your children start clamoring for you to take them to see Santa so they can give them their wish […]

How Do You Teach Children To Have An Attitude Of Gratitude & Instill A Spirit Of Giving?

How Do You Teach Children To Have An Attitude Of Gratitude & Instill A Spirit Of Giving? Your son has just opened his 4th present.  Instead of showing gratitude, he throws it aside and says, “What’s next!?”  Your Daughter starts throwing a fit because she just counted the gifts and she has one less than […]

How Can You Help With Teenage Problems When Your Teens Won’t Talk?

How Can You Help With Teenage Problems When Your Teens Won’t Talk?   Do Conversations With Your Teens Sound Like This? Jimmy, 15-years-old, just got home from soccer practice. “Tom is a jerk,” he fumed as he bounded through the door. “Jim Cooper, you know better than to call people names. What is the problem?” […]

Dealing With Difficult People During Family Gatherings?

Dealing With Difficult People During Family Gatherings? Do You Enjoy Your Family Gatherings or Endure Them? Kelly dreads big dinners with her extended family; something (more accurately, someone) always manages to spoil the occasion with their negativity.  Great Aunt Sophie is especially critical, saying Kelly lets her three-year old daughter, Jaime, “get away with too […]

Looking for Homework Tips For Parents of Children who Intentionally Don’t Do Their Homework?

Looking for Homework Tips For Parents of Children who Intentionally Don’t Do Their Homework?   Can you relate to Barb? Barb is a single mom.  She leaves work, rushes to pick up the children from after-school care and then home to start dinner.  Once dinner is started, she begins asking about homework.  Her teenager says […]

Are You Doing More Homework Than Your Children? What Can Homework Helpers Do To Halt Homework Hassles?

Are You Doing More Homework Than Your Children? What Can Homework Helpers Do To Halt Homework Hassles?   Can you relate to Joan? Joan has two children who just can’t seem to get their homework done without her or them getting frustrated to tears.  Joan repeatedly picks up or delivers her one child’s forgotten homework […]

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Back to School Tips for Teens Entering High School

How Do I Prepare Teens to Leave the Nest? Back to School Tips for Teens Entering High School   John is going be at the high school this year.  There are so many different students.  John seems to be more out spoken than he used to be and has started to back talk frequently.  His […]

Back to School Tips for Teens Headed to College

How Do I Prepare My Teen to Leave the Nest? Back to School Tips for Teens Headed to College   Amy is headed off college for the first time this Fall.  She will be 3 hours away from home.  It will be the first time she is that far away from her parents.  Amy’s parents […]

Is Time Out An Effective Child Discipline Tool For Handling Misbehavior?

IS TIME OUT AN EFFECTIVE CHILD DISCIPLINE TOOL FOR HANDLING MISBEHAVIOR? Alice is four years old.  When her two-year-old brother won’t share a toy she wants, she pulls his hair.  Alice is sent to time out.  She starts having a tantrum and says, “I wanted that toy and he wouldn’t give it to me.”  The […]

Is There a Drama King or Queen in Your House? How to Respond Helpfully When Handling Children’s Negative Emotions, Feelings and Temper Tantrums

Is There a Drama King or Queen in Your House? How to Respond Helpfully When Handling Children’s Negative Emotions, Feelings and Temper Tantrums     Pat is what most parents would call a Drama Queen or Drama King. Whenever something happens, Pat’s reaction is always over-the-top. It’s so that Pat’s parents feel a need to […]

GETTING BACK TALK? LET’S TALK! How to Handle Disrespectful Children

GETTING BACK TALK? LET’S TALK! How to Handle Disrespectful Children     Alicia posted this request in her moms’ group discussion forum: “My 8 year old is starting to talk back frequently and is very disrespectful. I am trying to figure out what would be a consequence for back talk, but I can’t think of […]

BEDTIME IS A NIGHTMARE . . . HELP! TIPS FOR MAKING BEDTIME PEACEFUL

BEDTIME IS A NIGHTMARE . . . HELP! TIPS FOR MAKING BEDTIME PEACEFUL My three-year-old son is very active and gets more so around bedtime. We have a bedtime routine that begins at 8:30 p.m. and includes a bath, healthy snack, storytelling, teeth-brushing and three books. After I turn out the lights, I sit by […]

Why Kids Do What You Tell Them Not to Do. How to Prevent Defiant Children, Power Struggles and Tantrums

The “Before” Story always sounds like this: My kids have been doing [you name it] for years. I constantly tell them “don’t,” “stop” or “quit doing that”. I’ve told them a million times and they still do it! I don’t know if they are defiant children, but I’m tired of the power struggles and handling […]

Sibling Relationships and How to Avoid Sibling Rivalry

Sibling Relationships and How to Avoid Sibling Rivalry Question: I know it’s normal for kids to fight, but their fighting drives me crazy! It seems that it’s become a habit to get a rise out of each other. I’m tired of reprimanding them, separating them and even taking away toys. This seems to work temporarily, […]

Dealing With Criticism? Immunize Yourself Against Toxic People

Dealing With Criticism? Immunize Yourself Against Toxic People Most parents will attend a family gathering or visit relatives this Summer. Many will also endure a chronically negative or critical relative. You know who I mean. Every family seems to have at least one. That person we avoid all year long but have to see at  […]

USING BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES: Behavior Charts, Incentives, Stickers, Tokens. Should I Use Them? If So, How?

USING BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES Behavior Charts, Incentives, Stickers, and Tokens.  Should I Use Them? If So, How? Many professionals who dispense parenting advice tell parents to use rewards or create “behavior modification” token systems to teach children a skill, to get children to take on a responsibility, or to curb an unwanted behavior or habit. […]

PUNISHING VS. DISCIPLINING CHILDREN

PUNISHING VS. DISCIPLINING CHILDREN Disciplining children is different from punishing them because it teaches children to learn from their mistakes rather than making them suffer for them. In fact, imposing suffering actually shifts the focus from the lesson that needs to be learned to who is in control. As a result, punishment focuses on the […]

Praise for Parents

  Praise for Parents “Of all the jobs and professions in the world, parenting is the most important, difficult, and potentially rewarding. It is the only job that never ends; we are parents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year, every year. Even when children are adults, we are still […]

How to Build Teamwork When You And Your Partner Have Different Parenting Styles

How To Build Teamwork When You And Your Partner Have Different Parenting Styles Many of us have a variety of parenting partners: spouses, ex-spouses, teachers, day care workers, relatives, friends and neighbors. Each partner can have a parenting style that differs from ours. When parenting styles clash, parents may overreact, interfere or try to change […]

HANDLING TEMPER TANTRUMS

  EXPERT ON CALL – HANDLING TEMPER TANTRUMS Q. I’ve read that I should ignore my child’s tantrums, but I worry that he’ll think I don’t care.  What is the best way of handling temper tantrums? A. Not all tantrums are alike. Therefore, using one approach for all tantrums is usually ineffective. You need to […]

Is My Child Ready to Be Home Alone? Is There a Legal Age for Children to Stay Home Alone?

  Is My Child Ready to Be Home Alone? Is There a Legal Age For Children to Stay Home Alone? The end of the school year brings a tough decision for many parents, “Is my child ready to be home alone?” Many parents answer this question simply by looking at a child’s age or maturity, […]

Concerns About Child Development Stages

Concerns about Child Development Stages Parenting Advice Corner Question : My son will be 4 in September. He is trying to remain a baby . We do not encourage any type of behavior that he should be past

Concerns About Teenage Drinking

Concerns About Teenage Drinking Parents, Take the “Prom Promise” Prom night and graduation parties are upon us. Many teens will take the “Prom Promise” to abstain from drug and alcohol use. Parents need to make a “Prom Promise” too, to be responsible parents that don’t intentionally or inadvertently encourage teen drinking. Many parents think teenage […]