Saying no can be one of the most relentless challenges for any parent. Whether it's a stomping toddler, an obstinate preschooler, or a combative teenager, it's crucial to understand just how vital healthy boundaries are for your child's development. And it sure helps when we have the parenting skills to go with that resolve!

Estimated reading: 5 minutes

As teens plug through the high school years and prepare to leave home, parents often begin to squirm. Not only is it a gigantic letting-go process for a parent (and a teen) to leave home, but the big question that plagues many parents is: “Have I prepared my child adequately?” And emotional intelligence is critical for your teenager to be successful.

Do you know just how important your parental responses and modeling are in building emotional fitness in your teenager?

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Temperament is one of the most underestimated influences in a child’s life. Many times, a difficult temperament trait in a child can be the primary driving force of misbehavior in children. Much of the challenges in child-raising often lead back to temperament qualities, such as low adaption or high emotional intensity. It's critical as a parent to know your child's temperament, especially when disciplining or redirecting children's behavior.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Why have selfies become a trend? And dowe take a selfie only when we look our best? Probably not during a fight with your spouse or after a day of power struggles with your toddler or teen. 

Could the preoccupation with Facebook along with snapping selfies and posting pictures on Snapchat be a sign of how invisible we feel to ourselves? Maybe, maybe not. But there is a form of invisibility to ourselves that often goes unnoticed—a lack of self-care.

Parenting is an elaborate and complex job that changes with each age as a child develops. Since our primary responsibility is to keep our children safe while providing a stable home, it’s understandable how involved—even overprotective—parents can become. However, the older a child gets, the less control we have as parents. Therefore, the need for children and teens to build strong self-reliance and emotional intelligence is critical. Does helicopter parenting encourage independence and resiliency?

Estimated reading time: 6.5 minutes

Every parent is unique; every child is unique. All parents love their children, and all children love their parents—no matter how imperfectly. But do we truly take stock as parents of how we are imprinting our children through our daily interactions?

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

No way around it: Being a parent is a tough job. And some parenting days are much tougher than others, so you might find yourself yelling unexpectedly, then regret it. Every parent reaches their limit.Our parenting know-how and emotional maturity are challenged every day. Of course, we also experience immense shared joy and a sense of fulfillment, but our children's needs change continually. Every time you think you've got the job figured out, your child shifts to a new developmental stage, far different from the one before. Learning how to redirect children's behavior is crucial for every [...]

Parenting today's teens is challenging. Many parents even dread raising teenagers because they've often heard negative, even scary stories over the years from other parents. As a culture, we think we've got teenagers pegged—uncontrollable, disrespectful, and rebellious. The big question is: "Is adolescent rebellion avoidable?"

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

And guess who the culprits were?

Teenagers.