Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Raising children is not for the weary. Parenting is a 24-7 job that relentlessly demands our best self and every ounce of energy and love we have to give. What many parents don't realize is that parenting can be much easier and a whole lot more fun!

Learning how to redirect children's misbehavior is a life-safer! And adding a few parenting skills to your tool belt infuses a parent with confidence that helps to destress our hectic parenting lives.Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the stress of hectic day-to-day activities with our families and children and fail to do our best parenting. Maintaining a work-life balance is tricky when raising a family and our values can get trampled by everyday demands. And we can all too easily react to our children’s testy (and testing!) behavior without even thinking.

Parenting is a big responsibility, and there are no perfect parents, so reactions are natural. However, knee-jerk reactions often give our children unhelpful messages that don't teach them how to become capable, happy adults.

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As a parent, do you ever wonder if you're failing your child? Or do you feel discouraged in your parenting role? Are your kids driving you crazy? Have you found yourself doing exactly what you said you'd NEVER do—like yelling at your kids, just like your mom did? Then, you might ask, "Am I a bad mom?"Parenting is not for the weary at heart as the saying goes. Being a parent requires patience, fortitude, skill, and a love that keeps on giving! It's a fabulous opportunity to grow up, too!

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

An excellent article, "Yep, Life'll Burst That Self-Esteem Bubble,"* eloquently outlined some of the flaws in the self-esteem movement that originated in the '70s and '80s. This topic caught my eye because I work every day with many very sincere and eager parents and observe how the building blocks of self-esteem often elude them.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

As a mom or stepmom, how do you feel most of the time? Blissful? Confident? Successful in your role as mom? Or are you overwhelmed and discouraged? Do you feel like a worried, worn out, and confused parent doubting yourself?

Many parents feel alone as if they are the only ones with problems. The subtle sense of failure and the weight of feeling like … okay I’m going to say it, “a bad mom” is so discouraging. As a parent coach, I often hear, "Am I a bad mom?"

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

You’re in a grocery store and your 5-year-old wants a candy bar at the checkout stand. You calmly but firmly say no. Before you can turn back to the checkout clerk, your child is on the floor kicking and screaming!

What do you do?Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

One of the biggest misconceptions about creating healthy self-esteem in children is that praise is the priority ingredient in building it. An unintended outcome of praise can actually be to deplete self-esteem. Why? Because too much praise causes children to become dependent on what other people think, instead of focusing on what makes them happy and how they feel about themselves and their actions. Praise promotes pleasing others and relying on others for validation.

So what do you do instead to build self-esteem and help raise confident children?

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

A big revelation for me as a parent dramatically changed how I parented. Now, after two decades as a parenting instructor and parent coach, it turns out this same factor is a common blind spot for many parents.

But before I share this realization, ask yourself a few questions: Is my child disrespectful? And do I take my child's strong-willed behavior personally and react? Is my preteen talking back? Am I a bad parent? Do I feel helpless in knowing appropriate limits? Does my teen rebel, and is teenage rebellion normal?

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes ♥Practice and mastery of parenting [...]

In the past three decades as a parent, parent educator, and behavioral consultant, I have discussed the subject of spanking with droves of parents. Some parents still advocate spanking; many more are ambivalent or hesitant about spanking but still use it as a form of discipline. In fact, 50% of parents of toddlers still spank.

Why? Because it works, right? No, because it works in the short term. We like quick fixes, and we want to see immediate results. Besides, immediate obedience equals respect, doesn't it? Find out the effects of spanking on a child's brain and development with recent [...]