1. Watching children grow and develop is as rewarding as it is fascinating. Children are like little sponges, soaking up information and discovering all they can learn about their environment. Within a family, parents, siblings, and grandparents all play a significant role and greatly impact a child’s emotional development. However, they are not the only influence on children at home. Growing up with a pet can positively impact early childhood development and help establish healthy emotional regulation and mental health in children.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Parenting is hard work. But when we're critical of ourselves and have a lot of negative self-talk, it can become downright discouraging. Maybe, you're even feeling burned out as a parent. In that parenting exhaustion, have you ever thought to yourself, "I'm really a bad mom!"?

With this full-time, never-let-up job, it's easy to slip into feeling overwhelmed. Many of today's parents live thousands of miles away from grandparents and extended family, which was a major support in earlier times. So how do you parent consciously, keep a work-life balance, and create a fun-loving, happy family, [...]

Einstein once said, “not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” Money is heavily pedestalled these days, and it’s essential to teach your kids a balance between financial literacy, social responsibility, and emotional intelligence (EQ) when exploring life lessons with money. The goal is to prepare your children to create a healthy, happy, and successful future while teaching them to be responsible, empathetic human beings.

Yet, it’s not always easy as a parent to keep long-term values in mind when faced with the demands of everyday life. So, [...]

When or if your teenager starts to act out and rebel, it can be difficult to know what to do as a parent. You can feel like you're losing control of your teen when dealing with teenage rebellion and disrespect.

It’s true, teens sometimes engage in risky behaviors that terrify their parents, so your concern is justified. However, many parents overreact by immediately taking away their smartphones or grounding their teen “for a year!” These reactions can backfire by increasing oppositional behavior or creating ruptures in your relationship.

So, how do you best support and help your teenager [...]

Have you ever asked yourself as a parent, "What does a normal teenager act like?" Teenage rebellion and defiance are common challenges that parents often navigate. On top of teenage push-back are social media and smartphones competing with the teen-parent connection. (Or shall I say "screen addiction"?) As a parent coach and parenting instructor, I get scores of S.O.S. calls from parents. Many parents are fearful and remark, "Where did my 'sweet child' go?!"

So is teen rebellion normal? And what is dramatically outside the realm of healthy development and accompanying behaviors? Let's [...]

Nowadays, children have easy access to screens and technology that can dominate their daily lives. But as convenient as it is to put your child in front of an Xbox, computer game, or TV, have you ever wondered how screens affect early child development?

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

As a parent coach, I get asked three questions frequently, "How do I discipline a toddler?" "How can I stop my toddler from hitting?" and "What's the best way to deal with temper tantrums?"

Of course, toddlers are adorable and endearing. Yet, their behavior can be exhausting; they're feisty and too young to act logically.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes