This blog is for parents who have been through power struggles with their children and want to do things differently. Step one: Are you willing to acknowledge that you may have a role to play in these power struggles? Do you yourself like to have control? If so, you may be able to learn from…
Children’s behavior is a reflection of how they are feeling on the inside. This is true for all of us, but especially children. They don’t hide things as well as adults can. So, if your child is demonstrating difficult or “bad” behavior, that means something is going on for him/her. If you can play detetive…
Leading by example is hard. Broadly speaking, I hope to teach my children 2 things. To love themselves. This means being true to themselves, accepting themselves, being responsible for themselves, and believing in themselves. To love others. This means being true to others, accepting others, empowering others, and believing in others. I have to teach…
One of the things that I see in coaching parents who want to go from stressed to calm and connected is this: a lot of angst comes from resentment. The resentment comes from one’s life not going the way he or she wants. Work, relationships, health, even how they parent…none of it is quite working…
What if most of the work of parenting was not to correct our children when they did something wrong, but an ongoing effort to help children learn about themselves and their place in the world so that they naturally chose to do good things for themselves and others? It’s a bit of leap of faith…
Wouldn’t it be nice if our kids listened and then did what we asked? How is this more likely to happen? Here are some things that will help: Connect before you direct. Relate to and be interested in what your child is doing. Enter their world and build some rapport before giving instructions. Speak clearly and…
We’ve all been involved in important projects. Key aspects to successful projects include planning, focus, and accountability. All of the parents that I have coached say that their family is their most important priority of all. Of all the parents I’ve spoken to, nearly all of them say that (after physical health) their relationship with their…
Parents often say that getting their kids to listen to them is their top challenge. It was my top challenge too. Something that helped me was to look at leadership. After-all, parenting is leadership. And truth be told, there are better leaders than others. There are leaders who are respected, listened to, and celebrated. There…
What are you worried about? What hangs over your head? Inside the answer to this question, you will find an opportunity for growth, growth away from stagnation, toward empowerment. What you are worried about can highlight where you are stuck. It is where you hold on to unproductive thoughts and spend energy best used elsewhere. When…
This is letter is in response to a parent looking for some help on dealing with a disrespectful child. For me, there was no bigger step I could have taken than reevaluating my view of my child. That’s what this one letter is about. Question: My daughter disrespects me and doesn’t listen to me. When…
