Looking forward…

March 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I hope you and your family are doing wonderfully, and you have fun, fulfilling experiences planned for 2012. A lot has happened since I last wrote to you, and I will give you a brief update. Then I’ll share what I have planned for you. Plus a new article on my blog.

My most meaningful news is I have become clear I must share the information I am called to share about bringing out the best in children. My sabbatical is over. I honestly don’t see anyone else out there sharing the insights I have in the way I share them. I LOVE supporting children and parents. So expect to be hearing a lot more from me.

My family continues to flourish. Grandchildren Sebastian and Madison enjoy their lives and are eager to interact and connect. They are such a delight. And we all keep getting closer and closer. Sweetness!

I also have a 3-week international adventure coming up in April to Jordan and Turkey. This time I am traveling with a friend. I’ll share more about this later.

I also want to tell you about my kitty Cassie who is such a joyous part of my life. She is doing well now and last week was seriously ill. I really wondered if she were going to make it or would be critically ill for a long time. Fortunately, the problem was fixable—a section of her intestine was blocked with the accumulation of long hair.

Such a relief she is doing much better now! Choosing to do the required surgery was for her and for me. I want her in my life. Now I just need to keep her contained and not licking her incision until she heals. She’s starting to think she’s all ok. 🙂

Here’s what is coming for YOU!

First, I will soon be posting video parenting tips on my blog, filled with useful ideas and valuable insights you can use immediately in connecting with your child. If my relationship with technology holds, you will begin to see these next week.

Second, during the coming year I will give a series of low-cost, over-the-phone teleclasses on those topics I have learned from parents are common parenting challenges.

In a couple of days, I will post a list of topics and ask for your feedback about which will help you the most. What are your biggest challenges and concerns as a parent? You might think about this between now and then. I appreciate any info you can give me so I can make the most difference for you.

In case you haven’t already seen it, here is a short article I just posted to my blog. “Another High School Shooting…Are You Paying Attention?” I recommend you read it, even if your child is not a teen. There is useful information here for children of all ages.

Filed Under: Parenting, Parenting Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Are You Telling Your Child Too Much?

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A mompreneur client of mine once shared with me this story about her 7-year-old daughter. She had just finished telling her daughter some info that she thought was important. She was trying to ‘teach’ her child an important idea to help her in life.

After she was finished, her daughter calmly looked at her and explained, “Mom, when you talk to me, all I hear is ‘blah……blah..blah…..blah..blah.”

You might think, “Wow! What a disrespectful daughter…telling her mother something like this AND not even listening!”

Her mom and I heard something different in her daughter’s communication. She told her mom her experience when her mom started ‘teaching’ her and gave her mom valuable feedback about her communication with her daughter, something every mother can use.

Shortly after this, her mom and dad signed up for my Joyous Parenting Training because they realized they needed to learn how to talk so their daughter would listen. In fact, this feedback from her daughter helped my client understand how much her words were ‘missing’ her daughter, which was the opposite of what she wanted.

Many parents believe that telling their child what he should and shouldn’t do will convince their child to do what they say. They believe their words will change their child’s behavior.

Sometimes this is true; but in reality, words seldom affect or change a child’s behavior as her parents hope it will. Often what the child hears is, “blah……blah..blah…..blah..blah.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Children, Education, Grandparenting, Loving Yourself, Parenting, Parenting Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

How to Best Help Your Irritable, Moody Child

March 3, 2010 By 1 Comment

Living with a child who is frequently irritable or moody is never fun. Their mood can swing from happily playing to tantrumming on the floor in a heartbeat. You probably don’t even see it coming and are frequently surprised by the sudden change in her mood.

If you’re like most parents in this situation, you find yourself being cautious around your child. Cautious that you don’t accidentally ignite your child into another meltdown. You become fearful of getting her upset by denying her the ice cream she wants or talking with her in the wrong tone of voice.

Being cautious as a parent is never good for you, your child, or your family. When you lose your confidence as a parent, your child feels this, and he feels insecure and a loss of connection with you.

Probably the biggest challenge you face with your child’s mood swings is how to respond. You wonder what he needs and how you should respond to best help him. If you knew how to effectively help him feel happy again, you’d feel more confident and could more easily keep your cool with clarity and certainty whenever those upsets begin.

Instead of responding with confidence, clarity, and effectiveness, you may find yourself reacting with your own irritability, feeling angry and raising your voice. As you well know, this only escalates the problem; and you and your child both feel hurt and bruised by your interaction.

Here are 4 get-yourself-in-action tips to dramatically decrease or even eliminate your challenges with your child’s moodiness and emotional reactivity. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,