Latest From The Blog
Why Picky Eating Isn’t Your Fault (And What to Do About It)
You've spent the last hour preparing a nutritious meal, only to be met with wrinkled noses and protests from your children. Sound familiar? You're not alone! For many families, the dinner table often becomes a battleground where power struggles ensue, and patience...
Discover the Playful Parenting Hack That Stops Whining in its Tracks
We've all been there - an afternoon filled with whining that pushes us to our limits. But here's the thing: kids don't whine just to test our patience. When children whine, they're sending us a message that they need connection. Often, feelings of powerlessness mixed...
The Surprising Truth about Kids and Divorce
Let's debunk a common myth: divorce doesn't have to define your children's future. It's normal and healthy for everyone in the family to experience strong feelings when parents separate. But research shows that with the right support, children can actually thrive in...
Big News! Preparing Your Older Child for a New Baby 🍼
As an expectant parent, you've likely felt a whirlwind of emotions about your upcoming addition. It's a big transition for everyone. The family dynamic is about to shift, and your older child may be wondering what this means for them. Below are some tips to help...
Breaking the Cycle: How to Become an Emotionally Aware Parent
For many of us, our parents' ability to attune to our emotional needs was limited at best. They came from a generation where children were expected to be seen and not heard. Parenting was about teaching kids to behave and punishing them when they didn’t. If we think...
Resolving Sibling Struggles: Strategies to restore harmony
For many parents, there comes a time when you are caught in the middle of a sibling crossfire: Your little one bops his brother on the head when the bigger one takes his truck. At breakfast time, two siblings make a run for the red bowl. They get to the cabinet at the...
To Parents of Teens Who Want to Improve Communication with Their Kids
As our kids get older, we have less and less control over their lives. By the time they get to adolescence, they’ve chosen their own friends, they’ve seen things online that would make our eyeballs fall out, and they’ve had romantic interests we know nothing about....
Parenting with a Partner: Why it gets hard and how to make it better
“Conflict is an opportunity to learn how to love each other better over time.” Dr. John Gottman Underlying our children’s behavior are often simple questions they want answered everyday… Am I good? Do you love me? Will you keep me safe? With partners, those...
The Special Time Solution: The Secret to Smoother Summer Vacations
Summer vacations promise relaxation and family bonding, but reality often unfolds differently than we expect. New surroundings, long journeys, unfamiliar faces, and busy schedules can leave children feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and prone to meltdowns. Add in the...
The ‘Wrong’ Gift, the Right Response: Navigating Holiday Let Downs with Grace
Expectations can run high during the holidays…and so can disappointment. When the presents are opened, do you ever here your kid say: 😢 I never get what I ask for. 😠 I hate this game. 😞 This is the wrong color. Disappointments can pile up and...
Safe, Seen, and Connected: Why Children Can Be So Challenging
Our child’s behavior can be perplexing, infuriating, and downright worrisome. But when we have an idea of what’s lying at the root of their upset, it can help us develop more empathy, understanding, and a more targeted response. It can help us apply the right...
The Best Ways to Minimize the Back to School Blues
For most kids, going back to school is a big transition and for some it feels like a momentous challenge. Whether your child is starting school for the first time or changing schools or teachers, going back can bring up lots of feelings for kids and adults! Fears and...
Scared Out of Our Minds: What To Say When a Child is Afraid
Ever wonder why some kids seem to fear everything while others charge headfirst into new adventures? Some kids enter the world with a "look before you leap" temperament, their tiny systems on high alert for anything unfamiliar. About 10-20% of children, may need extra...
“No, We Can’t Send Her Back”: Five Keys for Preparing Your Family for the Birth of a Sibling
Two days after my son was born, his five-year old sister carefully and quietly carried his bouncy chair to a room in the back of the house that wasn’t used much. When I walked back into the living room and found him gone, she said, “He has gone to the baby dungeon,...
The Secret to Helping Your Baby’s Brain Grow
Although we parents might feel like we spend every moment with a new baby, our days are also filled with the work it takes to run a family. There is laundry to be done, meals to prepare, diapers to change, showers to slip into when we have a moment, and errands to run when we can. And so we get busy around our babies. Even when we’re with our babies hour after hour, sometimes 3:00 p.m. rolls around and we haven’t actually connected with them yet.