Become A Calm Mama

Parents often ask me about how to approach giving their kid a phone for the first time. Today on the podcast, I’m joined by Kristi Bush, founder of Protect Our Kids. We’re talking about strategies to use before you give them the phone, as well as tools for monitoring their use. You’ll Learn:Examples of kids accessing internet content that they shouldn’t (and how it often happens)Why it’s important to have boundaries and guidelines from the startCommon pitfalls of gaming consolesHow to prepare for giving your kid their first phoneStrategies for monitoring device useIf you’re concerned about technology use and want to establish good practices in your family, you’re going to love this conversation!-------------------------------Kristi Bush is a coach and speaker who helps families navigate the overwhelming challenges of social media and devices. She’s worked with kids and families for many years, including as a licensed social worker. She combines science and storytelling to give a unique perspective of the benefits and threats associated with social media and technology.  Giving Your Kid Their First PhoneKids are curious (they’re supposed to be!). But this curiosity can lead them to seeing things online that are not developmentally appropriate. Using technology and social media is a skill. Your responsibility as a parent is to teach your kids those skills, slowly and in stages. You don’t want to jump in with an all-access pass right away. Kristi agrees with the guideline of waiting until 8th grade before giving your child a smartphone. However, she also acknowledges that some families might need ways to communicate with kids who travel home from school on their own, have sports, etc. So, how do you know when it’s the right time?First of all, don’t give your kid a device if they aren’t even asking for it. This is just a win for you as a parent.Kristi says that parents’ relationships with their kids change after they get that first phone, “Once you give your child a phone, you will always wonder, are they okay? What are they doing?” It changes the whole dynamic.You’ll know that they have access to some pretty serious things and that you’ll need to have some adult conversations. Of particular concern are pornography, predators and bullying. Your kid might see things that really stick with them. The other concern is when your specific child is mentally, emotionally and psychologically ready for the responsibility of a phone. This answer is different for everyone, even within the same family.If your kid is already obsessed with gaming or their appearance (which can be intensified with constant access to a camera), these issues will be magnified if they have a phone that is with them all the time. Ultimately, Kristi wants parents to feel good about their decision. She talks to a lot of parents who gave their child a phone because all the other kids their age had one, but they didn’t feel okay with that choice. The decision was driven by fear that their kid would be left behind socially, and they didn’t follow their gut. Whenever your kid jumps into texting, social media, etc., they will catch up. They won’t be left behind. Just as with other developmental stages and skills like potty training and reading, it’s okay for every kid to be on their own timeline.  Set Up StrategiesHere are some steps and strategies to prepare your child and their new device:Decide (along with your co-parent if you have one) on the boundaries and guidelines ahead of time. Set up the phone with passcodes, settings, etc. before you give it to your child. This way, it will be ready for them to use as soon as they open it.Kristi says, “Settings are your friend.” This is where you find a lot of privacy features. And don’t worry - You’re not going to break the device. If you mess something up, you can always backtrack and redo it. Limit access to the outside world. Many apps and games have chat features or even internet search functions that can expose kids to strangers or inappropriate content. In some cases, you can turn off this feature or limit it to approved contacts. Keep your settings up to date. A challenge for parents is that apps and operating systems are always updating and changing. Kristi recommends revisiting your child’s device settings at least every 90 days. Take a close look at the settings to be sure none of your guidelines have been bumped off due to an update (which happens all the time). Take it slow. Don’t give your kid multiple apps or games right off the bat. You’re going to have to learn how to manage the settings for each individual app or device. Make it easy on yourself and go one at a time. Learn as much about it as you can, set it up in a way that feels safe for your family and wait awhile before adding anything new.Start with just an internet browser or a little bit of controlled access to an approved app, and see how your child

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S., so I’m sharing a simple gratitude practice that you can do as a family, along with a guided gratitude meditation. What you focus on is what you create more of. When you focus on things that bring you joy and delight, you’re going to feel better and more positive about your life. You’ll Learn:Why your kid isn’t wrong for wanting thingsHow to flip the wish list into a simple family gratitude practiceWhat I’m thankful forA guided meditation to bring more gratitude into your lifeGratitude is a powerful tool for feeling more content in your life. Instead of chasing after something new, better, different, more, we can learn to appreciate the things we have.-------------------------------------The Antidote to EntitlementIf you’re reading this around the time it comes out, we’re heading into the holiday season. If you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or another gift-giving holiday, your kids probably have gifts on the brain. First, I want to remind you that this is normal. Kids naturally have a lot of desire. It’s okay for them to want things and ask for things. It’s also okay for them to not get those things and feel disappointed.But, if you’ve worried that your kid is going to be spoiled, entitled or always wanting, wanting, wanting…The antidote is gratitude. A Simple Family Gratitude PracticeThis gratitude practice is about being okay with desire, wants and the wish list. In fact, this exercise is kinda like a wish list in reverse. Challenge your kids (and yourself) to ask themselves…What are some things that you used to want that you now have?Look back on these things and take a moment to be grateful for them. It doesn’t have to be formal, or even written down. Just start a conversation. You can use some of the prompts below to get you started:Do you remember what was on your wish list last year? Did you get it? Isn't it amazing that you used to want something, and now you have it? Do you still love it? Are you glad you have it? It doesn’t have to be stuff. You can also express gratitude for an experience, relationship or opportunity. We’re cultivating the ability to reflect and be thankful, challenging the brain to think of things in a slightly different way. This podcast was something I wanted for a long time. I am so thankful for you and for the opportunity to share the things I’ve learned. I’m grateful for my difficult experience as a mom because it allows me to connect with you and help make your life a little bit easier and more calm.If you want to listen to the guided meditation in the podcast recording, you can find it at [8:54].I wish you a joyful holiday and lots of love and gratitude in your life. Free Resources:Get your copy of the Stop Yelling Cheat Sheet!In this free guide you’ll discover:✨ A simple tool to stop yelling once you’ve started (This one thing will get you calm.)✨ 40 things to do instead of yelling. (You only need to pick one!)✨ Exactly why you yell. (And how to stop yourself from starting.)✨A script to say to your kids when you yell. (So they don't follow you around!)Download the Stop Yelling Cheat Sheet hereConnect With Darlynn: Book a complimentary session with DarlynnLearn about the different parenting programs at www.calmmamacoaching.comFollow me on Instagram @darlynnchildress for daily tips Rate and review the podcast on Itunes

If you’ve ever wished you could make life less complicated, you’re going to love my guest on today’s podcast. Brenda Yoder is here with me talking about contentment - what it is, how to cultivate it and what is keeping you from feeling satisfied with your life.You’ll Learn:Why there is more discontent in our current society that in past generationsHow contentment and happiness are different from each otherCommon challenges to feeling content7 strategies for bringing more contentment into your lifeThe exercise I used to create more contentment in my marriageMy invitation to you today, Mama, is to chase contentment. Choose it. Figure out how to bring more of it into each moment. You’re already good enough.-------------------------------My guest, Brenda Yoder, is a licensed mental health counselor, school counselor, speaker and educator. She is also the author of Uncomplicated: Simple Secrets for a Compelling Life; and Fledge: Launching Your Kids without Losing Your Mind.She’s the cohost of the Midlife Moms Podcast and Facebook community. She also hosts and writes the Life Beyond the Picket Fence podcast and blog, covering a variety of topics on faith, life, and family beyond the storybook image. Uncomplicating Your LifeBrenda lives in a small Amish-Mennonite community, and sees how tourists flock there because there is something in that lifestyle that they want in their own lives.How many of us watch Hallmark movies at the holidays and long for those quaint towns and communities? We’re drawn to the uncomplicated, less chaotic, less busy way of life. Visitors to Brenda’s town think they would have to be Amish in order to have that simplicity and satisfaction. But contentment isn’t about where you live or what you have or don’t have. It’s more internal - how you view the world and what you value. As a working mom to 4 kids and now a grandma to 3 little ones, Brenda understands that there’s more to an uncomplicated life than just “slowing down”. She says, “It really is a sense of values clarification.” Clarifying our values, modeling them and seeing them lived out is not as common as it was in previous generations. Instead, we’re inundated by technology, social media and other distractions.In Brenda’s book, Uncomplicated, she outlines ten virtues, mindsets and behaviors for an uncomplicated life: resourcefulness, practicality, fidelity, equanimity & forbearance, stewardship, interdependence, being grounded and humble, foresight prudence and, of course, contentment. A Culture of DiscontentBrenda defines discontentment as “that one thing that’s always out of your reach.” Maybe it’s always looking to a new goal or experience as soon as you achieve something. As a parent, you might find yourself constantly looking ahead to the next stage, wishing for your kid to have better grades or better behavior. When you are discontent, you’ll always be looking at what’s out of reach, rather than seeing what you already have that can fill you up. You take things for granted, and nothing ever seems to be enough.Finding contentment comes back to asking yourself, “What if today is as good as it gets?” Can you be content and satisfied with what is here? Brenda explains that many people confuse contentment with happiness, but they are not the same. She says, “Contentment is a sense of ‘I am full, and I don’t need more’.”In helping moms raise emotionally healthy kids, contentment is huge. We don’t want our kids to grow up and be people who are chronically dissatisfied with their life. Our kids pick up on what we model and how we view our lives. Obstacles to ContentmentMany aspects of our society tend to steer us toward discontent. Social media (and lots of other types of media), ads and algorithms want us to feel unsatisfied so we keep buying. And there are some common thought patterns that you’ve probably fallen into yourself.Performance. In our American culture, we are driven to perform. It can even make us fear contentment. There’s a belief that we can’t be satisfied with what we already have because it will make us lazy. We think we always need to be doing more, being more and achieving more. Doubt. This is the if/when type of thinking. If I can…I’ll finally be satisfied. Or, when I achieve…I’m finally going to be at the place I want to be. You’re relying on something outside of yourself to make you feel better. If you can find contentment first, then you can pursue something more, better or different knowing that you already have everything you want and need. You don’t need anything from that next step.Putting off contentment. Maybe you think you’ll finally be content when your kids are older and more settled or when you’re retired. But there are no guarantees in life. What can you do to cultivate a sense of content and gratitude right now, in this season, exactly where you and your family are? What can you jump into and&

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective therapeutic models to help people move through negative emotion and create long term change in the way they think, feel and behave in their lives. Today, I’m showing you how you can use the powerful concepts behind Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  in parenting.You’ll Learn:Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is such a powerful toolHow your thoughts affect the way you show up as a parentHow to feel less triggered by your kid’s behaviorSome of my favorite tools and strategies for seeing your child in a more positive lightA big part of CALM (the first step in my 4-step Calm Mama Process) is calming yourself when your nervous system gets activated. But I want to take it a step further. I want to help you learn how to not get activated in the first place. Imagine if you were able to stay in your calm state of mind and not get triggered by your kid’s behavior. How cool would that be?! ---------------------------What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?Cognitive (or cognition) is just a fancy word for thinking. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches strategies to think differently so that you act differently. It was created in the 1960s by a psychiatrist named Aaron Beck when he realized that there are three separate parts of cognition. Automatic thoughts - Default thoughts that come from how we were raised and what we’ve learned from societyCognitive distortions - “Thought errors” where our thoughts can be extreme or untrueUnderlying beliefs - Core beliefs we have about ourselves and the world, which guide our point of view but may or may not be true for usCBT invites you to examine your thinking so that your beliefs help you show up the way you want to. The coaching model that I use is based in cognitive behavior therapy. The idea is that something happens (a circumstance) >> I have a thought about what happened >> That thought creates a feeling >> I act on that feeling. Basically, your thoughts and feelings create how you show up for your kid (and the rest of your life). I don’t know about you, but I want to show up as a parent that feels confident and hopeful for my children. I want them to be able to borrow my belief in them when they’re struggling to believe in themselves. This is possible for all of us, but there are some patterns that might get in your way. Common Thought Errors in ParentingThere are several common ways we can get caught up in thought errors or cognitive distortions.  Negative thought bias. A viewpoint that the world is not so great. My kid’s behavior isn’t good. That’s just the way it is. You expect that things will go wrong.Whether you have a positive or negative outlook, no matter what thoughts you are thinking, your brain will find evidence to prove you right. Some people naturally have a more negative outlook, while others will have an easier time thinking more positively. Either way, you can train your brain to look for the good more often. Black-and-white thinking. Viewing a behavior or your kid as good OR bad. Watch for all-or-nothing or extreme kinds of thoughts. Try to notice what is actually happening right now without projecting it into the past or future. Focusing on the negative more than the positive. Let’s say you went on a family vacation that was mostly good, but there were a few negative experiences. When a friend asks you how your trip was, will you say it was mostly good or that it was a disaster? If you want to feel more happy, joyful and calm, look for the positives, and choose to focus on those experiences. You have the power to frame your life to tell the story you want to tell.  Future forecasting. Looking at today and deciding that tomorrow is gonna suck. This comes from thoughts like, “If my kid keeps behaving this way ,” or “If they don’t change…” bad things are going to happen. You think they’ll be in trouble down the road, and you feel trapped and afraid. You try to use the present to predict the future.  Mindreading. Trying to assume what other people are thinking based on their behavior. Some common assumptions we make with our kids are that they are manipulating us or that they should know better by now.  “Should” statements. These are rules we have for ourselves. Some of them come from our default thinking, and often there is an “or else” beneath it which creates fear and anxiety. For example, “I should never yell or else I’m a bad mom.” Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Strategies in ParentingA lot of parents have a lot of default, automatic thoughts when it comes to their kids. A lot of their thinking is distorted. It's not necessarily true or factual. When you keep blindly thinking these things, you continue to show up in ways you don't love.Getting to this point is really about normalizing how kids act. What if your chi

The term “accidental neglect” might sound a little harsh, but it also describes what your child experiences when you’re on your phone. You might be disconnecting from your kid without realizing it. Today, I’m talking all about what your child sees and feels when you are on your device and strategies for better phone etiquette around kids.You’ll Learn:Why your kid often bothers or interrupts you when you’re on your phoneHow kids experience your phone useThe difference between real-life and online interruptions4 simple strategies to be more intentional with your tech and connected to your kidAs a society, we really aren't doing our kids a solid by having a distracted parenting experience. It's actually changing our children's nervous systems and their brain patterns. I believe that we can figure out new ways of relating to tech so that we can have a more connected experience for our kids and future generations.Listen to learn how!---------------------------Accidental NeglectEven as an adult, I’ve noticed that I feel a little lonely when I am in a conversation or with someone and they look at their phone. You see them kinda glaze over, and their mind becomes totally consumed with whatever they’re looking at on the screen. And when someone is on their phone, you don't know what they're doing. You don't know if they're responding to a message, reading a news article or playing a game. You can't really see what's on someone else's device.As adults, we can imagine what they might be doing because we also have these online worlds that exist on our devices that we engage with. We can take a guess at when they’re doing and soothe ourselves. Kids who don’t yet have an online life don’t have the ability to go through this mental process and put themselves in your shoes. They have no mental map of that online world. They don’t understand what you’re being drawn to.So, when you are having a conversation with your child, helping them with their homework or playing a board game and you pick up your phone to check a notification, your kid feels rejected. They experience that moment as neglect, even though that’s not your intention. To them, the phone is almost like a sibling that they’re jealous of. When you get distracted, they get dysregulated. Next thing you know, you’re frustrated with your kid and think they’re being rude by interrupting or bothering you when you’re on your phone. You find yourself in a conflict or disciplining them. But in this situation, their nervous system is truly being affected. They feel like they’ve lost connection with you. It’s unsettling, and they don’t know how to deal with it.  Real Life vs. the Online WorldIn real life (aka not online), when there is an interruption, the other person can see what’s happening. There is etiquette that we practice around this. With real-life interruptions, like an in-person conversation or a phone call, your child sees the other person or hears the phone ring, watches you pick it up and hears you speaking to the person on the other end. They experience it along with you. We also usually explain what is happening. We say, “Excuse me for a minute, I need to step outside and talk to my colleague.” You probably give them something else to do, like look at a book or color a picture. We communicate a lot of information and let them occupy themselves. You pause and provide a little mental map so that your child knows what is happening. They don’t see you as absent for an unknown amount of time. Online interruptions are not something your child can embody in this way. It’s nothing they can see or hear. What they see is that you are leaving them, you’re distracted and you seem to drift away. The goal here is not to never be on your phone. That just isn’t realistic for most of us. What I want you to do is begin to practice communicating to your child what it is you're doing. Strategies for Better Phone Etiquette Around KidsKids under 10 years old really don’t have the ability to cognitively connect dots. That’s why it’s so important for you to narrate and communicate what is going on to help your child understand what’s happening. These strategies also help us to have a healthier relationship with our technology, create better boundaries about when we use technology and when we don't and decide on times that we want to fully connect with our kids. Retrain your brain. The pings and dings coming from your phone create a sense of urgency to respond. But that urgency is fake. Very few things actually need your attention right then and there. Slowing down and remembering that this is not an emergency will help you so much. Turn off notifications or put your phone on “do not disturb”. This gives you more power over when you interact with your device. Pause and communicate what’s happening. Let your child know what you’re doing, how long it's going to take and give them a litt

Today on the podcast, registered psychotherapist, art therapist and author Amelia Knott is helping us discover the art of thriving online and sharing ways to reconnect with yourself, your thoughts and your sense of wellbeing.You’ll Learn: Common challenges that result from the online space and being constantly connectedHow to reconcile the good and bad of the internet and social mediaWhat art therapy is and how it helps us connect with ourselves and our needsIdeas for starting your own creative practiceEven (or especially) if you don’t think of yourself as an artist, stick around. This is not like your middle school art class! ----------------------------------Amelia Knott is a Registered Psychotherapist + Art Therapist. She's also an artist, content creator and author. Her book The Art Of Thriving Online was recently published. Her mission is to support people in their mental health by combining psychotherapy, counseling and art making.Art as TherapyAmelia’s passion for this work came from profound experiences as a young person who was given the opportunity to use her creativity to work through significant grief and trauma. She explains that, for many of us, language can feel quite limiting. It can be difficult to put our feelings into words. But art, whether it be writing, collaging, painting, drawing or any other creative medium, allows us to tap into our intuition and deeper parts of ourselves. Art creates another access point to emotional regulation, communication, self soothing and self awareness. It has the capacity to surprise us when we look at something from another vantage point and helps us grapple with two things being true at the same time. Art gives us agency in what type of art we create, what materials we use and what we choose to do with them. It allows us to practice being imperfect without consequences. Whereas a drawing or painting class is focused on teaching a technical skill (and may end up making you feel like you aren’t a creative person at all), art therapy is much more about how the process feels. The final product isn’t so important. It’s about finding meaning in creating it.  Challenges in the Online WorldIn her new book, The Art of Thriving Online, Amelia helps us bring awareness to how our online existence might be impacting us. While we both agree that there is a lot of value to the online space, it also comes with a lot of challenges. In many cases, it messes with our attention, sets an unrealistic standard and gives the sense that the world is more divided, scary and dangerous than it actually is. Pretty much all online platforms, from social media to ecommerce and news websites, are designed to keep us engaged for as long as possible. They’re also designed to make it hard to stop. There’s no limit to what you could discover or feel inspired by, which means there’s also no limit to the things you could miss out on. You could scroll forever, but it often pulls us away from what we truly want and need. Because of this pull and easy access to a screen that is distracting us in 10 different ways at once, our attention is fractured. It becomes hard for us to focus and actually get stuff done, which leads to overwhelm. We’re no longer accustomed to spending time getting a task or set of tasks done all at once. Our nervous systems get activated by the type of information we’re fed online. In an effort to hold our attention, more “captivating” content (i.e. content that is inflammatory, divisive, negative or scary) is usually pushed out more readily than positive and hopeful posts and articles.Comparison is also a huge challenge in the online space, particularly on social media. We’re not just comparing ourselves to people we see in real life (which can be unhealthy already). We’re comparing ourselves to curated, filtered feeds. The pressure we feel to do things differently or better can be devastating. This is a big one in motherhood, especially if moms are isolated.  Defining WellnessWellness means something different for each of us. Amelia talks about helping people become the author of their own definition of wellness. She doesn’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solution. Rather, it’s something we all have to figure out for ourselves. A lot of what we see about wellness online are things that can be sold, performed or shown. But what about creating metrics like how many books you read with your kids this week or how many times you got out into nature?What does it mean for you to be well? How will you know if you’re well? She says, “if we don’t author those definitions for ourselves, then the default is gonna be whatever performs well in an algorithm.” It’s also important to be flexible, give ourselves grace and know that our definition will evolve and change. It’s not a failure if you can’t keep up with a new habit. It might just be a sign

Just like the rest of the body, your brain needs times of attention, focus and activity as well as times of rest. Today, I’m talking about two different networks within the brain and how to toggle between them. It will help you understand how to get your brain to do more and rest better so you can feel more focused and less overwhelmed. You’ll Learn:What the Task Positive Network and Default Mode Network do in your brain and why they’re both importantWhen and how to toggle between the two networksDifferences between neurotypical and ADHD brainsWhy screen free default mode is importantStrategies for getting more high quality rest for your brainYou can apply this to your own life and also use it to understand what’s going on for your kid when you’re trying to get their attention. You’ll learn how to create better quality downtime for yourself and how to help your kids get back on task when it’s time. ----------------------------Understanding The Networks in Your BrainThe two networks we’re talking about today are called the Default Mode Network and Task Positive Network. Default Mode Network (DMN). This network is exactly what it sounds like - it’s our brain’s default. You can think of it as wakeful or active rest. You’re not really thinking about or focusing on anything in particular. Your mind gets to wander. It’s where we daydream and let our imaginations go free. This is the part of the brain that helps integrate what you've learned and take it from short term memory into long term memory. The DMN is not present minded. It helps you relive the past, reflect on things that happened, and also imagine the future. It’s linked with bigger picture thinking.However, this part of your brain can also be a little like a toddler in a toy store. Without any boundaries, it’s going to go everywhere and be really scattered. For many of us, our unchecked brain defaults to a negative perspective. We get into fear-based and anxious overthinking or ruminating. You might find yourself over-processing the past and anticipating the future. So instead of the daydreaming creating a happy, relaxed state, you end up spiraling into negative anguish. The DMN can be a very positive place if we harness it a little bit. We can train our brain to make this network a really safe, fun place to be (more on that later). Task Positive Network (TPN). This is the network where your brain is very active, and you’re doing tasks that require your conscious attention. Here, you’re processing sensory input, working with your short-term memory, thinking abstractly and solving problems. As a parent, you spend a lot of time in the Task Positive Network throughout the day. You’re focused on all sorts of tasks - scheduling, meal planning and preparation, keeping up with homework and school papers, and so many other pieces. Your brain goes into overload, and you end up feeling overwhelmed or burned out. At its best, TPN is sometimes also called “flow”. It’s when you are really focused on what you’re doing and tuning out everything else. The brain loves to be in TPN and this flow state, but it takes a lot of work to stay there, and it’s easy to get distracted. If you see a person with ADHD, anxiety or depression, they often say things like, “I can’t even think straight,” “I can’t seem to get anything done.” This is probably because they aren't able to stay in TPN long enough to achieve something. This distractibility is becoming more and more common, even in people without ADHD, because as a society, we’re spending less time in the TPN. It’s like a muscle that we need to train so that we can stay on track. Some things that pull us out of TPN are boredom and input from the environment like phone notifications or kids interrupting your flow.  Get Your Brain to Do More and Rest Better with TogglingThe neural network in your brain works a little like a seesaw. It toggles between on-task and off-task or between inattention, default attention and intentional attention. Our goal is to have a little more control about when we go back and forth between the two networks and to be able to spend longer periods of time in each. We want to be in control of what our brain is doing and regulate ourselves. In a neurotypical brain, when one network is up, the other is down. With an ADHD brain, the Default Mode Network is more powerful. It shouts louder than the Task Positive Network, so it is much harder to switch into TPN and stay there. However, if the ADHD brain is able to get to TPN, they can stay there much longer. The first step in gaining more intentional control over your brain is noticing and being more aware. Getting into TPN is more difficult when you’re mentally overloaded, fatigued or stressed. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or easily distracted, it’s a good sign that you need to focus on getting some quality rest time before trying to get back to tasks.&nbs

In this episode I'm talking about what I call the screentime dilemma - basically the overwhelm and frustration you feel around figuring out screens. I’m helping you understand why it feels so hard and why it actually falls outside of your wheelhouse as a parent. You’ll Learn:Why figuring out screentime is so confusingHow screentime is following in the footsteps of driving, smoking and dietary recommendationsCurrent best practices for kids and screensWhat I’d do about screens if I ran the governmentWith tech and screens, we’re all making it up as we go along. And - news flash! - it’s not working out very well. Listen to learn how to handle this confusing topic in your family.-----------------------------------There are a lot of areas of parenting where you know what’s best. Adults need about 8 hours of sleep every night. You shouldn’t eat a bunch of sugar at every meal. Your kid can’t drive until they have a license. For these things, there are laws or guidelines that give you a mental map for how things should go.The Screentime DilemmaIn my opinion, screentime limits are a little above our pay grade as moms. It’s kinda the Wild West of parenting, because there aren’t a lot of guidelines or oversight. So, you have to be the sheriff in a house full of robbers that want it all the time. You don’t really know what the rules are supposed to be or how to enforce them. There’s no Surgeon General’s warning or food pyramid of screens. And you’re (probably) not an expert on childhood development and the human brain.So we, as regular people, are left trying to figure out what’s normal and what’s best for our kids. No wonder you’re overwhelmed!Guidelines in Our SocietyIn this little history lesson of rules and guidelines in our American society, you’ll see that when something new comes around, it takes almost an entire generation to set clear rules around it. And until the government realizes that something is causing a problem or that our kids need to be protected, we’re pretty much on our own.  Here are a few examples…Cars. The first car was invented by Carl Benz in 1886. It was 20 years before states slowly started to require a driver's license, and it was even longer before age restrictions came into play. It was 30 years before the first stop sign was installed and 66 years until the seat belt was created. 70 years after the first car, driver’s licenses were required nationwide in the United States.In the beginning, there were no rules or restrictions, and now there are a lot. As a society, we agree that an 8-year-old shouldn’t drive a car. We’ve decided that somewhere around 16 or 17, people are mature enough to handle a vehicle, but we don’t yet know how old someone should be to handle the internet.Food. Prior to the 1960s, most food was prepared at home with basic ingredients. After World War II ended, manufacturing shifted from creating machinery and supplies for the war to machinery for the home and agriculture. The way we processed, stored and distributed food changed. More cheap, processed foods solved the problem of there not being enough food to go around, but we also created poorer quality food in order to get it to more people. 20 to 30 years later, the Surgeon General started to notice that nutrition and health were decreasing in our society, and chronic diseases were on the rise. Mandatory nutrition labeling on all packaged food went into effect in the 1990s, but a lot of consumers didn’t really know much about carbs, fiber, sugar or calories, so they created food guides.When I was a kid, we had the 4 basic food groups as our guideline. Then came the pyramid, which was just confusing, and now we have the simplified “My Plate” model. The purpose of these is to help you, the consumer, make an informed decision about what food you are serving to yourself and your family. I think that this is what technology guidelines will ultimately look like - the “My Plate” of screentime. The government essentially says, “Here’s all the food at the market. You can have it all, but these are the best practices for your children.”Smoking. The technology and agricultural revolution also made cigarettes easier to get, so more people started smoking. Again, the government started to see the impact on health in the form of a lung cancer epidemic. When the evidence became so clear it could not be ignored or denied, more rules came in.First, we saw the Surgeon General’s warning published in 1964 and added to labels the following year. TV and radio advertising were banned and age limits were put into place. Screentime Best PracticesThe Internet has been around for about 20 years now (more intensely since smartphones became common), and we’re starting to see that there is foundational harm to kids. They are deprived socially, sleep is impacted, attention is fragmented and it creates addictive tendencies. The good news is that answers are coming. The Surgeon General of the U

One of my kids has pretty severe ADHD. When he was younger, it showed up a lot in the form of hyperactivity and impulse control. The challenges have evolved as he’s gotten older. Today, I’m talking about my experience of parenting a kid with ADHD and sharing what I’ve learned along the way.You’ll Learn:Why ADHD is about way more than behaviorsWhat it’s like to experience our modern world with an ADHD brainHow societal expectations for order can clash with the spontaneous and creative nature of those with ADHD.What ADHD brains need and how to give it to your kidI’m not an expert on ADHD. I’m a parent who’s been there, and I’ve helped lots of other parents navigate life with a neurodivergent kid, too. Listen in to learn strategies you can use to help your kid and work with their unique brain.-----------------------------------Rethinking ADHDMy goal is to help you understand ADHD more, because the more you understand, the more you can help your child understand. The more you understand what's going on for them, the more compassion you'll have and then the less critical you will be. When someone is neurotypical, it simply means that their brain is developing in a typical way, they’re hitting common milestones, etc. With a neurodivergent brain, a child will hit milestones at a different pace, and different challenges will come up. Their development is diverging from the typical path.It's important that you don't compare your child's development with their peers who are neurotypical. Instead, you want to compare your child's development to themselves - their past self to their present self and their future self. The sooner you're able to recognize that they're on their own timetable, the less frustrated you'll be when you see some of the traits and behaviors that come up with ADHD. The ADHD ExperienceThe main three features of ADHD are attention deficit, impulse control issues and hyperactivity. Imagine being in a really crowded room, and everyone around you is talking all at once. No one's talking to you, but you're hearing everybody talking. Then, somebody suddenly asks you what the person next to you just said. You would have no idea, because you weren't listening to that one person. You were listening to the entire room speak. When there’s a lot of stimulation, noise or activity, an ADHD brain can’t figure out what it’s supposed to be paying attention to. This is the “attention deficit” piece. Overstimulation is very overwhelming for someone with ADHD. Attention deficit can also look like someone putting their attention on the “wrong” thing. And it’s difficult for an ADHD brain to change direction once it gets going. It’s like a train stuck rolling down a track, but it’s not the track that we want it to be on. We want them to slow down or change direction, but the braking system is very difficult to activate. Impulse control is also common with ADHD. These kids might have more trouble with delaying gratification, procrastinating, understanding how time works or creating a plan or sequence of events.Hyperactivity can also be thought of as hyper-arousal. In daily life, you might notice behaviors like:Missing details or making careless mistakesNot staying on taskSeeming to not hear when spoken toTrouble organizing tasks or creating orderLosing things easilyBeing easily distracted or forgetful in daily activitiesRestlessness, getting out of their seat, always on the goTalking excessively, interrupting or blurting out answers in schoolTrouble waiting to take turnsAvoiding tasks that take a lot of mental effortAll of these behaviors are common, to some degree, in young kids. When we see traits that are atypical for their age (i.e. most other kids their age have outgrown them), that’s when we think something else might be going on. Encouraging Positive Self-ConceptA lot of kids who grow up with ADHD end up with a negative self concept. They might be labeled as lazy, stupid, a troublemaker or problem child. They’re told that they aren’t reaching their full potential or that they’re too much. The child then often feels isolated, misunderstood, broken or like they just plain suck. They go into adulthood with a collection of negative thoughts about themselves. I don’t want your kid to spend their 20s and 30s healing from that (and I know you don’t either). Instead, we want to give them the awareness, positive mindset, tools and coping skills they need to grow into emotionally healthy adults.The way Brené Brown explains the difference between shame and guilt is a helpful example here. Guilt is recognizing that you did something wrong. It’s external. Shame is when you internalize that and make it about who you are. It is internal.It’s the difference between, “I did something wrong,” and “I am wrong.”The same concept can be applied to the ADHD brain. We want to help our kids understand that their brain is driving their behavior, but ADHD is not who they

A manifesto is a list of principles to help guide you how you want to live each day. Maybe you’ve made one before and didn’t even realize it. Today I’m sharing my parenting manifesto and showing you how to create one of your own.You’ll Learn:What a manifesto is and why it is so helpful in parentingThe commitments behind my parenting manifestoWhat I would add or change if I wrote mine over againHow to create and use your own parenting manifestoI first went through the process of creating a manifesto in a business coaching program years ago. And I realized that, if raising my children is the most important thing in the world to me, I also wanted to have a list of principles to commit to as a parent. ----------------------------------The Calm Mama ManifestoThis manifesto is included in the Calm Mama Handbook that all of my clients get. You can also click here to download a printable PDF.This particular manifesto is not our family’s. It is mine. This is what I wanted to commit to as my kids’ mom. It’s also represents what I help other moms do inside my programs. Parenting is my opportunity for growth. I wanted to look at this experience of raising children as an opportunity to become a more whole and healed person. To invite learning in and not fight against the obstacles that come with parenting. Demonstrate love without condition, no matter what they say or do. I didn't want to be a parent that only showed love, kindness or care to my kids when they were being good. I would not just love my kids. I would demonstrate that love, and I would never pull it away. Listen with curiosity and compassion. I wanted to commit to listening to my children and being curious about their lives, their thoughts and their interests. I chose to think that they are really interesting people and to listen to them because I want to get to know them. I also wanted to listen with compassion to understand what is driving their behavior.Model work, play and rest. I wanted to be a parent who showed them what hard work looked like. I also actively chose to be a playful parent and bring in strategies that teachers would use to connect and play with kids. And I let my children see me rest. Provide. I always say that you can give your kids access and opportunity, but you can’t make them take the opportunity. My manifesto includes providing food, shelter, education, opportunity, support, advice, guidance, modeling and love. Take care of myself so they don’t have to.  My mom didn't always really take good care of herself, and she allowed her health to deteriorate, which created problems for me in adulthood. I decided I was going to be healthy and strong. I would eat well, move my body, manage my stress, have a good social life and have meaning and purpose in my life. Be comfortable with my kid’s discomfort.  No matter what is going on for them, no matter how overwhelmed or stressed or sad or mad or hurt or confused they are, I am going to be okay with the mess that they bring to me. I'm not going to let it rile me up or tip me over. I’ll be the anchor in a storm of their life. Show up for them, not for me. I didn't want to make their life about myself. I wanted to parent for them; not because I got something out of it. They have a whole life and a whole set of choices that I actually don't control. I'm letting myself be okay with that.Respect myself and my boundaries. I believe that what I want is valuable and important, and I am worthy of my boundary. I don't have to wait for my children to respect me in order to feel respected.Be forgiving, and admit when I am wrong. I will forgive my kids when they make mistakes and not hold it against them. When I’ve done something wrong, I will admit it. Speak kindly. I don't swear at my children. I don't insult them. I don't criticize them. I'm not mean. I wanted to speak kindly and patiently and lovingly as much as I possibly could.Be 100% honest. I still let my kids believe in fantastical childhood things, but I wasn’t a sneaky mom. I decided to tell it like it is when tough things were going on in our lives. If they ask me a question, I give them an honest answer. Radical love, radical grace, radical listening. I am willing to go above and beyond to show love where it doesn't even make sense anymore. I'm willing to give grace, the benefit of the doubt, forgiveness and mercy. I listen on a deep level to what my kids are saying (and not saying) without judgment. Let them make mistakes. I actively chose to let my kids fail (and they have). I let them make mistakes and then let them fix those mistakes. See them as they are and allow them to change. It’s hard for a lot of parents to parent the kid in front of you - not the one you wish you had or the one you’re afraid they’ll become. Meet them where they are. Observe the behavior rather than judging. Then, le

Today on the podcast, I am interviewing Tracey Yokas, the author of Bloodlines: A Memoir of Harm and Healing. She is here to share her experience of navigating a teen mental health crisis with her own daughter, including the struggles and what she learned through the process that helped them both cope and heal. You’ll Learn:The true cause of eating disorders (it goes much deeper than you might think)A mindset flip to help you navigate hard timesWhy addressing the behavior is not a long-term solutionHow to support yourself so you can show up for your child when they’re strugglingToday, 10 years later, Tracey’s daughter, Faith, is healthy, and they have a beautiful relationship. I think you’ll love this conversation about compassion, sitting with your child in the struggle, hope and much more.---------------------------------Prior to writing her recent book, Tracy earned her master's degree in counseling psychology, and she lives in Newbury Park, California with her family, her cats and her fish. And when she's not writing about mental health, she can be found playing with paint, glitter, and glue. She loves to bring people together through art in order to help women in their journey towards authenticity. A Teen in CrisisI’ve described Tracey’s book as a story about healing from grief. In this case, Tracey’s mom passed away suddenly. Her daughter, Faith, had been close to her grandmother, and her grief showed up in the form of eating disorder, self harm, depression and anxiety. Faith’s first symptom appeared about three weeks after Tracey’s mom died. She suddenly wasn’t as hungry as she usually was. She began eating less, and that quickly escalated into not wanting to eat anything at all. Tracey knew pretty quickly that she was not consuming enough food to stay healthy. Faith also started doing self harm in the form of cutting.Tracey describes the overall experience of this time as devastating. Their lives were “normal”. Then, it was like a switch was flipped and it no longer was. It was isolating, terrifying, as if the rug had been pulled out from under their feet. Tracey withdrew from her friends and activities and committed (to an unhealthy degree) to her daughter’s recovery. She did the research, read the books, went to the appointments - did everything she could to try to solve the problem. She now sees that she was operating under a lot of false assumptions about what she was supposed to do and how she was supposed to be. And wounds from earlier in her own life were exacerbated by this perceived loss of control over her family’s well being. There were so many pieces that came together to heal Faith, Tracey and the rest of their family, including residential treatment, individual, couple and family therapy. Tracey says that, for them, learning to truly understand compassion between human beings was a “hugely life changing” part of the process. Unhealthy Coping StrategiesAs we talk about so often on this podcast, all behavior is a strategy to communicate, cope, or change our circumstance. Tracey’s story is no different. Through this crisis, she learned that eating disorders are really about someone struggling in their own life with powerlessness, control issues and low self esteem. It’s much deeper and more complicated than wanting to look thinner. In the book, she says, “Eating disorders are an unhealthy attempt to change low self esteem, and their coping mechanism for being terrified of not measuring up.”Often, eating disorder and self harm behaviors like cutting go hand-in-hand. You might see someone get into healthier eating habits, but then the cutting resurfaces, or vice versa. It’s an attempt to replace one coping strategy with another. Symptoms keep popping up because there is a deeper root cause that hasn’t been healed. When you understand that disordered eating, self harm or other symptoms are a strategy for something that's going on inside, you can realize that it's not against you as the parent. It's not personal. It's not because you did something wrong. Tracey shares that, looking back, she thinks it did her family a disservice to be so hyper-focused on the behavior. This is easy to do because the behavior is what you see. It is what scares and overwhelms you. But it’s also easy to get lost in the behavior (the symptom) and lose sight of compassion for the deeper struggle.  Navigating a Teen Mental Health CrisisWhen Tracey saw her daughter suffering in this way, she says she hit an emotional rock bottom. The baggage she’d been carrying with her throughout her life came to the surface. She realized that she couldn’t actually control anyone but herself. As a mom, you’re going to want to eliminate the pain for your child. You want to fix things for them. But you can only actually do your own work. Tracey breaks down her healing journey into three parts: self care, self trust and self love. Self care. Tracey shares t

Today on Become A Calm Mama, you get double the parent coaches! My guest, Eileen Devine, specializes in supporting parents who are raising kids with neurobehavioral conditions. Signs that your child might be struggling with a neurobehavioral conditionCommon challenges for kids with neurobehavioral conditions and their parentsEileen’s favorite mantra for difficult moments3 key factors to find strategies that work for your kid’s brainListen as Eileen’s shares her “brain first” approach to parenting, along with practical strategies to support your child and yourself as you figure out what works best for your kid’s unique brain.--------------------------------If your child is experiencing a neurobehavioral condition or if you’re seeing behavior that seems really out of bounds, extreme or scary, this episode will give you hope and tools for a calmer future.Eileen Devine works in Portland, OR as a therapist and coach supporting parents of children with special needs. Eileen has over 15 years of clinical experience and is the adoptive mother of a child with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a serious neurobehavioral condition. She believes that when we understand the way a child's brain works, we then understand the meaning behind challenging behaviors. You’ve probably heard me say that feelings drive behavior. Eileen will show you how the way your child’s brain interprets the world influences their behavior, too.  What Are Neurobehavioral Conditions?Simply put, neurobehavioral conditions happen when someone’s brain works differently. As a result, a person experiences the world differently than society expects, and it can show up in behaviors. There are a lot of reasons why this can happen (sometimes we know the reason, and sometimes we don’t). There might be a medical diagnosis of ADHD, autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or prenatal or postnatal trauma. Neurobehavioral conditions can also show up in kids with neuroimmune conditions, brain inflammation or rare seizure disorders. Eileen explains that, while some parents get a clear diagnosis or explanation of the cause of their child’s condition, not all do. And it can be discouraging for parents to relentlessly search for a diagnosis, thinking it will tell them everything they need to know.The fact is that all of these diagnoses point to the brain, and no matter the cause, you need to work with the symptoms to see behavioral change. Parenting Mindset Shifts The behaviors that come with neurobehavioral conditions can be really challenging for parents. You might struggle with deeply held beliefs about what it looks like to parent a child of a certain age. It’s easy to become reactive when your child is rigid in their thoughts or lacks tolerance for minor frustrations or can’t understand other people’s perspectives. You might even make that leap that these are more than behaviors - they are your kid’s character. It’s scary to think that your child isn’t growing into a good person.But your child is not their behavior. And with these brain-based differences, it will be necessary to make certain accommodations. A major mind shift that Eileen helps her clients make is realizing that these behaviors are not because your child doesn’t care. They’re not lazy. They’re not manipulating you. They might simply be in an environment or have expectations on them that they don’t have the skills to meet right now. Some other mindset shifts that Eileen loves can also be used as mantras when you’re in a difficult moment:My child would be doing better if they could.This is as hard as I think it is. And also, I’m going to be okay.Stay soft. I am dealing with this.Another major shift comes when you can fully accept who your child is. From this place, you can begin to set yourself up so that you have the endurance to parent your unique child for the remainder of their life, even when many people in our society won’t understand. A Brain First Approach to ParentingIt’s one thing to understand that your child’s brain works differently. It’s another thing entirely to figure out how to manage your relationship and their behaviors on a daily basis. The brain first lens is really two sides of the same coin. One side is about your kid’s neurobiology, how their brain works differently and their fragile nervous system. The other side is about regulating your own nervous system.Just as we start with Calm and taking a pause break in the Calm Mama world, Eileen encourages parents to take a second between their initial, visceral reaction and what they do next. As long as everyone is safe, focus on calming yourself.She says, “It really is a waste of a parent's precious and limited energy to try to do anything else except to regulate their own nervous system.” Stop talking, stop reacting. Give yourself permission and however much time it takes to regulate yourself so that you can come back and l

Recently, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory saying that parents aren’t ok. There’s a lot that goes into raising emotionally healthy kids, and a huge part of it is your own mental health, including how you handle stress and negative emotions. In today’s episode, I’m breaking down this 36-page advisory and sharing some of the highlights (or lowlights) of the report in simple terms.You’ll Learn:Why parents are so stressed out (it’s not just you)The problems with parent stressThe Surgeon General’s recommendations for supporting parents in our societyWhat you can do to better manage your stressI find it encouraging that someone in a position to make change is acknowledging this problem. And I hope that as I talk about the issue of parent stress, you feel seen and it helps you understand what’s going on for you. ------------------------------------Why is Stress a Problem for Parents?Your mental health affects the well-being of your children. When you have a lot of stress in your life, particularly if it is severe or prolonged, it’s going to have an effect on you. And the way you handle it is going to affect your kid.If you’re dumping your stress or negative emotions on your kid, emotionally checking out or not doing things that need to be done because you’re overwhelmed, it might create a problem for your child. The Surgeon General says, “The stresses parents and caregivers have today are being passed to children in direct and indirect ways, impacting families and communities across America.”We live in a society and parenting culture where stress is pervasive. And this stress on parents impacts the health and well-being of our entire society.  The Parents Aren’t OkAs I outline these different types of practical, mental and emotional stress, you might relate to some and not others. Notice what is causing you the most stress right now. Parenting itself is stressful. We’ve known this forever, right? You’ll experience different stressors during different developmental stages, but they all have their own challenges. I talked more about the 3 stages of parenting on the podcast a few weeks ago.Money and financial strain. Financial worries continue to be a top stressor among parents. We likely all feel some level of financial insecurity, if not for ourselves then for our kids’ futures. And if your family struggles to even meet your child's basic needs, pay for child care costs, and provide for health and education expenses, the stress is more intense. Time. The amount of time parents spend directly caring for their kids has increased significantly in the past 40-ish years, but we still have the same number of hours in the day. When you’re trying to balance work, kids, aging parents, and other responsibilities, of course you’re feeling conflicted, guilty and burned out.Mental load. There's a significant amount of mental labor involved with parenting - Balancing complex schedules, anticipating your kid’s needs, making hundreds of decisions a day on behalf of them, monitoring their progress. When so much mental capacity goes to your kid, there isn’t a lot left to focus on other things. It can negatively impact your own cognitive functioning and psychological well-being. Because when you are consumed by thinking about someone else's well-being, you're not thinking about yours. This is one of the big reasons why self-care is so hard for moms. Fears about your kid’s mental and physical health & safety. We see that our kids are vulnerable, and it’s scary. From gun violence to drugs and alcohol and bullying. There are a lot of safety concerns. Plus, the report shares that “nearly 3-in-4 parents are extremely or somewhat worried that their child will struggle with anxiety or depression.”Concerns and confusion over tech & social media. According to the advisory, “Nearly 70% of parents say parenting is now more difficult than it was 20 years ago, with children’s use of technology and social media as the top two cited reasons.”Cultural Pressure. It’s very common for parents to perceive that everybody else is doing it right, and you're doing it wrong. You might think there’s some standard or expectation that you aren’t meeting. These might come from culture, comparing yourself with other moms, your own parents, etc.Our children’s future. We don’t understand the future. Things are changing so quickly, and we don’t know how to set our kids up for success. You cannot prepare your child for everything in the future, and trying to do so leads to burnout. Parental Isolation and Loneliness: The Surgeon General states that, “Social isolation and lack of social support can lead to heightened stress.” When you are alone and you feel like you're not doing a good job, you're going to feel more stressed. You’ll think you need to do more, do better, and this just leads to burnout. Let me be clear: If you're feeling s

Today I’m talking about Venmo moms, volunteer moms and everything in between. If you haven’t heard of a “Venmo mom”, it’s a term that’s been going around on TikTok and Instagram lately. Essentially, a Venmo mom is someone who isn't really interested in being a hands-on volunteer with their kid’s school, team, etc. They wanna just send some money to support those programs. You’ll Learn:Why Venmo moms and volunteer moms may not be so different from each otherThe good, bad and ugly of volunteeringWhy there’s so much mama drama, especially in the elementary school yearsHow to start showing up as whatever kind of mom you want to beIn my opinion, one is not better than the other, but we can learn something from both approaches.---------------------------Venmo MomsI recently saw a TikTok from @nealfamilychaos, who was talking about how she doesn’t want to do all the hands-on stuff, but when she just sends cash, she feels judged by other parents who volunteer a lot. She said, “I don't want to be on PTO, PTA, room mom, team mom. I don't want to do any of that.” And she said that she feels really stressed when they start asking for volunteers. Her video went viral, and there were a lot of comments from other moms who felt the same way. Even moms who do volunteer shared how much they appreciate the moms who send in money. There’s a place for everyone. It's easy to compare yourself to other moms and to judge yourself or think that other people are judging you. But the truth is that there are so many ways to be a mom, and we all have different capacities and amounts of time, energy and money. I love this TikTok mom for owning her own story and reality. She’s okay with who she is and the way she’s willing (and not willing) to contribute. You can let your no be no - No, thank you. I'm not interested. I'm not available. I'm not open to volunteering this year. That's not gonna work for me. And just let that be okay. You're doing your best. You're doing what is right for your family, what works for your kids or you or your finances or your time or your energy. You don’t owe anyone an explanation.  Volunteer MomsThere are benefits to being involved, on the inside and having some influence, but it can also come with a lot of demands, pressure and time. I’ve been the volunteer mom at certain stages. The first year my oldest son was in elementary school, I really didn’t know anything about our Parent Faculty Association, and I didn’t want to do anything. Over time, I started to get more involved. I became a room parent, started to take on some leadership roles and eventually became the president of our PFA. There’s a lot of unpaid labor in the mom world, and this video really made me think about all the things we’re paying for - either with our money, our time or both. It brought up some questions for me that you can use to determine where you want your time, energy and dollars to go. Is it necessary? Maybe we don’t actually need to be doing all this stuff for our kids. Maybe we don’t need a special treat after every soccer game. Some of the things that have become expected or the norm really might not be necessary at all. And by overparenting, we’re creating too much work for ourselves. How can we distribute the workload? Of course, some things are necessary. It’s not fair for the stay-at-home parent or the primary parent to be giving all of their time and energy to the school. It’s a huge sacrifice. Can we outsource or do things in a different way that puts less burden on the parents? It’s not really cool that we’ve built a society that is dependent on the unpaid labor of parents. If there’s a group of parents who are willing to give money but don’t want to volunteer, can they hire someone to do what needs to be done? What are you getting out of it? Personally, I got a lot out of volunteering when my kids were in elementary school. I got to know the teacher really well, along with the other kids in the class. I met some of the other parents and got to connect with them. I grew in my leadership, relational skills, problem solving, decision making and conflict resolution. I learned Google Docs and how to manage a huge budget. Ask yourself what you want from your volunteer experience (if you choose to get involved). Maybe you want a challenge or to meet new people. There are growth opportunities there if you’re willing and able to pay the cost in time and energy.  Creating a No-Judgment ZoneThe ugly parts come in when the drama begins. This can be true of any organization, but seems even more intense with elementary school moms because there are so many expectations, hopes, dreams, needs & fears they have for their kids and the school experience. When you put a lot of that anxious, perfectionist energy together, there’s going to be some drama and chaos. Venmo moms aren’t the only ones who face judgment. Ther

I’ve just dropped off my youngest son at college. And rather than focus on my home being an empty nest, I like to think of it as my roomier nest. You’ll Learn:How to find the wisdom in procrastinationThe different ways feelings show up in our bodies and mindsMy take on an empty nestWhat I want out of this next stageI hope that by sharing my story and perspective, you’ll feel less alone and understand what we’re really going through during this time. ---------------------------My Roomier Nest StoryOn Sawyer’s drop-off day, I really didn’t know how I would feel. I didn’t start the day in my big feelings, but I recognized that I’d been finding ways to procrastinate and avoid this day all summer. I really didn’t want to even think about him leaving. Even as the time grew closer, I kept myself busy with the practical pieces, the shopping, the planning.When move-in day came, I noticed that I was grumpy and testy, which is unusual for me. When I got in my car after a physical therapy appointment, I suddenly felt so sick - nauseous and heavy, like I’d been punched in the stomach. The closest name I could give the emotion was dread. But it wasn’t in my head. It was fully in my body. Something in my very core did not feel good. As soon as I got home, I started to cry really hard. I pulled it together for an amazing call with the Calm Mama Club, and when I got off of Zoom, I went numb. I kept going through the motions of running errands, packing up the car and riding to Santa Barbara. But through the whole drive, I could tell that my nervous system was on fire. I didn’t feel safe. I was anxious and on edge. I was breathing quickly and sweating. Again, it was such a physiological reaction. We got him moved in and met up with my older son for dinner. Afterward, it was time for Sawyer to go to an orientation meeting and start his dorm life. There wasn’t really a reason for us to go back with him, so we said goodbye in front of the sushi restaurant and he drove away. It wasn’t how I pictured it. I thought we’d go back to his dorm, I’d take some pictures, we’d have some more time. As my husband and I started driving home, I wasn’t having a ton of feelings and I got really chatty (the opposite of my reaction when we left Lincoln at school the year before). But as we took the exit toward our house, my body went haywire. I got this overwhelming feeling in my stomach. Without getting too graphic, I made it home and spent the next 2 hours in the bathroom. It was like a physiological grief. I wasn’t thinking my feelings. I was feeling them fully in my body. To be honest, all of this was a bit of a shock to me. I hadn’t been feeling much. I thought I was okay. But the body never lies. We store stress in our bodies, and our bodies communicate with us. Finally, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I felt like someone had died. It was a deep, deep grief. My past experiences of grief have been physiological, too. I get very tired and achy. I need to be cozy in my bed. So that’s what I’ve been doing - getting up for the must-dos of my day and then retreating back to my bed.All of this to say, your reaction to this change may not be what you expected. It might sneak up on you or show up in a surprising way. Whatever you feel and however those feelings come up are okay. A New StageMy youngest son moving out marks the end of my motherhood years. Some part of my identity and my existence has ended. I need to allow this chapter of my life to come to a close.I loved raising kids, and the experience changed me on a deep level. I’ve used this opportunity to become aware, heal, evaluate and grow. Of course, I’m still a mom. But my kids are adults. They’re grown, and I am about to embark on a new journey.In order to move on, we have to allow ourselves to grieve. To let go of motherhood as we’ve known it so far and make room for the next stage. You can grieve and feel sorrow while also holding hope for what’s next.I’m calling my next stage the roomier nest. With more room in my home and my life, I’ll have more time, energy and capacity to love my children and love myself more deeply. To use the metaphor of our kids’ lives being a sporting event, I no longer have a courtside seat, but I can’t wait to hear the recap. I love hearing their stories and what’s going on in their lives. And I’ve realized that I want even more than that. I want them to come to me before the game and share their strategy. Tell me what they’re thinking and the decisions they’re going to make. I want to be their sounding board and mentor. In order to make that happen, I have to step back further and further. I have to let go and be okay with the transition we’re experiencing so that I can create space for what’s next. I think this is what we all want. The end goal isn’t just to launch our kids into adulthood. We also want to have amazing relationships with them when

Over the course of my experience being a mom and coaching hundreds of other moms, I’ve noticed 3 distinct stages of motherhood. No matter what stage you’re in right now, I want you to feel seen and understand more about why you feel the way you feel. In this episode, I’ll explain these stages and give practical advice for surviving the 3 stages of motherhood.You’ll Learn:The 3 stages of motherhoodHow to get a break when your body is exhausted and your brain is overwhelmedMy favorite tool to soothe your heart during the tween and teen yearsNone of these stages lasts forever, and there are things you can do to support yourself along the way.-------------------------------The Body StageIn the first 6 years of your kid’s life, parenting is very, very physical. Your kid is all over your body, wanting to be held, holding your hand, just wanting to be close to you. You’re using your body a lot so you’re physically drained, but you might also feel really bored at times because it’s not that mentally stimulating. When I was in this stage, all I wanted was a place where I could lay down and not have anybody touching my body. If you’re in this stage now, the goal is to take excellent care of your body. I’m not talking about fitness or the size or strength of your body. The key is thinking about how to rest your body and take care of it in a way that feels really good to you. Maybe it’s taking a long shower or bath, getting a massage, watching TV or laying down in the afternoon while your kid is napping. Be gracious with yourself. Of course you're tired. Of course you need rest. If you have the resources, you can also think about getting a babysitter for just a few hours a week so that you have a bit of a break. A family member or friend might be willing to help you out with this, too. The Mind StageWhen your kid is between 6-12 years old, you move into the mind stage. These years feel like a jigsaw puzzle of scheduling. You're trying to figure out how to get dinner on the table, get homework done, manage appointments and schoolwork and get your kids to the practices or activities that they need to get to.With your kids, this is also a time when you’re doing a lot of teaching and talking. They have questions. They want to complain and problem solve with you. The mental load during these years is huge. Your mind is going to be taxed during these years, so you need to figure out how to take mental breaks. What can you do to just relax and have fun? This is a great stage to spend more time with other moms. Maybe you love to read or want to do something creative or artistic. Maybe you just want to mindlessly watch Love Island for hours. No judgment here!If you’re at home during the day, taking a break before the kids get home from school will help you feel recharged and ready for the problems, sibling squabbles, homework, activities, etc. that start when they come in the door. The Heart StageWhen your kid gets into middle school and high school, you enter a stage where your heart is concerned for them all the time. It feels existential. It feels scary. It feels like you don't have as much power or control. Your kid is making decisions. They're creating new friendships. They're away from you a lot more, often for longer periods of time. This is the stage that I’m reaching the end of right now. My heart is so tender. I feel for myself. I get scared sometimes. I get overwhelmed. I get angry. I get worried. I have a lot of emotions. And I also feel for my kids as they go through all these hard stages of life. It feels like the only thing that’s really left at this stage is your heart connection with your kid. It’s beautiful, but it can also be heartbreaking. You’ll need to soothe your own heart a lot through this period of time.My favorite strategy in this stage is to practice a Positive Parenting Vision. Think about the future, and imagine the best case scenario that you want for your child. Hold a vision that they are going to grow and overcome and become whoever they're meant to be.If they're making mistakes right now, imagine them overcoming and learning from these mistakes. If they're struggling with something socially, emotionally or academically, imagine them getting the resources they need and overcoming, becoming that next version of themselves. It used to feel like I had a front row seat to my kids’ lives. Now, I’m not even in the building. I get the highlight reel after the game is over. When I start to worry, I go back to that positive parenting vision. Other ways to support yourself during this stage are to rely on friends and create hobbies or interests outside of motherhood. Focus on things that bring you satisfaction and joy so that when the “empty nest” time comes, you won’t feel so empty. Take care of your heart. Tend to it. Talk about it. Get support. Talk to other parents who are going through it. Find new interests and hobbies so that yo

It’s that time of year, so I’m back with an encore episode sharing my top 5 back to school tips. In this episode, you’ll find strategies (and a few reality checks) for a smooth transition into the new school year. You’ll Learn:5 challenges that often arise as school starts - and how to handle themThoughts to help you (and your kids) through the back-to-school transitionWhat your #1 job is as a mom in these first weeks of the school yearAn exercise to help you prepare your mindsetThe transition back to school from summer break is definitely a transition. There are special challenges that come up, and I want you to be prepared for the shenanigans that might happen with your kids in the coming weeks. ------------------------------I share these not because I want you to be filled with worry and dread, but because I want you to go into this school year feeling confident, ready and hopeful. And I want you to be able to feel calm when this stuff is happening.  My Top 5 Back To School TipsUnderstand that your kid may not like their teacher. Especially in the beginning and with younger kids, they might feel shy or not want to talk to their teacher. It doesn’t mean anything about your kid or what their year will be like. Quality relationships take time to build, and it’s ok if your kid doesn’t warm up to their teacher right away.Your kids are going to be exhausted the first week of school. Going back to school is really tiring for kids. They’re sitting still, having a lot of sensory input, learning new rules or routines and meeting new people. Keep the afternoons open and be flexible. I love to stay away from screens for the first hour and use this time for connection, outdoor time, or just a rest.Sibling conflict might shoot through the roof during this back to school transition. Try to create special time with your kids by spending 10 minutes or so one-on-one with each kid doing whatever they’re doing. Your kid really needs time to connect with you when they come home, and it is the antidote to sibling conflict and annoying behavior.Social stuff is going to come up. It happens at almost every age. Friendships shift over the summer, and navigating friendships might be hard for your kid. Give it some time and trust that your child is going to find their people, their friend group, and it's going to be okay. Be comfortable with your child's discomfort. When you believe that they’re going to be okay, it’s easier for them to believe it, too.Expect misbehavior to escalate over the next two weeks. Your child is going through a lot and using all their good coping strategies at school all day. When they come home, they can finally relax. And more Big Feeling Cycles (aka tantrums or meltdowns) are likely to happen.  Remember that your kid is using their behavior to communicate or cope with their big feelings. Take a moment to reset your own nervous system and get curious about what’s going on for them. If you can stay calm and practice compassion, your child will be able to move through these feelings more quickly.  Helpful Back To School ThoughtsFeeling calm and confident starts with your thoughts. Here are some of my favorites to use during the first couple weeks of school (as well as other transition periods).This is a transition. You can also add… and transitions are temporary. It will take time to figure out our rhythm and routine. These first couple weeks are a time of curiosity and exploration. What feels difficult? Where’s the friction? What’s working well?I have plenty of time. As you’re figuring out your routines, it might take longer to get out the door in the morning. Dropoff and pickup lines might be long and slow. Give yourself time and permission to figure it out.I don’t have to be perfect today. If you’re stressed because you’re trying to reach an unreasonable “perfect mom” standard, you’ll put pressure on your kids and they will feel it - which leads to acting out and big feelings. My kids are 100% going to master the back to school routine. There’s no timeline here. It will take as long as it takes, but they will get there.Take a few moments to write out a list of thoughts that you want to be thinking during the first week of school. Feel free to borrow mine or come up with your own.  I also want to leave you with the idea that your job is to deliver the calmest, most emotionally regulated kid you can to school in the morning. I call this a gentle handoff. In order to do this, you need to be calm yourself and have realistic expectations for the morning. Your stress is contagious. But so is your positive thinking and calm.You are the leader in your home, in both mindset and operations. Your family WILL figure this out.   Free Resources:Episode 30: Make Mornings EasierEasy Mornings With Kids: The Ultimate Morning Routine RoadmapGet your copy of the Stop Yelling Cheat Shee

It can feel really hard when your kid is unhappy or uncomfortable. It’s easy to blame yourself and feel like you should have done something differently. But your kid’s happiness isn’t your job. In this episode, I’ll explain what I mean by that and how you can help your child process their emotions without trying to solve all their problems for them. You’ll Learn:How much responsibility you have for your kid’s happinessWhy making your kid’s happiness your job might actually be creating other problemsHow to support your child through negative emotion in a way that empowers them to soothe and regulate themselfWe all want our kids to be happy. But what I want even more is for your child to be able to move through any emotion. I want them to be able to be flexible and to have resilience in the face of hardship. To develop those skills and traits, they need to experience discomfort.--------------------------------Motherhood is confusing. There are so many different stages and phases. Babies are so vulnerable. They rely on you for everything. But as kids get older, we have to figure out how to back away, give them more responsibility & freedom, let them grow, change & make mistakes so that they build the skills and resiliency that they need in order to launch into adulthood.One of the biggest skills you can teach your kid is emotional literacy - understanding what they’re feeling, how to express it and what to do with their emotions. Your Kid’s Happiness Isn’t Your JobWe all want our kids to be happy. But what I want even more is for your child to be able to move through any emotion. I want them to be able to be flexible and to have resilience in the face of hardship. To develop those skills and traits, they need to experience discomfort.Often, when your kid is upset or uncomfortable, you go into problem solving mode. You try to figure out how to help them feel better and how to prevent that kind of discomfort in the future. It’s normal not to want your kid to be unhappy, but there are a couple things that happen when you work so hard to prevent it. First, it might keep you from showing up the way you want to and being the emotional coach for your kid. When you think it’s your responsibility to make your kid happy, you might end up thinking negatively about yourself. You might think you’re not a good mom, that you should have planned/done/said something differently. You might see your child’s struggles as being your fault. Or think that you have to work harder and be better. This is a really hard place for you to be. And I want you to know that you don’t have to take on that guilt. Second, you end up paving such an easy path for your child that they don’t have the opportunity to work through problems on their own, which is how they develop resilience and emotional literacy. It simply isn’t possible to prevent all problems and discomfort. Even the most “perfect” parent (not a real thing anyway) cannot prevent unhappy situations from happening. None of us feels happy all the time. Your kid is going to have hard things happen. It’s a part of life. We don’t want them outsourcing their happiness to you or anyone else. Instead, we want them to believe that they have the power to make themself happy even when shitty stuff happens.Your job isn’t to eliminate discomfort for your kid. It is to teach them how to handle it and move through their emotions in a healthy way. Guide them when they are unhappy. Allow them to see that they can handle their feelings, that they know how to feel unhappy and how to shift to a different emotion. How To Support Your Kid’s EmotionsBefore you can coach your kid, you have to shift your own thoughts. If you are thinking, “It’s my fault. I have to fix this,” or other bad thoughts about yourself, you’re going to get dysregulated. You won’t be able to stay calm. If you are judging or blaming yourself for their feelings or you are anxious about their negative emotion, you will likely try to shut down their emotion or rush them through it. You want them to feel better quickly so that you can feel better. But trying to soothe your kid so that you feel better is backwards. Start by soothing yourself so that you can show up for your child as that calm, neutral, compassionate witness. A more helpful thought than, “It’s my job to make my kids happy,” is “It’s my job to make sure my kids can handle all their feelings.” When your kid is upset, sad or disappointed, give time and space for them to feel those uncomfortable feelings. Be in the Big Feeling Cycle with them. Be neutral, show compassion and trust that they will shift out of the negative emotion. Shifting between different pieces of the nervous system takes a little longer for kids because they don’t have the same perspective and experiences that adults have. As an adult, you’ve been through hard things. You know that you can overcome them, and you have a different pers

If you’ve ever thought, “But my kid only listens when I yell,” this is for you. Today, I’m explaining why threats aren’t great when you’re trying to change behavior and what to do instead.You’ll Learn:Why threats might work short-term but aren’t great in the long runThe difference between threats and limits How to set limits that workWhat to do when your kid doesn’t stay within your boundariesIn traditional parenting, fear is often used to pivot a child's behavior. We get mean and harsh and threaten that something bad will happen if they don’t comply. But when you want to raise emotionally healthy kids who think for themselves, you need a different approach. ---------------------------------Why We ThreatenOne reason parents use threats with their kids is simply because it’s what they know. It’s how they were raised.But even for those of us who are practicing a more compassionate approach, threats still creep up.The reason is that when your kid misbehaves, you get into your limbic (emotional) center. You feel frustrated or overwhelmed. Changing the behavior feels like an urgent need, even an emergency. You get into “fix it, change it, stop it, solve it” energy. You want your kid to listen to you and do what you tell them - right now. And when they don’t you might use threats to trigger fear in them and get them to comply. Why Threats Aren’t GreatThe truth is that when we use threats to trigger fear in our children, they are more compliant. It’s effective in changing behavior. However, there is a long-term cost to that short-term gain.Threats put your child into their fight, flight, freeze or fawn instinct, where they are driven by emotion. They feel vulnerable When you’re really upset with your kid and threatening them, it not only triggers a fear of the threat. It can trigger a deeper fear of rejection or abandonment. I don’t want your kids to respond to you because they’re afraid of being hurt, physically or emotionally. The other problem with the command-threat model is that when you tell your kid to stop doing something, their brain doesn’t really know what to do instead. We want to help them move from the limbic center (where everything is driven by emotion) to executive function (where they’re actually thinking). We want them to choose to do what’s in their best interest. By communicating limits, we tell them what we want them to do and help guide their brain toward the behavior we want.  Shifting from Threats to LimitsA limit helps kids understand what is expected of them and what they get when they meet those expectations. In the Calm Mama Process of calm, connect, limit set, correct, you set clear boundaries and then let your child experience what happens when they don’t keep that limit. The goal of limit setting is not to get compliance in the moment. It is to get your kid to think about their actions and start to connect the dots between how they behave and what happens when they behave that way.Here’s how to get started with limits.Step 1: Flip the threat into a limit. Often, when a limit is needed, you’ll see a pattern of behavior that you want to change. Identify the problem and the limit you want to set around it, and communicate it clearly to your child.When you’re first practicing limits, it can help to start by saying it the “wrong” way - like a command along with a threat or a bribe. You might tell them that they need to stop doing something or else something bad will happen. For example, “If you don’t stop fighting with your brother, I’m turning this car around and going home.”Then, shift it slightly to focus on what the child can do or have and what conditions they must meet. For example, “We can go to the park for a playdate as long as there are no problems in the car on the way there.”Step 2: Don’t rescue. Rescuing looks like reminding your kid over and over again or not following through on the limit you set. You are trying to rescue them from the consequence by giving them more chances to comply.Step 3: Follow through on your limit. Let your child experience the impact of their behavior. The first few times you set limits, your kid probably won't believe you. They’ll think it’s just a threat, and they probably won’t listen. In the short term, the behavior might not change. That’s kinda the point. We want them to experience the negative impact of their behavior, because that is how they learn.Step 4: Ride out the big feelings. When you follow through on a limit, your kid won’t like it. They might be sad, mad or disappointed, they might cry or yell. It’s normal for them to have a negative emotion when they experience a negative consequence. Don’t be afraid of their feelings. They will pass. Hold firm on your boundary.  After a few times of experiencing the consequences within the limit, you kid will start to realize that it's in their best interest to listen to you. They won’t

Moms often start the summer feeling energized, encouraged and ready to go! Then around week 6 or 7, the kids are fighting, they never seem happy and everything sucks. This is your late summer pep talk to help you get out of that funk and get through the rest of summer.If you're having a great summer, I love that for you. But if you're struggling, if you're burned out, resentful or overwhelmed, if you're feeling like your kids are out of control, then this is your episode. You’ll Learn:Why this late summer with kids feels so tough (it’s totally normal!)How to get what you want out of the rest of the summerWhat to do when your kid’s behavior has gotten out of controlHow to fit mini breaks into your busy dayI’m giving you 3 strategies to help you reset your body, mind and limits. If you’re feeling crappy about how things are going, your kid is pushing boundaries or you’re just plain exhausted, these are for you.-------------------------------------Believe me when I tell you that you are not the only one feeling this way. We’re in the doldrums of summer, where the initial excitement has worn off but it’s not back-to-school time just yet. Whatever You’ve Done Is EnoughIt’s easy to look around and think that other families have it easier, other moms seem happier and other kids are having more fun. But whatever you’ve done is enough.Whether your kids are home or at camp, no matter what they’re doing, they’re probably going to look back on their summer as being pretty great. Because they’re not at school. Summer is magical for children. There’s fun and late nights and ice cream and maybe a vacation. You don’t have to create some unicorn magical experience for your kid in order to create a good feeling for them. So whatever you've done or whatever you've planned, I want you to sink into the fact that it's enough. Your kids are having a great summer because it's summer. That is enough. Late Summer StrategiesThat being said, there’s some summer left to go, and you might need a little boost to help you through it.This time of the summer can be a great time for a reset. I’m sharing 3 different strategies you can try. Option #1: Mindset ResetThis reset will help you figure out what you want out of the rest of the summer and make it happen.I often talk about chasing feelings, and this is exactly that. How do you want the rest of your summer to feel? How do you want to feel while it’s happening? Personally I have been feeling a bit discouraged, sad and disappointed lately, thinking things like, “This summer was wasted,” and “I didn’t plan well. I didn’t do it right.” So I’m working to shift to a more positive mindset. For the rest of my summer, I’m chasing connection. I want to feel really close to my kids. I’m practicing thoughts like, “I can make family time happen,” “My kids love hanging out with us,” “My kids want to be part of a family,” and “Connection happens in simple ways.”From these thoughts, I’ll decide on some actions I want to take to feel that connection. Then, I’ll ask my kids if they’d be interested in or willing to do those things. If not, we’ll brainstorm together and come up with some new ideas. Choose the feeling you want to chase, come up with some thoughts that will help you feel that way and make a list of actions that will help you get the thing you want for the rest of the summer. Option #2: Limit ResetIf your kids seem super dysregulated or you’re seeing a lot of sibling squabbles or out-of-bounds behavior, it might be time for a Limit Reset.A big thing that happens during the summer is that we go outside of our boundaries and get loosey goosey on limits around bedtime, sugar or screens. It’s fun in the summer to let some of the structure go and be a bit more free. But healthy diets, good sleep habits and limited screen time help our kids’ nervous systems stay regulated (and they behave better). If you feel like things have gotten out of balance, take a beat and reset to your typical family rhythms.Build the normal rules you have during the school year back into your day. Take a day or a few days to get back into that old routine. A thought that might help with this (especially if things don’t go quite as planned) is, “I can always get back to our rhythms and limits.” You can also think of this as a “breathe in” day. We’re out and about a lot in the summer. When there’s a lot going on, it’s a lot of stimulation and can be hard on kids’ nervous systems. During a “breathe in” day, you just chill and recharge. Do quiet activities, relax at home, bake some cookies or make popsicles. Settle everyone down and let their nervous systems get back to a baseline.  Option #3: Reset Your BodyThis one is about managing your own burnout. If your body is crying out for a break, you need to take one. You get to take breaks.Ideally, you can get at least a couple of hours to rest. Swap childcare with a friend, take an afternoon off

Today, I’m talking about how to do a digital detox, why you should consider trying it and the benefits to your kids. Plus, I’ll give you tips and some ideas of what your kids can do when they aren't on screens.You’ll Learn:What a digital detox is and why you might do oneHow to know if now is the right time for a detoxWays a digital detox can benefit your kidsTips for doing a digital detox in your familyI always say my life’s mission is to heal the next generation in advance. One of the ways I want to help you do this is by giving you strategies to avoid overexposing your children to the virtual world while underexposing them to real life opportunities.A digital detox takes screen time limits to another level. It is an intentional period of time (usually 2 to 3 weeks) when you’re taking screens off the table and resetting your child’s brain and nervous system. -------------------------------When our kids spend a lot of time in the virtual world on screens, the big opportunity cost is that they aren’t spending that time doing real life stuff. Before we really get into it, I want to remind you that just listening to this podcast or reading this blog shows that you care about being a parent (and you’re already a really amazing one!). No need to judge or criticize yourself if you realize that there are some things you’d like to change. Does Your Kid Need a Digital Detox?Kids’ brains were not built to be exposed to high levels of stimulation and dopamine all the time (which is what they get from screens). Digital entertainment can overload children’s nervous systems, increase their cortisol (a stress hormone) and make everything else seem boring. In our family, we introduced tech pretty slowly to our kids. They had really limited access to screens, and we didn’t give them video games until they were 10 and 12 years old. When the video games started, I immediately noticed intense dysregulation, more fighting and agitation. So, one summer, I decided to do our first detox. The first couple of days were a little rough, but I very quickly noticed that the intensity, dysregulation and frustration in our house cooled down. The kids started to play together more. They were more compliant. They were happier. So every once in a while over the next few years, we did a 2 or 3 week detox.Tantrums and Big Feeling Cycles are normal, but these are some signs that there could be some screen overuse going on:Screen time is getting in the way of real life connectionBehavioral concerns after screen time ends (tantrums, outbursts)Loss of interest in non-screen activitiesChild seems sad, anxious or withdrawnDifficulty expressing themselves or making eye contactIntense sibling fightsConstant complaints about being boredChild feels difficult to get along withStruggling in school or campChild has low-frustration toleranceChild’s ability to concentrate has decreased or not expanding Each kid’s nervous system and tolerance to screens is different. Ultimately, if your kid seems a little off-balance, I invite you to consider a digital detox.  Benefits of a Digital DetoxOne of my clients recently shared with me that she thinks the reason they’re having such a good summer is because they’ve pulled back all devices, and the kids are just playing all the time. When you do a digital detox and your child knows in their mind that they don't have the option of getting a device, it forces their brain to find other solutions. If you give the brain the chance, it will rise to the occasion.Here are some of the biggest benefits.You’re giving your child the gift of time. This creates a giant opportunity for other real life experiences and skills. They play more, read more and use their creativity. They can get into drawing, practice an instrument or basketball or swimming, ride a bike. They get to practice failing. In play, kids experiment and try things. Some things work and some don’t. They have the opportunity to problem solve and figure it out. They build resilience to frustration and learn to work through challenges. Your kid will learn that they can handle things, that they're smart and creative, which boosts confidence.Behavior improves. Without digital entertainment, the nervous system gets a chance to balance itself. When your child is not stressed by ups and downs in dopamine and cortisol, they aren’t as frustrated, irritated or anxious. They behave better because they feel better. Sleep and mood can also improve.  How To Do a Digital DetoxA digital detox can be hard, but it’s probably not as hard as you think. 2 weeks might sound like a long time, but it actually goes by pretty quickly. Step 1: Look at your calendar and choose 2 weeks for the digital detox. Choose a time when you feel capable and ready to handle it, to give it your attention. If your kids are in camps this summer, starting on a Monday might make the transition easier. Personally, I think the 2

Cultivating a screen free mindset is the first step to helping your kids develop a healthy relationship with technology. Today, you’ll learn what it means to have a screen free mindset (it doesn’t mean no screens ever!) and how to get started setting new limits with your family.You’ll learn:The problems with too much screen timeScreen time best practices for kids of all agesHow I managed screen time for my kids from the early days through the teen yearsGuidelines to help you adopt a screen free mindsetExamples of limits around screen use (including what to do when they won’t turn it off)While you may not approach technology use in exactly the same way I have with my family, I hope this information will help you figure out what you want your family’s guidelines to be. --------------------------------As a parenting coach, I’ll never tell you what your values should be or what you should or shouldn’t do. My goal is to help you understand what your values are and give you strategies to help your life align with the values you choose. Ultimately, what I stand for is raising kids in a way that does not cause harm. As more research comes out about technology and screen use, we’re seeing that too much screen use actually does harm children. There aren’t a lot of protections for kids in the virtual world. Tech companies aren’t interested in limiting children's use because they get more money and data from that use. This means that it falls to parents to create those limits.Today, I’ll provide some best practices for kids and screens. While you may not approach technology use in exactly the same way I have with my family, I hope this information will help you figure out what you want your family’s guidelines to be.  Screen Use Best PracticesWhen it comes to things like sleep and nutrition, most of us have a general idea of what kids need. You can use those guidelines as a baseline ideal. You know how you want your kids to eat and how much sleep you want them to get, but you also know that some days will be closer to that ideal than others. The Centers for Disease Control, Pediatrics Magazine and the Journal of Adolescent Health (among others) are starting to establish similar guidelines for kids and screens. For our purposes, screens include tv, phone, tablet, computer or any other devices. Here’s what they’ve laid out by age:0 to 3 years old - no screens3 to 7 years old - 30-60 minutes per day7 to 12 years old - about an hour a day12 to 15 years old - 1.5 hours per day16 and older - 2 hours per dayCurrently, most kids ages 5 and up are getting around 5 hours per day of discretionary screen time - far beyond the recommended amount.And studies have shown that kids who have more than the recommended amount of screen time tend to have worse executive functioning, declines in academic performance, delayed language development and detrimental effects on social and emotional growth. They are also more likely to have obesity, sleep disorders, or mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.  Screen Free MindsetIf this is a little overwhelming to you, you’re not alone. Kids love screens, and you’re a busy mom. It’s hard to manage the time and boredom and all of it. But you can start with small changes, including the way you think about screens and your family.  Screen free mindset means that you make an intentional decision that your child's free, unstructured time should be screen free as the default choice. For example, if you’re waiting at the doctor’s office or in a restaurant, rather than handing them your phone, you decide that it will be screen-free time. The idea is that, instead of automatically giving screen time as the default, you are being intentional about when people are allowed to use screens in your family.  Try thinking about it like this: When you think about your child’s diet, you plan meals, and dessert is a bonus. With a screen free mindset, devices are the dessert - not an essential. There is an opportunity cost every time your child uses a device. That means they could be using that time to do something else with their brain and body, including:Moving their bodiesFree playOutdoor timeReading, writing or drawingInteracting with people face-to-face Screen free time gives kids opportunities to find other ways to entertain themselves and cope with hard moments or feelings without using technology as a pacifier. It also allows them to practice waiting, impulse control and attention to their bodies. Kids are wired to create and explore and be bored. Your work is to cultivate the mindset that most of your child’s life is going to be screen free. Managing Screen TimeIf your child has been using screens more than the recommended amount, I don’t want you to stress out or feel ashamed. You’re a great parent, and you have lots of time. They are still developing. The goal now is to work on that screen free mindse

During the summer, kids have the opportunity for more leisure time, free play and creativity. But as a parent, you might not like the way your kid acts when they’re bored. In this episode, you’ll learn why encouraging boredom is a good thing and how you can feel more at peace when your kids are bored, dysregulated and frustrated this summer. You’ll learn:Why kids act out when they’re boredHow to handle your kid’s boredomWhy encouraging boredom is great for the whole familyHow to create opportunities for your kids to practice being bored and working through itWhen we give our kids opportunities to be imaginative, creative and overcome boredom, they also develop resilience, grit and confidence. It is powerful for your child to realize that they can deal with discomfort and figure out a solution.----------------------------------The Boredom GapIt can help to think about boredom as the time between activities. I call this the “boredom gap”. Kids are used to having most of their day filled with structure and adult-directed activities. But the way they act when they’re bored is often an obstacle to giving them more of that free unstructured time that kids need.When kids are bored, they get dysregulated. Basically, they feel out of balance and uncomfortable. They don't know what to do with that discomfort, so they start acting out. They start bugging their sibling, complaining, being grumpy, having a big feeling cycle, or doing something naughty.Your tendency might be to jump in and give a bunch of suggestions of things your kid can do. I love having some ideas for boredom busters handy, but you have to offer them up at the right time.Often, we jump in with suggestions before our kids are ready. There’s a cycle that your child’s brain needs to go through when it is dysregulated, and they might not be ready yet for solutions. When your kid is bored and dysregulated, their brain is uncomfortable. It is looking for the easiest way to soothe that discomfort. Screens are a really common request when kids are bored because it’s an easy dopamine hit. It’s the quick fix that makes them feel better in the short term, but it isn’t going to truly satisfy them. Think of it as being hungry and choosing a brownie over broccoli. Plus, the more time kids spend on devices, the more their brains crave that fast, easy stimulation.  How To Handle BoredomWait. You have to get comfortable with your kid’s discomfort. Be compassionate and acknowledge what is happening. Look at your child and think, “Oh, they don't know what to do with themselves. They're bored, and they haven't figured out something to do with their brain yet.” If you need to calm yourself during this time, try thoughts like, “I can handle this,” or “I know they’re going to find a solution.”Connect. If your child is acting dysregulated, you can use the Connection Tool to ask them if they’re having a rough time or feeling frustrated. Instead of trying to shut down their complaining, recognize that they are struggling and give them space to release some of that stress juice. It’s important to soothe before you solve. Narrate what you’re seeing. Help them name what they’re feeling. The mental discomfort of boredom can also bring up feelings of loneliness, frustration or annoyance. Offer strategies for them to soothe themself. Encourage problem solving. Once they are a bit calmer, say, “It’s normal to feel bored. That makes sense. I’m sure you’ll figure out a solution.” You can ask about their ideas or if they want suggestions from you. Invite them to think about what comes next and allow your kid’s brain to find its own solution. .  Encouraging BoredomHow long the boredom gap lasts depends on how often your child has experienced boredom. The more your kids are bored, the better they get at overcoming and moving quickly through the boredom gap. With practice, their brain gets trained to solve the boredom problem.Decreasing reliance on screens is one part of this. The brain is naturally going to crave screens, sweets and other easy solutions. When you take these options off the table (at least sometimes), the brain has to work harder, but it’s better for it. Essentially, the more screen breaks you create, the easier it will be for your kids to shift from restless protest to creative exploration. There will be resistance. Allow for some of that, be compassionate and trust that your child will figure it out. Allow longer blocks of unscheduled time. In the summer (and even during the school year), many families have gaps of 30-45 minutes between planned activities. This isn’t really enough time for kids to figure out an activity and really get into it and enjoy it. When you have these smaller gaps, it can help to have a plan in mind, like quiet reading time, coloring or some chores.When you can, block out longer periods of time for your kid to practice working through bo

We know that play is fun, but there is so much more to it than that. Today, I’m talking about the importance of play-based childhoods, why our society has moved away from them and some strategies to bring play back into your family and create a play-based childhood for your kid.You’ll Learn:The importance of play for our kidsWhy play is a challenge in our current societyThe key elements of playHow to create a play-based childhood for your kidIdeas for child-led, open-ended games and toysOne of the most important things to understand is that learning happens through experience, not information. Play allows kids to struggle and learn in ways that feel fun, interesting and challenging.-----------------------------------Kids want to play, and they need to play. They have a lot to learn before they become adults, and experience (i.e. play) is the key to emotional, psychological, physical and cultural development.Why Play Is ImportantThe true purpose of play is for kids to learn how to be adults. They have to learn to move their bodies in a variety of ways, navigate a complex environment, develop fine motor skills, learn to interact with others and build lots of brain skills (both neurological and psychological). One of the most important things to understand is that learning happens through experience, not information. I like to joke that if lectures worked, I would not have a job. Kids don’t listen when we tell them how to act. They have to go through hard things, experience the impacts and figure it out for themselves. Play allows kids to struggle and learn in ways that feel fun, interesting and challenging. It works best when kids have unstructured time to explore their creativity, relationships, conflict, responsibility, and lots of other valuable skills. When we provide this open time, our kids learn faster and they start to understand how the world works. Play in our SocietyAs a society, we have moved away from play-based childhood and more toward structured, academic enrichment environments or screen-based childhoods. There are several reasons this has happened. Sometime around the early 90s, a lot more kids started applying to college and it became much more competitive. So, as a society, we started to work more to prepare kids for academic achievement and college admissions, even from a very young age. This led to more academic enrichment activities and a lot more structure. Don’t get me wrong - learning a foreign language, practicing an instrument, playing sports and taking art classes are cool, but when we fill kids’ schedules with more and more of these adult-led activities, there’s less time left over for unstructured play, curiosity and creativity. Sometimes, even families who want that unstructured time struggle because their kids’ friends are unavailable to come over to play or go to the park. So they end up enrolling their kids in more activities because that’s what their friends are doing. We are also living in a car-centric society. Many of us live in cities or areas where our kids can’t really get places on their own. There aren’t open spaces to explore, and they rely on parents to take them places. And many of us have lost some social connection. Maybe you don’t know your neighbors very well or your kids don’t go to the same school as other neighborhood kids. Finally, 24-hour news channels and constant alerts on our phones and social media feeds are putting negative news stories in our face that are meant to alarm us. Because of this, we don’t trust other adults as much, and we want to protect our kids.I share this because I want you to see that you are parenting in a system that makes a play-based childhood hard to achieve. But there are ways that you can opt-out of some of this stuff and provide your child with more unstructured playtime. The Value of Risk in PlayIn his book, The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt explains two different modes that we have as humans - discover and defend. Discover is about curiosity, learning and trying new things. This happens when your brain detects an opportunity - something interesting. You feel excited and motivated to do something. It activates behavior.Defend inhibits behavior. When your body or brain detects a threat, you’re flooded with stress and negative thinking, so you pull back. When we are in this mode too much, it can create chronic anxiety. We want discover mode to be our kids’ default. Here, they come up with mini challenges. Can I climb that branch? How many blocks can I put on my tower before it falls? These experiences train their brain to what their body can or can’t do. It helps kids learn to judge risk for themselves (a skill you’ll definitely want them to have when they’re older). We want them to have real world experiences and make affordable mistakes that they learn from. This way, they learn their limitatio

Who better to talk about strategies for grandparents, than one of the best grandparents I know? I’m so excited to have my mother-in-law, Judie Childress, on the podcast with me today talking all about how parenting has changed over the years and what happens when the worlds of parenting and grandparenting collide. You’ll Learn:How my mother-in-law learned about compassionate parenting as I raised my sonsWhy it’s sometimes hard to be a grandparentHow to communicate your parenting approach to your parents or in-lawsStrategies for grandparents to be a supportive part of your parenting journeyIn most cases, grandparents likely aren’t trying to control you and your family. They love you and your kids. They worry about you and want the best for all of you. Learn how to include them in your parenting journey.-------------------------------A Different Way of ParentingJudie and her husband raised their kids with a more traditional parenting style. She explains that in those days, there was no parenting class. You parented your kids the way that you were parented. It truly was a tradition that was passed down from generation to generation. As parents, we’re all doing the best we can with what we know. And for the most part, kids raised with a traditional parenting model turn out okay. The problem comes in when it works on the outside (managing behavior), but the inside sometimes doesn’t get the same support. You might grow up to be successful and know how to function in the world but still lack emotional awareness. It can also erode the relationship between parent and child and the relationship your child has with themself.When my kids were young and I was starting to get into compassionate parenting, Judie says there were a few incidents, times when her traditional parenting style was not working, that made her a believer. She realized that she needed a new way of communicating that wouldn’t lead to explosive episodes with the kids. She also shares that she would get really triggered when the kids blew up because she still had things to work through herself. Judie says that our feelings “don't just evaporate. They get buried in us, and they stay with us until we can deal with them, or they come up again somehow.” She sees how, even as adults, people try to keep their feelings below the surface because nobody ever taught them what to do with them. Grandparent StrugglesOften, grandparents struggle because they still feel the need to parent their child (you) to teach you how to parent your own child. They’re still thinking that it’s their job to teach you how to be, what to do and how to live. If you’re seeking advice or trying things that are outside of your parent’s experience or values, they might feel that they’re being disrespected. They might fear that you’re being too permissive or that you and your kid are going down the wrong path. And it’s true that traditional and compassionate parenting look different from each other. Behavior modification is quicker with traditional strategies of rewards, bribes, threats, disconnection or fear. With compassionate parenting, you often don’t get immediate compliance. It’s a slower, longer game.  Strategies For GrandparentsIn Judie's view, if you want your parents or in-laws to understand this new way of parenting, the best thing is to live it out in front of them. Let them see the way you interact with your kids and how you handle big feelings and behaviors when they come up. Another thing that can be helpful for grandparents to understand is that this is not a feelings-only model (aka permissive parenting). We address feelings first and behavior second. After getting calm and using connection, we bring it back to limits and consequences. The child isn’t “getting away” with misbehavior. Trust is huge in these situations. Judie says that her relationship with her son and me was more important than winning an argument or proving a point. Instead, she tried to trust that we were present and figuring it out. She had to trust that we would all be okay.Having conversations about your parenting approach and strategies you’re trying is also helpful to let grandparents feel involved. When you share your plan and intention, they see that you are making an effort, both with your child and with them. One statement that I love is, “It might look like I’m being permissive, but I’m not. I’m delaying consequences.” This helps the grandparents feel more calm about the situation at the same time that you’re parenting your kids. Remember the power of love. Judie says, “I think as long as you can keep loving, whether it's loving the grandparents or loving the kids, it's gonna work because you're caring more about the relationship than you are how it's done.” We can all give each other the benefit of the doubt and assume that we’re coming from a place of love. When grandparents have concerns, you

If you’re anything like me, you sometimes find yourself feeling grumpy, discontent or dissatisfied. And you’d rather be feeling joy, hope, trust or safety. Today, I’m sharing my step-by-step process for how to shift any mood. You’ll Learn:My step-by-step process to shift any moodWhy we tend to slip into negative moodsHow your thoughts help create the feelings you wantWhen to use this mood shifting practiceWhether you’re gearing up for a beach day, a long drive or a visit with your in-laws, I’m going to teach you how to feel the way you want to feel during that experience.----------------------------------How To Shift Any MoodFirst, it’s important to understand that your brain is like a muscle. Whenever you have a thought or an emotion that gets repeated in your brain, a neural pathway is formed and reinforced. Maybe you’ve gotten into a pattern of looking for problems or feeling discontent. By using more intentional thinking, we can reroute those pathways. As Robin Sharma says, “What you focus on grows, what you think about expands, and what you dwell upon determines your destiny.”Decide what mood you want to be in. Ask yourself, “How do I want to feel during this experience?” Define the feeling. Go a little deeper into what the feeling that you’re chasing really means. For example, if you want to be present, what does being present look like? If you want to feel joyful, calm, grateful or trusting, what does that mean to you? By focusing on the feeling and defining what it actually looks like and feels like in your body, you’ll be more able to experience it. Identify obstacles. What might come up that would prevent you from feeling the way you want to feel? Your brain will probably come up with these pretty naturally. It will tell you that you can’t feel joy, belonging or ease for all kinds of reasons. Now, challenge those obstacles by soothing and reassuring yourself against that fear. If you want to be present, but you’re worried about the future, remind yourself that you don’t need to worry because you’ve overcome a lot of obstacles in the past. Be intentional with your thoughts. Ask, “What thoughts help me feel the feeling I want?” List them out and choose a couple that feel good to you. You’ll use them a bit like a mantra. This is intentional thinking, and it’s how you stay in the feeling that you want and shift back into it. Reinforce the new thoughts. Chasing a feeling often feels like exactly that - it's not easy to catch. It's right in front of you, and when you grab it, it pulls away again. Your brain is resisting this new neural pathway, so it takes work to keep getting back to the feeling you want. When you notice yourself slipping into more negative feelings (getting grumpy, short-tempered, etc.), use your intentional thoughts to bring yourself back. You can use this process at any time (I love it as a daily practice), but there are a few situations when I find it especially helpful:Before a vacationBefore visiting family or in-lawsBefore holidaysWhen you’re struggling with how you feel in your bodyI invite you to do this practice and decide, on purpose, how you want to feel this summer. Chase the feeling, be intentional with your thoughts and shift any mood. Free Resources:Get the free Summer ToolkitGet your copy of the Stop Yelling Cheat Sheet!In this free guide you’ll discover:✨ A simple tool to stop yelling once you’ve started (This one thing will get you calm.)✨ 40 things to do instead of yelling. (You only need to pick one!)✨ Exactly why you yell. (And how to stop yourself from starting.)✨A script to say to your kids when you yell. (So they don't follow you around!)Download the Stop Yelling Cheat Sheet hereConnect With Darlynn: Book a complimentary session with DarlynnLearn about the different parenting programs at www.calmmamacoaching.comFollow me on Instagram @darlynnchildress for daily tips Rate and review the podcast on Itunes

Summer Break can somehow be both easier and more stressful for parents. Create a rhythm and make sure your kid’s (and your) needs are met with these 7 family essentials this summer.You’ll Learn:The 7 essential ingredients every family needs to thriveWhy boredom is super important and how to deal with itHow to troubleshoot when your kid is complaining, grumpy and over-tiredWhat to do to calm all the nervous systems in your home this summerIf you start to see your kids fighting or complaining a lot, seeming lethargic or unmotivated, this episode will help you to know what to work on to get them back on track and enjoying summer again.---------------------------------7 Family Essentials This SummerDuring the summer, we tend to get out of balance as a family. The kids stay up later. We travel a lot. There's a lot of extra screen time. And so we get out of our rhythms and routines.In some ways, there’s a bit more ease, but it’s also a lot of work for parents. When you are able to give your kids access to the types of things they need in order to stay self regulated, you'll have a lot less misbehavior.It’s impossible to meet every single one of your kid’s physical, emotional and mental needs all the time. But what we can do is build a framework that helps you know what it is that you should be working on if your kids seem off balance. #1: Family Touch PointsThese are real, in-person moments when everyone in your family puts down the devices and does something together. This could be eating a meal, watching a movie together, going for a walk or bike ride, doing a craft or whatever you enjoy doing as a family. The point is that everybody is doing the same thing at the same time. Research shows that when families enjoy activities together, kids develop a higher self esteem because they feel important. They feel like they matter to the grown ups in their life. It also strengthens your communication with them, and you get better behavior because you’re filling their cup. Plan these times and be intentional with them.#2: BoredomBoredom is good for kids’ cognitive and emotional development. They will resist it because it’s uncomfortable. The brain wants fast, easy sources of input. But if you don’t try to solve that problem for your kid, if you let them struggle through the boredom, they will get to the other side - and often come up with really creative ideas. One way to give kids the opportunity to have boredom is through screen-free breaks. This is a period of time when your kid doesn’t have access to technology. Once their brain realizes that the quick dopamine fix from screens isn’t available, it will solve the problem.#3: Time In NatureChildren desperately need to be in nature in order to grow up with good physical and emotional health. Kids who spend a lot of time outdoors are less distracted and have a higher ability to focus. They are also less likely to be depressed. Create as much time as you can to be outside. And when you are in nature, try to move slowly. Look at the sky. Notice the clouds. Look at the birds. Try to find out which one is making which noise. Notice the different colors of green. Let them take their shoes off and dig in the dirt a little bit.#4: Movement & RestKids need to move their bodies more than adults. I call this big body movement. They need to be running and swimming and throwing and jumping. This movement helps to grow their brains, bodies and nervous systems. Kids under 10 need 2 rounds of big body movement each day - preferably before noon and again about an hour before you start the bedtime routine. And because movement leads to better quality sleep, kids who are really active during the day also tend to sleep faster and better. Rest is equally as important as movement. If you’ve had a busy day and a lot of activity, your kid will need to rest their body (and it doesn’t have to be with a screen). They can read a book, snuggle with a stuffed animal or lay and listen to music.#5: SolitudeAs a mom, you are going to need time without your children so you don’t burn out. Build some alone time into your daily rhythm. This is a time to recharge your batteries. Anything you can do to get some help from a partner, spouse, babysitter or friend is really helpful here. Your kids also need alone time, so plan for breaks when they can have time to themself. #6: SocializingKids need to play with their peers. Often, we over-rely on siblings, cousins or neighbors for social time in the summer, but it’s also important for your kid to see their school friends. It makes the transition back to school easier in the fall. Ideally, they’ll socialize in an unstructured environment, without adults telling them how to behave or video games telling them what to do. This helps them to learn self governance. This is when we see kids make up games, make up rules and figure out how to enforce them. Summer is also a great time for healthy risk taking, like climbin

Inspired by the Netflix documentary “Stutz”, these 3 unavoidable aspects of parenting are actually unavoidable aspects of life. They’re universal truths that we all have to deal with as humans. You’ll Learn:The 3 unavoidable aspects of parenting (and life)The lies we tell ourselves that keep us doing more, more, moreHow to cope with pain, uncertainty and constant work as a parentWhy the inevitability of these 3 things is actually a huge reliefWe will all experience pain, uncertainty and constant work. It’s part of life as a human. If we know that these things are inevitable, we can stop fighting against them and find more peace. I’m sharing tips to help you do just that - and guide your kids to do the same.---------------------------------------This podcast was inspired by a Netflix documentary I watched recently called “Stutz”. In it, therapist Phil Stutz explains three unavoidable experiences that we will all have: pain, uncertainty and constant work. 3 Unavoidable Aspects of ParentingAs I was watching, I realized that these 3 things are also true of the parenting experience. I actually found it to be a relief that no matter what you do or who your kids are, pain, uncertainty and constant work are unavoidable. If we know that these things are inevitable, we can stop fighting against them and find more peace.PainIn this context, I think of pain mainly as emotional pain or psychological discomfort. It might look like grief, anger, anxiety or a combination of emotions. Pain can be brought on by actual situations of loss, rejection, disappointment or trauma. It can also come about simply through the nature of being a child’s caregiver. Your kid is also going to experience pain. We can’t protect them from all painful experiences, but we can give them the tools to be able to handle the discomforts and pains of life. And while pain is inevitable, it is not constant. It’s a short-term experience. Suffering is when we dwell on that pain and keep bringing it back up. We don’t need to create this unnecessary suffering for ourselves. UncertaintyThere are a lot of unknowns in parenting (and in life). We can try to plan or predict what’s going to happen, but we never really know. The real underlying fear with uncertainty is that something will happen that you won’t be able to handle. So you try to predict and plan and run scenarios through your mind. But this puts you in an anxiety spiral, because you’re trying to solve an imaginary problem. Constant WorkThis isn’t about your job, though that is one part of it. Just to live as a human, you have to take care of your body - eat, drink, clean yourself, etc. Caring for your emotional and spiritual health and your relationships also takes work. Plus, there’s the caregiving aspect of parenting. When your kids are little, it can feel relentless. You are using your body to care for them all the time. You’re picking them up, carrying them, cleaning up messes. Then between the ages of 6-12, the work shifts to your head. You’re problem solving, managing schedules and so many details. In the tween and teen years, the work moves to your heart. During this time, there is a lot of worry and feeling for your kid as they go through tough times. This is also where a lot of uncertainty comes into play. The Brain’s TricksI bought into a lie that I could avoid uncertainty with constant work. My brain tricked me into believing that if I was really, really productive and managed everything, that the future would be settled. So I was hyperplanning, overworking, controlling and not letting others do things. But the truth is that uncertainty still happened, and when it did, I would get really overwhelmed.I also thought that constantly working would help me avoid pain. I was overworking and overperforming in parenting and life because I was so afraid of pain in the future. And when pain did come up, I tried to fix and solve it immediately. The problem with buying into these lies is that when uncertainty and pain happen (which they will), you blame yourself. You think that bad things happen because you did something wrong or didn’t work hard enough. But it’s not your fault that bad things happen, even to your kids. You can’t prevent it, and you don’t even actually want to. Coping with Pain, Uncertainty and Constant WorkIf we can’t get rid of these 3 aspects of life, we have to find hope in changing our relationship to those things. Instead of resisting, fighting and avoiding pain, uncertainty and constant work, we can allow, accept and embrace them. Our work is in changing the way we think and feel about these things when they happen.And if we can teach our kids to handle these 3 inevitable things while they’re young, they’ll grow up to feel really capable and resilient. Here are some strategies to try:Make friends with pain. We need to become less afraid of hard things happening - to us and to our kids. Because

There are 4 primary parenting styles out there, but they aren’t all completely separate from each other. Like so many other things, they exist on a spectrum. You might fall into different parenting styles in different stages or situations. You’ll Learn:The 4 main parenting styles, and how to recognize when you are using each oneThe benefits of authoritarian parentingHow to shift away from being overly strict, permissive or detached and get to a more connected and healthy space with your childIn this episode, I hope you’ll become more aware of your own parenting style, be a little more understanding of where other parents are coming from and learn to shift your approach closer to where you want it to be.---------------------------------------It can be easy for us to judge parents with a different style from our own, but you’ll notice as we go through them that, while we may have tendencies that match most with one style, none of us fits into just one of these categories. In this episode, I hope you’ll become more aware of your own parenting style, be a little more understanding of where other parents are coming from and learn to shift your approach closer to where you want it to be. What Is Your Parenting Style?3 of these parenting styles were identified by developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind in the 1960s. The neglectful parenting style was added later on. There will be moments in your parenting where you fall more into one of these styles than others. There will be moments when you will act controlling, permissive or unengaged. It happens to us all.These periods of time do not make you a bad parent. Our goal is to be aware of how you’re showing up so that you can bring yourself back to where you want to be (the authoritative style).  Authoritarian parenting is like being a dictator or a drill sergeant. This is what I think of as “traditional” parenting. This parent wants a high level of control over their children. There are rules that you must obey, and if you don’t, there are consequences. It’s very direct and doesn’t really take the child’s feelings and emotions into account. There isn’t space for conversations about what is underneath the behavior. In this style of parenting, we often see yelling, screaming and spanking, which triggers a fear response in the child. This can change behavior but damage the relationship. Kids raised with this style also tend to have a lot of repressed emotion because they don’t know how to process their feelings. It can show up as hostility, aggression or poor self esteem. I don’t believe that any of us really want to act this way. We do it because it’s what we saw when we were growing up. And often, there is some kind of worry or fear beneath it. We worry that a behavior will continue or get worse, that our kid won’t change or grow, that they will somehow not be okay. Indulgent parenting is also known as permissive parenting. It’s really common for parents who don’t want to be in the dictator role to go a little too far in the other direction. In this style, you might have rules, but you don’t really enforce them. Being liked by your kid takes higher priority than being their parent. The truth is, when you follow through on a limit or consequence, your kid is probably going to get upset. That makes it really hard for these parents to enforce consequences. In this style, your child might be really connected to you, but they aren’t getting the rules and experiences they need in order to grow. Being too permissive can even impact their health and safety when it comes to things like getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, brushing their teeth or wearing shoes so they don’t hurt their feet. And if they aren’t expected to do school work, practice their instrument, stick to a sports team, etc. they might also miss out on opportunities to grow, learn and become who they’re meant to be. In a child-centered style like this one, kids also often struggle with disappointment, boredom, working with others and not getting their way. They’re missing out on the chance to build emotional resilience and learn to self soothe and self regulate.  Neglectful parenting sounds pretty harsh, but this is where the parent is uninvolved and disengages or detaches from the child. It’s an attitude of, “I don’t care what happens.” This can come up when a parent is overwhelmed and they think that the situation or behavior is too much for them to handle. There is no connection and no limits or consequences.This can also happen when there are other intense emotional experiences, like deaths, happening in the parent’s life. It can stem from illness, mental health issues or struggles with drugs or alcohol. These parents are rarely uninvolved because they don’t care. They are simply struggling to take care of themselves, and they don’t have the capacity to take care of someone else. Authoritative parenting

I’m a little fired up on this one, so get ready! Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve read a few different headlines that have gotten me really mad, because these articles want to blame parents for pretty much every societal problem. I want to let you know that you don't have to pay attention to these kinds of headlines and articles that want to blame parents. There are much larger issues at play here. In this episode, you’ll learn:Why so many of the issues being blamed on parents are really not your faultThe difference between individual and societal issues when it comes to raising our kidsHow to filter which information is helpful or true and when someone is just looking for a scapegoatWhy I believe we’re all going to be just fineAs someone who works with moms (and parents in general), I see how much time and energy you are investing, how hard you are working at parenting your kids. You don’t have to be a scapegoat.-------------------------------------As a mom, you’re making a lot of decisions about your child’s health and education, making appointments, looking at different schools and figuring out enrichment activities. You probably internalize that it is your job to have “good” kids, and it’s easy to view your child and their behavior as a result of the work you are putting in. I want to let you know that you don't have to pay attention to these kinds of headlines and articles that want to blame parents. You can just ignore them and move on. There are much larger issues at play here than individual parents and families.  The ArticlesOne of the articles I read on ScaryMommy.com titled A Teacher Says The Problem With Kids Today Is A Parenting Problem shares a statistic that 23% of teachers left their school in 2023. In the article, a teacher of 24 years is interviewed and says, “We have raised children to think that they are absolutely the most important person in any room. They are so special that whatever they want to do, or whatever they think, or whatever they say is the most important thing in that moment.”Throughout the interview, she seems to be holding parents responsible for classroom behavior, but she also goes on to say, “Let’s reevaluate our family cultures, our community cultures, and our larger society cultures.”Another article from the LA Times, Millennials gave birth to ‘Generation Alpha.’ Are these kids already doomed?, says that this next generation (born between roughly 2010-2024) are already widely being called “feral”, “illiterate”, and “doomed”. The article goes on to blame bad parenting by millennials, tech companies or both.These kinds of headlines are so discouraging to parents who are doing the best they can, often under really challenging circumstances.There are so many things outside of our control. For example, tech companies and the decisions that they make or curriculum and use of technology in schools.  We also had no control over the pandemic. Of course there is going to be an effect and a delay in social and academic skills when much of society was shut down for 18 months during the early years of these kids’ lives. Sometimes, no one is truly at fault. It’s just a crappy situation that we’re trying to work through and figure out. And it’s not fair to put that blame on the parents. Screens in Our SocietyThe LA Times article also references, “the iPad kid is a child who cannot sit through a restaurant meal or a brief ride on the bus or whatever without mainlining YouTube from a tablet in a plastic case,” and wants to blame parents for overusing technology and screens. Moms often ask me how much time their kid should have on screens. And while I have so ideas about what I think are healthy rhythms for screens, I can’t make that decision for you. I can’t tell you not to give your kids screen time when you’re busy, overworked and just trying to get dinner on the table. It comes down to your capacity. Because when you set limits, you have to also be able to follow through on them. You have to be ready to handle the big feelings that come when it’s time to turn off the device or when you say “no” to more screen time. Maybe you need better screen time limits, and it’s also true that there is a ton of programming designed for children, it’s easy to access, parents are overworked and overstressed and screens are used more and more in the classroom, too. Ultimately, we cannot take a societal issue and turn it into a personal one, putting the blame on individual parents. If we want to change the way our kids use screens and interact with social media, we have to start making pledges as a society to wait to give kids access to these things. We don't let kids drive cars until they're 16. We don't let kids drink alcohol till they're 21. We have decided, as a society, that certain things are okay for grown ups and not okay for kids. We have figured out some of these pro

Mother’s Day is coming. And if you've had a few Mother's Days that end with you getting into bed feeling totally wiped out and resentful, this podcast episode is for you. I’m talking all about how to create your best Mother’s Day plan for a day you actually enjoy!You’ll Learn:Why Mother’s Day can be so hardSteps for creating your best Mother’s Day planHow to process the “Mother’s Day Hangover” of disappointment, resentment or sadness on Monday morningThis Mother’s Day, I send my love to all the mothers. For the first mothers, the forever mothers, the motherless mothers, the childless mothers, and the not-yet mothers. I love you. I see you.----------------------Mother's Day has a way of ending up the OPPOSITE of ideal for most moms.A lot of times, moms spend Mother's Day cleaning up the kitchen after a messy breakfast in bed, followed by a lunch that's focused on their mother or mother-in-law, and then capped off by a rushed take-out dinner with all the regular bedtime routine shenanigans. Taking Back Mother’s DayI’m just going to say it - Mother’s Day is FOR moms!Usually, two things keep moms from creating their ideal day: guilt and not asking for what they want.I want you to know that it is okay to not want to spend every minute of Mother's Day with your kids. Getting breaks from your kids is actually super important, so if you want a few kid-free hours on Mother's Day, it’s okay.You might also feel guilty about balancing how to honor your mom, mother-in-law, etc. with getting what you want from the day, too. It can be a lot of people to please, especially if you live in the same town. People-pleasing is not what Mother’s Day is about, and you might not be able to satisfy everybody. Think about what you want from the day and take it from there.I want Mother’s Day to be amazing for you, so I’m going to help you work through these common obstacles and make a plan and design a Mother’s Day that actually feels good to you. One where you get what you truly want from the day. Make Your Best Mother’s Day PlanIt is your job to figure out what you want and then ask for it. Here’s how… Step 1: Decide what you wantWhat does your ideal Mother’s Day look like? Take a few minutes to really think about this or journal on it. What do you really want? How do you want to spend your Mother’s Day?Is it a break from kids? Time with your friends? Alone time? A visit with your own mom? A special family activity?Do you want to sleep in? Shop? Go out to lunch? Spend time outdoors? Step 2: Communicate your planIf it's going to be a day where we honor and celebrate our experience as mothers and let the people around us honor and appreciate us, then we need to figure out a way to communicate what we want.Talk to your partner (if you have one) about your vision for the day. Ask them if they think that plan will work. Are they willing to try something new if that’s what you want? If there are other mothers involved, reach out to them and see what they have in mind for the day. If you’re hoping for a more relaxed day, ask if you can have a shorter visit or if they’re open to celebrating together on Saturday or a different weekend. If they aren’t willing to change their plans or expectations, can you take your ideal day a week later? Having these conversations in advance is really, really helpful because it helps you get on the same page and make a real plan. The Mother’s Day HangoverIf Mother’s Day can be hard, the day after can be even harder. Even if you manage to have a wonderful Mother’s Day, you’ll probably still have what I call the Mother’s Day Hangover. On Monday morning, when you walk into the kitchen and start packing lunches, getting kids up and off to school and doing your other regular parenting and work tasks, you might feel a little disappointed that life is back to normal. Your special day is over.Or you might feel resentful that you didn’t get the Mother’s Day you wanted. Maybe your partner wasn’t supportive or your family left a big mess in the kitchen waiting for you. This is the time to reset. Acknowledge and recognize those feelings. Sit down with a journal and write them out. Be honest about what happened and how you’re feeling. Let it pass through you. Take care of yourself and give yourself some compassion. I also know that some of us are sitting with feelings of grief and loss on Mother’s Day (myself included). If this is you, give yourself a little tenderness and consider this when designing your day.This Mother’s Day, I send my love to all the mothers. For the first mothers, the forever mothers, the motherless mothers, the childless mothers, and the not-yet mothers. I love you. I see you.And I’m wishing you YOUR most ideal Mother’s Day yet.Previous Episodes Mentioned:Episode 9: Pause and Reset Your EmotionsFree Resources:Get your copy of the Stop Yelling Cheat Sheet!In this free guide you’ll discover:✨ A simple tool to stop yelling once you’ve started (Thi

Today, we’re focusing on being on the same page as your coparent with limits and consequences. You’ll Learn:Why learning to regulate your emotions is like learning to read and write3 coparenting scenarios and how to navigate themWhat to do when you’re not on board with your coparent’s limits & consequencesThe good news about your relationship with your kidOur goal with a feelings-first parenting model is to hold our kids accountable in a calm, mutually respectful way. We want to help them to regulate their emotions and take responsibility for their actions without lashing out, hurting or shaming our kids.But what can you do when you and your coparent don’t handle limits and consequences the same way?---------------------In last week’s episode, we talked about what it means to be on the same page as your coparent, particularly when it comes to self-regulation and connection with your kids. Today, we’re focusing on being on the same page with limits and consequences. Our goal with a feelings-first parenting model is to hold our kids accountable in a calm, mutually respectful way. We want to help them to regulate their emotions and take responsibility for their actions without lashing out, hurting or shaming our kids.But what can you do when you and your coparent don’t handle limits and consequences the same way? 3 Types of CoparentingYou and your coparent will fall into one of three scenarios. Based on your situation, there are different conversations, approaches and tools you can use to guide your parenting.  Scenario #1: Two people who live together and have a mutual commitment to calm and conscious parentingOnce you’ve determined that you’re on the same page with your parenting values, goals and approach, you also have to figure out how you’ll stay on the same page.  Getting on the same page. The first step here is talking about your values as parents, which you can learn more about in last week’s episode. Next, talk about what happens if you notice that your kids are off track, especially if you find yourself arguing about the behavior.When you notice off track behavior, have a connection conversation about the pattern that you’ve seen. It’s really important that neither of you are judging or getting defensive in this conversation. Lean into curiosity - What do you think is going on? Why do you think they’re acting this way? What’s happening underneath? What do they need?You might realize that this is more of an emotional issue. Maybe your child needs some more skills around managing their feelings or there is an emotional need that isn’t being met. A lot of times if you meet the emotional need of a behavior, you can kind of the behavior lessens. You might also find that you need to set a limit around the behavior.  Staying on the same page. What will you do when your coparent gets off track? I recommend that, as long as the coparent isn't being explosive or hurtful, you let it play out. Be a compassionate witness, notice what’s going on with your coparent and with your kid and get curious about why. Then, later on when everyone is calm, talk to your coparent about what happened. Again, you aren’t bringing it up to criticize or blame. The goal is to evaluate, problem solve and troubleshoot. Go through the steps of the Calm Mama Process (Calm, Connect, Limit Set, Correct) and pinpoint where the issue was and how you can solve for it. These conversations are what help you do the fine-tuning to move you closer to your parenting goal of raising emotionally healthy, personally responsible kids.  Scenario #2: Two people who live together and have different parenting approachesYour coparent may not be on board. In this case, it’s important to remember that each person is in an individual relationship with another person. Your relationship with your kid might be very different from the relationship they have with their other parent. Ultimately, we all want to have a good relationship with our kids. We want our kids to grow up and like us. Strict, firm, authoritarian parenting (the way most of us were raised) tends to lead to emotional disconnection. The child grows up feeling like their parent cares more about what they do than who they are. Start by asking your coparent, “What do you want your future relationship with our kid to look like?” It’s a good way to get them thinking and open up conversation about connection. It’s also possible that you won’t come to an agreement on this. And that’s on them. They get to make a choice about how they interact and the relationship they’re creating. If you’re not on the same page with the parenting approach, and you’re each doing your own thing, then you each have to take responsibility for the way you want to parent, and follow through on it. It doesn’t mean that your kid is messed up forever. You can still emotionally coach them, set limit

I’m often asked, “How do you handle it when your husband or your coparent isn't on board?” or, “How do you handle it when you're divorced and you don't know what's going on with the other parent?”In this first episode of a two-part series, I’ll start answering these questions and share some essential conversations to have with your coparent.You’ll Learn:Why I know your kid is going to be okay.How to determine if you and your coparent are on the same page (and where to start if you’re not). Essential conversations for before, during and after explosive incidents - with scripts!Using the “hard no” with other adults.The parenting you're doing is not in vain if your co parent isn't on board. Your child's other parent isn't unraveling all of your hard work. What you are doing is not pointless. You can give your child everything they need to grow into an emotionally healthy adult.--------------------------------The Real QuestionThe real question at the root of these concerns is, “Is my kid going to be okay if my coparent doesn’t practice compassionate parenting?”There is fear of what will happen in the future if your coparent is harsh, too permissive or just on a different page when it comes to parenting your kid. But what does it really mean to be okay? The way I think about this in my programs is that we are setting our kids up for success by teaching emotional literacy - knowing what they’re feeling, how to talk about it and what to do with it. This is the key to raising kids that are confident, self-aware and love themselves. No matter what happens in your child's life, there's going to be pain and struggle. Things won’t always go their way. In the long-term, when they know how to process that pain, they can handle anything. You’re giving your kid the resilience that they need for the future.  Being On the Same PageFor our purposes, being on the same page means two things:  You and your coparent agree on the same parenting philosophy. In this case, that means agreeing that compassion and helping your child process negative emotion are important to you. You share the same approach to the philosophy. You’re using the same strategies and tools. For example, compassionate parenting is a philosophy. The Calm Mama Process of calm, connect, limit set, correct is the approach. A beautiful place to start is by asking your coparent (whether you live with them or not) what they value when it comes to parenting. You can start the conversation by saying something like, “I'm learning a lot, and I want to make sure that you're on the same page with me. I believe that feelings matter and that it's important for our kids to have a safe place to express those feelings and learn how to deal with them. Do agree?” When You Aren’t On the Same PageI know that you want to have a good relationship with your child, and you want them to have a good relationship with themselves and with the world. You get to decide how you show up. You can put in the work to make sure your relationship is connected and loving. Your coparent also has a relationship with your kid, and it’s their job to decide how they want that relationship to play out and take action to create the relationship they want. It is not your responsibility to preserve your child’s relationship with their other parent. Ultimately, your responsibility is only to the emotional health of your child. If you’re struggling with your coparent, look at where the disagreement is. Is it about the philosophy or the approach?Maybe you agree on the philosophy, but your coparent struggles to manage their stress and calm themselves. Or they’re avoiding following through on consequences. When you understand where the disconnect is, it is easier to problem solve.  Dealing With an Explosive ParentIf your coparent is dysregulated and not calm, it might look like being explosive, needlessly critical, aggressive, insulting or using shame for discipline. They might shut down or walk away in steely silence. This parent is probably overwhelmed and stressed. They’re in their own ego or fear. Maybe they’re scared that their kid is getting away with something or being disrespectful. I want you to recognize that this parent is dysregulated. It's not that they're a jerk or they don't care. And you won’t be able to support them if you’re coming from a place of judgment and criticism. Compassion for your coparent will help your whole family. Your responsibility is not to try to change your coparent and their behavior. It is to emotionally coach your kid and help them process what’s going on. There are a few different ways you can do this. Preventative Conversation. This conversation happens outside of an emotional moment. You’re discussing the pattern that you’ve been seeing and telling your coparent in advance how you will intervene if you see it in the future.You

We all know that parenting is enough of a challenge on its own, but what about when you’re coparenting with an abusive ex, someone who may be acting more for themselves than the best interest of your kid?My guest, Lisa Johnson, is a certified domestic violence advocate and the cofounder of a divorce coaching program called Been There Got Out. We’re talking all about:The goodness and peace that are on the other side of the pain and struggle.What to look out for when it comes to coercive control, loyalty conflict and reacting to your ex.Ways to support your kid and help them navigate difficult situations.How to get the support you need to care for yourself and your child.If coparenting with an ex has been a struggle for you, or if you are making a decision to leave a relationship, this real-talk conversation will give you the information you need to make the best choices for you and your child and support them through it all. -------------------------------My guest, Lisa Johnson, is a certified domestic violence advocate and the cofounder of a divorce coaching program called Been There Got Out. She works alongside her co-founder and romantic partner, Chris, to help people who are dealing with high-conflict separation and divorce, custody battles, and coparenting hell so that they can have the best outcome in family court and beyond. Lisa’s StoryOf course, there is much more to Lisa’s story than what we could cover in this conversation, but there are some elements she experienced that she has seen to be pretty common with her clients, as well. When Lisa was making the decision to leave her previous marriage of 18 years, her now-ex-husband made her feel like if she left, then she would be responsible for breaking up their family, which included two kids. She would be to blame for destroying their kids’ lives. So she did everything she could to stay and keep the family together. Ultimately, she realized that one person can’t make both people better. They wanted two different things, and it just wasn’t working. Like so many others, Lisa knew she had to leave her marriage for herself. She didn’t know what would happen with the kids. She would figure that out later. But for her to survive, she had to go. She describes the feeling of carrying a ball of pain inside of her trying to keep it all together. And when she admitted that it wasn’t working, and her ex left, there was such a sense of relief. A weight had been lifted. She didn’t know what would happen next, but she knew she couldn’t try to control it, and letting go was so freeing. Now, she’s on the other side, has found the love of her life and created her business to help others through those same kinds of struggles.  Coparenting With an Abusive ExLisa’s clients are often dealing with ex-spouses who are not handling things with maturity and who are trying to take back control. There are a lot of hurt feelings and, often, a history of abuse. In many of these cases, Lisa sees instances of coercive control, which means that some freedom has been taken away from one person in the relationship. It might look like financial abuse, where one person doesn’t have any control over the family’s money. It can also show up as social isolation or other types of verbal, psychological or sexual abuse. Although they’re now in different living spaces, the parenting relationship is not over. Lisa says that the three main areas where conflict and abuse come up after a divorce are money, kids and court. Legal abuse related to money and court conflicts go hand-in-hand. It’s all about winning and losing. The abusive partner wants to take everything - kids, money, time and control. Conflict around the kids lasts the longest and is the most painful. In these situations, the child is often put into something called loyalty conflict, usually by the abusive parent. Kids are expected to choose sides and be loyal to one parent over the other. They’re then rewarded for rejecting the parent who's often the target of the abuse, often the safe, healthy, protective parent. The child may also be punished for showing affection or love to that parent.This often starts even before the relationship ends. One parent might try to undermine the other or grill the child on everything that happened while they were at the other parent’s house. One of the most common things that they do is send poisonous messages about the other parent to the child, wanting them to believe that that other parent is unsafe, unloving or unavailable (even though the opposite is usually true). This feels so scary and dangerous, because sometimes your kid will absorb these messages. They’ll be angry and confused and lash out at you. You feel triggered the same way you are by your ex, because you see that same behavior coming through your child. We talk about this behavior as “poisoning the well”. As the parent, your challenge is to take t

I often talk about parenting the kid in front of you, not the one you wish you had or the one you’re afraid they’ll become. Today, I’ll explain three thoughts that you’ve probably experienced when you don’t like your kid’s behavior or parts of their personality, why judgments about your kid aren’t helpful and what to do instead.You’ll Learn:The parenting advice I give the mostWhy behavior is really just information - and what to do with itHow raising a kid is like baking a special kind of cakeThe long term benefits of unconditional acceptance.It’s never too late to commit to shifting how you think and feel about your kid. ----------------------------------------I just got home from a trip to Paris with my newly-turned-18-year-old son. I got to spend a lot of time with him, getting to see and know who he is right now. We had an amazing trip, and there were also times where I found myself feeling a little uncomfortable, sad or disappointed about his views or attitude toward certain things. I’m continuing to work through some of those feelings even after we’ve returned home, and I hope my experience will help you parent the kid in front of you, too. Why Parenting The Kid In Front of You Is ImportantWhen we’re in a relationship with someone and we make their behavior mean something negative, then it is going to sour the relationship and the way that we interact with them. When you perceive your kid in a certain way, thoughts and feelings come up, and these drive your actions. It's really important to work on how you think and feel about your kid and not put that negative attitude or judgment on their behavior.This can be really hard because as a parent, it is your responsibility to help your kid learn how to be in relationship with themselves and others. You’re trying to teach values like politeness, generosity and kindness. But sometimes, you see your kid behave in ways that are opposite to those values. What often happens is that you get so caught up in the behavior and what it means that it prevents you from actually parenting and teaching them the skills they need in order to become who they’re meant to be. Your child is on a journey of development. In order to help them grow, you have to accept how they are right now, from a neutral place, and see it either as a part of their personality that hasn’t fully developed or a skill that they haven’t yet learned.  3 Negative Mindsets to AvoidWhen your kid behaves in a way you don't like, it's easy to make their behavior mean something negative - either about you as a parent, them as a person, or their future.All of these negative stories impact how you show up as a parent; and have a negative impact on your child.These are the three negative mindsets I see causing the most long-term harm.  #1: Making your child’s behavior mean something about you. If you look at your child’s behavior and think, “I’m a bad parent,” it makes it feel really personal. It puts you into your own story and takes you out of what’s going on with your kid. You might find yourself overparenting, being overly strict, harsh or mean. Often, this is where I see parents skip past calm and connection and go straight to correction and consequences. Behavior is a coping strategy, and the behavior you’re seeing is just information, data about where your child needs support, tools and skills. Instead of thinking, “How does this behavior affect me? How does it reflect on me?”, try asking, “How is this behavior going to affect my child? What skill is missing here? What do they need to learn?”When you see that they’re acting the way they are because they’ve overwhelmed and don’t know how to cope, you can show up with compassion and help them problem-solve.  #2: Making their behavior mean something about the future. This is where you find yourself jumping to the worst-case scenario. You assume that this negative behavior will play out long into the future and become a part of their identity. One example is that your kid lies to you, so you think, “they are going to become a liar.” Instead of giving them this negative self-concept, acknowledge that this is where they are right now, and they have so much time to learn and grow. Think back to when you were in middle school or high school. I’m guessing there were times when you (like me) said or did “bad” or inappropriate things that you didn’t necessarily know were wrong. You needed to be taught. Think about how much you’ve changed since that time. We all go through different versions of ourselves, and we learn through mistakes. But our core self is true and lovable and worthy and wonderful. Your child’s core is unconditionally worthy of love and acceptance. And some of their behaviors might need work. Your job as a parent is to help your kid learn so that they can grow into the person they’re meant to be.  #3: Making their behavior m

When kids lie, it can feel personal or like a moral issue. But just like so many other challenging behaviors, it is a strategy that your child uses to communicate their negative emotion. It’s normal kid behavior (not a character flaw). In this episode, I’ll share a handful of common reasons kids (or anyone for that matter) lie, why trying to get the truth out of them usually doesn’t work and what you can do instead when your kid lies.You’ll Learn:Common lies kids tell and what might be behind themWhy getting your child to confess isn’t actually that helpfulHow to step into your leadership energy to deal with misbehavior What your kid really needs when they’re using lies to copeYou don’t need to get caught up in the lie. Listen to learn how you can step into your leadership energy, connect with your kid, hold them accountable and move on! --------------------------------------Often, lying happens when your kid has a problem that they don’t know how to solve or get out of. It seems like an easy solution to them. They can just lie and avoid dealing with it altogether. It’s really as simple as that.We don’t need to cloud the issue with arguments about respect or disrespect. We can simply look at it as a skill gap. It is your job as a parent to teach your child how to solve problems in better ways.  Why Kids LieWhen you understand why your kid is behaving the way they are or using a certain coping strategy, it helps you to have more compassion as you look at the underlying issue and try to solve for it.Lying is interesting because the underlying motivations can be a little bit complicated. Sometimes, they lie and actually talk themselves into believing that what they’re saying is true. The underlying emotion that drives lying is usually fear of some kind, but it shows up in several different ways. These are the most common reasons kids lie.To Avoid Trouble. Maybe they forgot to feed the dog or do a chore. They don’t want to do it, and they don’t want to get in trouble for not doing it, so they tell you it’s already done. This can also show up with siblings in the old, “I didn’t do it; She did it,” type of argument. To Protect Themself (or you). Your child might want to protect their identity and your thoughts about them. They don’t want to see the disappointment or negative judgment on your face. They’re afraid that you won’t like them anymore or will think they’re a loser, a bad person, etc.They might also try to protect you from feeling disappointed in them. They want you to continue thinking they’re a good kid. To Get Something. Sometimes, kids lie to get something they want, like telling you their homework is done so they can have screen time. To Be Seen. We’ve all heard a kid tell a really grandiose story about themselves or something that happened in their life. These kids likely feel uninteresting or unimportant, and they lie in order to get someone’s attention. To Avoid Embarrassment. This can show up with kids who are being bullied (although there are many other things they might feel embarrassed to share, too). Either they can’t find a way to tell you or they don’t trust that you won’t tell someone else about it. Little kids, in particular, lie a lot. Especially under age 6, they want you to believe they’re good. They’ve found this strategy to avoid discomfort, so they go all in on it. If they see that you can handle their behavior and believe they’re a good kid, they’ll grow out of it. Connect with them, set a limit, give a correction and move on.  What To Do When Kids LieWhen our kids lie to us, we tend to have a lot of negative thoughts about them. We get really angry, so we're not neutral or curious about their behavior. That’s why, as always, getting calm is the first step. Get curious about their reason for lying. This is really helpful, because then you can tap into compassion and soothe that underlying fear that they have. Your response might change based on the need they are trying to get met with the lie. Don't corner your child. This is more challenging than it sounds because we feel strongly that we want our kids to confess. Especially as they get into the teenage years, it can feel like the decisions and behavior that they're lying about are dangerous. We get really worried, and we want them to tell us the truth so that we can problem solve with them. We might try to trap or trick them into telling us the truth, but this really isn’t helpful.Think about it from your kid’s perspective. If they admit to the lie, they're busted for two things. They're busted for the problem behavior, and now they're lying. So they might as well just stick to the lie. There’s no benefit to them to confess.Assume that they’re struggling, and that the lying is part of their coping. Don’t make it mean something terrible about them or about your relationship. Deal with the behavior, not the lying

Hearing your kid say, “I hate you” can be one of the hardest things to hear as a parent. Today, I’m giving you tangible, easy to apply strategies for handling “I hate you,” including ways to feel less upset by it and change the pattern. In this episode:Why kids say, “I hate you,” even though they don’t really mean itHow to protect your feelings Why saying, “I hate you” hurts your child, tooHow to change this pattern of behaviorYour child doesn’t actually hate you. They just don’t have the skill or language to describe their feelings in a healthier way (yet). Listen to learn how to give your kid better strategies for dealing with their big feelings and coach them toward emotional literacy.--------------------------------What Are They Actually Saying?When your kid tells you they hate you, it’s easy to jump to thoughts about how disrespectful, embarrassing and hurtful they are being. For the most part, kids don’t hate their parents. So, when they say, “I hate you,” what they’re usually trying to say is, “I hate this,” or “I hate this rule,” or “I hate this situation.”Your child is communicating their frustration, disappointment, anger or hurt about the circumstance they are in. The strategy they’re using is to blame you because, in their mind, you are what is blocking them from getting the thing they want. Handling “I Hate You”Of course, saying, “I hate you,” when they are disappointed is not how we want our kids to cope with negative emotion, so we will work to change the pattern. But we’re not trying to change the pattern because it’s disrespectful and rude. We want to change it because it hurts our child to communicate their emotion this way. It is not a healthy way to cope. What we may not always see is that after the “I hate you,” they also have to deal with guilt and confusion over saying that to someone that they really love. Our goal is to give them better tools to deal with discomfort and disappointment. Step 1: Get neutral (CALM)Start by reframing the statement. Remember that they are using that sentence to cope with discomfort or pain - a feeling that they don’t know how to deal with. Letting yourself know that it really isn’t about you will help you feel calm. Next, find the pattern that you want to change. Is there something that seems to trigger the  “I hate you”? Maybe it has something to do with screen time rules or when you tell them they can’t have a treat. Step 2: Talk to your kid about the words (CONNECT)Your child might not have the words for what they’re feeling or why they are upset. Have a connection conversation with them outside of the “I hate you” moment. Share the pattern that you’ve noticed, and help them name the anger, frustration, sadness, disappointment, hurt, or whatever they might be feeling. Here’s an example: Hey, honey, I've noticed a pattern that when you get really mad about something, you say, “I hate you.” And saying, “I hate you” makes a lot of sense because you are really angry and you want to tell me that. Listen, I know you don't actually hate me because we love each other so much. I think you’re trying to say, “I hate this. I don’t like your rules. I don’t like when you say no to me.” Give them some time to talk here, to complain a little about their life. Create space for their thoughts and feelings to come up. Just listen. Don’t try to defend yourself or convince them of anything. If there is something you do in that situation that is really causing a problem for them, take responsibility and apologize. Step 3: Problem solving (LIMIT SET)This is where we teach a new strategy. Set a limit with the goal of raising a kid who is able to communicate their real feelings with their parent (and others in their life). This is a kid who doesn’t have to show up in ways that don’t work and then feel bad about it and carry that guilt and shame. We want our kids to be able to talk about the situation and separate the situation from the person. We’re giving the message that it’s okay to be mad about a rule or a situation, but it’s not okay to make it personal and tell someone you hate them.Ask your child what they can say instead when they want to say, “I hate you.” Preview the situation and get their brain to think and problem solve in advance. They probably won’t always remember to use this new strategy, but you can practice and remind them of the plan. Example:I am not going to let you say, “I hate you” anymore because I know you don't hate me. I know you feel bad about it. I want you to be able to say, “I don't like the situation,” or “I hate this thing.” When you say, “I hate you,” I’m going to tell you to try again. Step 4: Delay the conversation (CORRECT)A big part of the parenting process is letting our kids make mistakes. They’re not always going to get this right and be able to self-correct in the moment. When things get heated, delay the conversation and consequences. Give

I want you to feel really great as a parent. I want you to get out of mom guilt and instead feel a deep sense of calm. This calm leads to confidence, compassion for your kids, clarity on what you should do, and so many other good things.What I've noticed, though, is that when moms first come to me, they often feel really embarrassed that they are not already calm. This mom feels ashamed that she yelled at her kid or emotionally checked out or was a little bit too physical. She thinks she should know better or that something is wrong with her. Listen to learn:Why it’s hard for you to feel calm (and it’s totally normal!)How getting calm is like learning to drive a carWhat to do after you lose it on your kidWhy shame is not the way to change your behaviorIf you can relate to that embarrassed mom, I want to tell you that there's nothing wrong with you. Today, I’ll help you learn how to feel more calm and less guilt.---------------------------------When You Don’t Feel CalmYou're human. You have a human nervous system and stress response. And raising children is stressful. Especially in the first 11 or 12 years, parenting is relentless. The waves keep coming and coming, and it feels like you never get a break.Sometimes, you might be able to catch yourself before you totally lose it on your kid. This is a great time for a Pause Break. When you notice that you’re starting to take your feelings out on your child, just stop. Like you’re slamming on the brakes. It’s going to feel weird and sudden. You can say, “You know what? I love you, but I don't want to yell at you. So I'm gonna go wash my hands.” Then, go and reset. Other times, we don’t even realize that we are overwhelmed or frustrated until we find ourselves yelling and losing our sh!t. We act our feelings out on our kid. And then later, we feel really bad about it.The truth is that, eventually, you always regulate yourself (or else you’d still be yelling hours later). Your brain comes back online, and you stop. The goal is to stop earlier and come back to calm more intentionally.  How To Get Out of Mom GuiltI see a lot of moms go into self-criticism with thoughts like, “I'm hopeless. I'm not like other moms. I'm not good enough. I'm not cut out for this.”We have this subconscious thought that if we’re mean enough to ourselves about how we acted, we can shame ourselves into behaving better. But shame doesn’t motivate. Shame creates pain, which just continues the cycle. That’s why we don’t do it for our kids, and I don’t want you to do it to yourself, either. As a woman, and especially as a mom, it is so easy to be so mean to yourself. But all that ends up happening is that you feel really hurt, sad and discouraged, and then you take those feelings into the next encounter with your child.When things escalate and you find yourself yelling before you pause, you don’t need to judge yourself for it. Instead, offer yourself the same compassion you offer to others. Just like we teach our kids, your feelings are okay. You might just need new strategies to handle your emotions.  What To Do When You Lose Your CoolSelf-compassion is so important after you lose it on your kid. It's time to step back and give yourself a bunch of love. You always have permission to pause. Literally just stop parenting for a moment, and go take care of yourself.Compassion is the way to move towards better behavior. It's a deep understanding of what was happening for you and a validation of that emotion. You can use the Connection Tool on yourself the same way you would use it with your child.Narrate the situation for yourself. Give words to what was so hard. What was the circumstance that triggered your big feelings? Instead of criticizing yourself, you can just say, “So, this morning sucked. That's not how I wanted my day to go.” Name the feeling. For example, “I'm feeling really disappointed.” Now what do you want to do next? How can you take excellent care of yourself? How can you soothe your disappointment? How can you feel this feeling and let it move through you?Find a small, soothing thing you can do for yourself that will make you feel a little bit better. When you take care of your emotions, you won’t dump that disappointment or frustration onto your kids.  Becoming More CalmBecoming calm is a process that requires a set of skills. It’s not something you are born knowing how to do.In the beginning, you may not be able to pause and reset until after the fact. That’s okay. You don’t need to judge how fast you were accelerating or how long it took you to put on the brakes. You can still give yourself compassion, soothe yourself and then think about how you want it to go next time. How do you want to handle it differently? What limit do you need here? Is there a routine you need to fix?After a while, you might catch yourself when you’re in the middle of yelling or lecturing. If you notice

My guest, marriage coach Maggie Reyes, and I are talking about the 4 essential elements of a great relationship, how they apply to marriage, parenting, and all types of relationships. Plus, we dive into how to reconnect with your spouse when you feel like you’ve been drifting apart and why they don’t have to change for your relationship to feel better.You’ll learn:How to shift your thoughts when you’re bored with your partnerWhat to do when you feel like you don’t matter to your partnerHow to reconnect (and it’s not just more date nights!)Where to look for clues about your values so you can be more intentional with your energyEven if you aren’t married, you’re going to want to stick around, because her model can be applied to any relationship in your life. _____________________Today’s guest, Maggie Reyes, is a marriage coach who is sharing her advice to make any relationship better. Even if you aren’t married, you’re going to want to stick around, because her model can be applied to any relationship in your life. We’re talking about the 4 essential elements of a great relationship and how they apply to marriage, parenting, and all types of relationships. Plus, we dive into how to reconnect with your spouse when you feel like you’ve been drifting apart and why they don’t have to change for your relationship to feel better. 4 Essential Elements of a Great RelationshipIf you’re in a relationship with someone that’s not feeling amazing, you might not even know where to begin. The four elements Maggie shares give us a starting point to narrow down where the issue(s) might be and offer possible solutions.They each come with their own question to get you started.Perspective. Is there a different way to look at this? For example, if you feel you aren’t getting what you need in a certain situation, is it possible that your partner is trying but not doing it the way you would want?Partnership. Are we on the same team? Do we have collaboration and rapport? This works like an emotional bank account. You need to make a lot of deposits into the partnership in order to make the withdrawals you want.Pleasure. Are we having fun and enjoying our connection? In a marriage, this also includes having a sexual connection. This is where tools like the Delight List I often teach come into play. Personal Power. Am I thinking that I matter? This allows you to explore what is and is not okay with you. You have to believe that you matter enough to even ask for what you want and need in the relationship. You get to ask for things that you find pleasing or delightful, and you get to say “no” to things that don’t fit your priorities and values.These elements are often connected. For example, if you’re enjoying each other’s company, you likely also have a strong rapport and partnership. If there is one that really stands out as you ask yourself these questions, that is a great place to focus your attention.  Give and Get What You Both NeedMaggie believes that people love us the best they can, but it isn’t always the way we want to be loved. You and your partner might express your feelings and what matters to you in completely different ways. Sometimes we miss each other or we miss the mark on what the other person wants or needs. We're trying to do things, and the other person isn't seeing them. It’s easy to tell ourselves, “Oh, they don’t care. They’re not thinking about me.” But often, this isn’t the case. A shift in perspective can help us see things that we weren’t noticing or looking for before, or we might see that they are expressing love in a different way that we would. Try asking what is meaningful to the other person. What would they like? What would be delightful when they get home? You may be scared of asking these questions because we think they’re going to want something that's beyond our capacity, but sometimes what our spouse needs from us is much simpler than we think. And because you matter, you can give feedback, too. I’ve experienced situations with my own husband when I had to tell him, “I love what you’re doing, but I don’t like the way you’re doing it.” Reconnect With Your SpouseBusy schedules, work, kids activities and chores fill our days and often leave us feeling disconnected from our spouses. In her work, Maggie sees a direct correlation. The people who struggle the most in marriage are the people who spend the least time together. The people who are thriving spend the most time together. The natural inclination in any relationship is to drift apart. So you have to choose to turn toward each other on purpose. Maggie’s suggestion is to build in small pockets of “together time”. This can be 5 minutes of coffee together in the morning or 20 minutes together to check in and just breathe after the kids are in bed. If you love date nights, that’s great, but they’re not required (thank goodness!). Making a plan to curl up o

If you’re tired of repeating yourself, yelling, punishing and keeping up with the dreaded sticker chart, I want you to know that there is a new way of parenting - one that actually works. Listen to learn:Why your kids don’t do what you tell them to (and you end up yelling)The 4 steps of the Calm Mama ProcessMy favorite sentence for validating feelingsHow to get help and learn a new way to parentWhen I became a parent, I realized that I didn't like the way it felt to be punitive. I didn’t want to yell, criticize or spank. I had to find a different way, but I didn’t really have any other tools in my toolbox to manage my kid’s behavior. So I learned a TON about different parenting styles. And I created my own toolbox. In this episode, you’ll learn the steps of the Calm Mama Process and what sets it apart from other parenting models and tools.----------------------------------I’ve been a mom for almost 20 years. And in the beginning, I thought I just needed to manage my kids' behavior and teach them how to be good people. I didn't really know much about it.I was raised with a traditional parenting model that used punishment or praise to keep kids in line. Nobody talked to me about feelings. Nobody cared about that. The adult world was the adult world, and the kid world was the kid world. When I became a parent, I realized that I didn't like the way it felt to be punitive. I didn’t want to yell, criticize or spank. I had to find a different way, but I didn’t really have any other tools in my toolbox to manage my kid’s behavior. So I learned a TON about different parenting styles. And I created my own toolbox. In this episode, you’ll learn the steps of the Calm Mama Process and what sets it apart from other parenting models and tools. Parenting StylesThere are four main parenting styles out there.Authoritarian parenting, which is very strict. This is where we hear a lot of, “Do it because I said so.”Authoritative parenting (this is what I teach), where there is a balance between respecting feelings while also holding boundaries. A mixture of being strict and connected. Permissive parenting in which there are no boundaries. Neglectful parenting, which is also thought of as uninvolved or detached parenting.  A New Way To ParentWhen my kids were young, I was trying to do traditional parenting stuff, like time outs and sticker charts, and my kid’s behavior was escalating rather than improving. Then, I learned about what we now call gentle parenting. You may also hear it referred to as nonviolent or compassionate parenting. I learned that feelings drive behavior, and behavior is a form of communication of emotion or unmet emotional needs.When I started using these gentle parenting tools, my son’s long, intense tantrums became less intense, happened less often and were over more quickly. And it didn’t take long for me to notice a change.I see this over and over with my clients. As soon as the parent starts to practice genuine connection, the child's Big Feeling Cycles decrease. The Calm Mama ProcessOver time, I created the Calm Mama Process, a parenting approach that includes both emotional coaching (helping your kids with their feelings), as well as how to set boundaries and follow through with consequences.The process is made up of 4 steps: Calm, Connect, Limit Set & Correct. Calm is the first step of the process, but it was actually the last one to come about. I saw my clients getting amazing results with the other three steps, but I was also hearing the same problem come up over and over again. The process worked…except when they were mad. In those moments, they couldn’t remember the steps and the scripts or what to do. Their stress and inability to manage their own emotion was standing in the way. Calm has to come first. It is all about YOU - managing your stress, your nervous system, your mindset (aka your thoughts about situations, your kids and yourself as a parent) and your self-care. When you are calm, you’re able to stay in your thinking brain (instead of being reactive) and follow through on the other steps. Connection is where you get curious about what feelings are behind your kid’s behavior. You narrate what you see, name what your child might be feeling and coach them through it. Isn’t possible to always emotionally coach your kids. It’s exhausting, and it doesn’t really give them motivation to change their behavior. Commands also don’t create motivation, and threats and bribes use fear to motivate (which feels yucky for you and for them).So we need some other tools. Limits help you create structure and routine so that your kid knows what to expect and what you expect from them. They also deliver the “rule” in a way that makes your child think. The limit setting formula goes like this: You are welcome to _______ as long as _______.&

When I first became a parent coach, I talked a lot with moms about how feelings matter. Over the past 15 years, I’ve seen a shift. Now there's a lot of awareness about emotions and validation, but I find myself talking more and more about how important it is to have consequences and teach kids that their behavior has an impact.In this episode, you’ll learn: Why gentle parenting information is often incompleteWhy it’s not enough just to stop yelling and talk about feelingsHow we experience real-life consequences as adults (and how we can use it as a model for parenting)How to protect your own energyThis confusion over, “Ok, I validated their emotion. Now what?” is why I teach the limit setting formula and the concept of restitution. When you’re calm AND you put limits, consequences and connection all together, you are teaching your child how to integrate all the parts of their brain. It’s a complete parenting model to raise emotionally healthy humans. Listen to learn how.--------------------------------------Parenting culture in the US has come a long way in terms of recognizing and validating our kids' emotions. And at the same time, we’re seeing more instances of the “accidentally permissive parent”. Why Permissive Parenting HappensIn a recent study of parents who were practicing gentle parenting principles, 40% said that they actually don't know what they're doing.Many of these parents have values around staying calm during a conflict, not yelling, identifying and naming their child’s emotions and trying to help their kid cope with those emotions. They’re trying to break cycles of shame and punishment and pain. This is amazing and beautiful. But it is incomplete, because they don’t know what to do with the misbehavior. There isn’t really language around setting limits or having consequences. This confusion over, “Ok, I validated their emotion. Now what?” is why I teach the limit setting formula and the concept of restitution. When you’re calm and you put limits, consequences and connection all together, you are teaching your child how to integrate all the parts of their brain. It’s a complete parenting model. Over time, you end up with an emotionally healthy person who knows how to manage their feelings in ways that work for them and others. That is our goal.  How to Avoid Being an Accidentally Permissive ParentMany moms who are interested in gentle parenting (also called compassionate or nonviolent parenting) are familiar with the first two steps of the Calm Mama Process: Calm and Connect.In CALM, you regulate your own emotions. This might include healing from past trauma and definitely includes managing your stress levels. In CONNECT, we name, validate and emotionally coach our kids through their Big Feeling Cycles.I believe we need to take connection a step further, and help our kids manage their big feelings within limits.When your kid is struggling with a big feeling, you might feel like you can't set a boundary. You might want to let the misbehavior go because they’re already upset. You don’t want to bring on more big feelings by dealing with the misbehavior. You can be firm while still recognizing your kid’s feelings. In a situation where a kid is throwing things or hitting, this might look like The Hard No. “Everyone stays safe here. You can have your big feelings, but you cannot hit me.” LIMIT SET is the third step. Here, you set clear limits and what your child may do (or what you’re willing to do), and hold your boundaries. For example, you tell your child they can play outside after they’ve finished their homework. They aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do, and time’s up. We’re not going to play outside. When you hold a limit, your kid is going to have feelings about it. They’re going to be uncomfortable, disappointed, mad or sad. When your kid is upset because you’re holding firm to your limit, they might try to negotiate with you to get what they want. If you can hold the line and let them struggle a little bit, they will find a way to move through the emotion.  Finally, we CORRECT any misbehavior that happened. When your kid makes a mistake, they fix it. Consequences don’t have to involve pain and shame. You can practice empathy and compassion while following through with a consequence. Consequences are not about threats or fear. It’s about teaching our kids to think through their actions and the result of those actions. To recognize when their behavior has caused a problem for someone else and fix their own mistakes. It takes a long time to parent a child to become an adult. So we bring in small ways to show them that their behavior has an impact. “Hitting your brother causes a problem. Here’s how you can fix it.” “Not cleaning up your toys causes a problem. Here’s how you can fix it.” You might be thinking, “Darlynn, this sounds like an awful

I’m just gonna say it. Parenting is confusing! There are a lot of decisions to make, and you want to be an amazing mom for your kid. In this episode, I’ll explain why parenting is so confusing and offer some words of encouragement that I hope will make you realize that you’re already doing a great job.We’ll talk about:Why parenting is confusing (it’s not just you!)How parenting is like learning to driveWhat it looks like to be a beginner and how to advance your skills in parentingIf you are struggling in your parenting and you are confused and overwhelmed, I want to say that's normal. Nothing's wrong with you. Listen to learn how to embrace being a beginner and build confidence in your parenting skills.---------------------------------------As a parent, there are a lot of times when you don't know what to do. You think you should know, so then you feel bad because you don't know. You judge your confusion, and it's a whole messy spiral.Especially in the beginning, you might think, “What is wrong with me? I have no idea how to do this. I'm so overwhelmed.” I want you to know nothing is wrong with you. Why Parenting Is ConfusingThe reason parenting is confusing is simply because you have never done this before. It's normal to feel confused in the beginning of doing something new.Parenting is a long line of decisions and things you need to learn how to do, from when and how to introduce solid foods to signing your kid up for sports to teaching them how to drive.There are lots of opinions out there, from friends, family and, of course, the internet, but YOU are the one who has to decide. It feels like you're flying blind. You make the best decision you can with the information you have and see what happens.This doesn’t always feel great, but it’s the same with anything new that you’re learning how to do.  Being a BeginnerI’ve taught three teenagers to drive (both of my sons and my nephew), and I was struck by how little the kids actually knew about how to drive. They thought they knew because they'd been in a car a lot. They'd watched their parents drive. But when they got in, they barely knew where the brake was and they had no idea how much pressure to use on the pedals or how far to turn the steering wheel.Parenting is the same. You had parents or other adults who raised you. You’ve seen other people parent. Maybe you’ve even read books about it. But doing it yourself is a whole other story.I want to release you from the guilt or the shame around thinking that you should know better and give you permission to be a beginner, especially in the first 7 or 8 years of parenthood. This is not something that you should be great at right out of the gate.You’re already a great parent because you’re a wonderful human, but these unique experiences of parenting are new. You have not dealt with this before. For now, I want you to adopt a beginner mindset in parenting like you would with any other skill. Right now you’re looking for answers, figuring things out and deciding what areas you should seek out help with.  Building Your Parenting SkillsEvery time we want to we do something new, especially if it matters to us, we learn. We get help, we find a teacher. The cool thing is that as you do something, you learn the basics and start to get better at it. Some of those basic things that you used to feel confused about no longer feel so confusing.You get to know your kid a little bit more. You make some decisions and build up experience and wisdom. You start to realize that you’ve already figured out a bunch of things, and you’re not necessarily a beginner anymore. You’re more of an advanced beginner.Not everything feels so heavy and hard and weighted, and not everything feels like it's going to matter for the long term.You realize that parenting is about making choices, and when they don’t work out, it’s not a problem. We can pivot. Not everything you or your child does at 4 years old is what will be happening at 14. And as you move into the intermediate stage, you use your beginner skills to problem solve and build even more confidence as a parent.  An Instruction Manual for ParentingParenting isn’t confusing because you don’t have the intuition for it or you're not cut out for it or because something’s wrong with you. It's an actual skill gap.Just like someone taught you how to drive and to deal with obstacles along the road when they came up, sometimes you need actual teaching in parenting. You need new skills and “advanced” level parents who have gone ahead of you, who've seen a lot of obstacles, who've gone through these scenarios and can give you perspective and can tell you what's coming down the road.People often joke, “I wish this kid came with an instruction manual.” And it's not a joke. It's a legit desire. Because this stuff is hard!That's why I have spent the last 12 years trying to create the instruction manual for parent

If you’re a mom, you know there are times when you don’t like your kid. Of course, you always love and care about them and want what’s best for them, but there are also tough stages or times when they’re showing up in ways you just really don’t like. This happens to parents all the time, but it’s something we hardly ever talk about (because we’re ashamed of feeling this way). In this episode, you’ll learn:Why only you can control the way you think and feel about your kid (no more waiting for them to change)Examples of how to reframe behavior and use it as information2 simple exercises you can do right now to shift to a more positive view of your childHow your feelings toward your kid are like an Instant PotListen in to learn how to change your thoughts and feelings about your child so that you can shift out of that yucky place of judgment, anger and resentment, find compassion and improve your relationship.-----------------------------------------------If you’re a mom, you know there are times when you don’t like your kid. Of course, you always love and care about them and want what’s best for them, but there are also tough stages or times when they’re showing up in ways you just really don’t like. .This happens to parents all the time, but it’s something we hardly ever talk about (probably because we feel ashamed for feeling this way). We think we aren’t supposed to have these negative feelings about our kids. When You Don’t Like Your KidThe truth is, there are stages of parenting that are really hard. Little kids fight for more power. Teenagers try to define themselves and might show up with values that don’t feel good to you. Personalities clash. Your kid has big feelings that they don’t know what to do with. These challenges can be even bigger if your child is neurodivergent or has experienced trauma in their lives.I want you to know that, no matter what is going on, your kid is not just an asshole. They’re not wired to be a jerk. They are a human struggling with their negative thoughts and big feelings, and they don’t know how to handle it.These are hard things to be around, so it’s normal if there are periods of time when you don’t really like your kid that much.It becomes a problem when you stay stuck in that place and start to harbor resentment, frustration and anger. When you bring that “dislike” energy and all of your negative opinions and thoughts into your relationship, the dislike (and even disgust) grows. You act unkindly toward them, they get defensive or attack you back, and you can end up in a really yucky place.And if you feel overwhelmed by the frustration and hurt and want to emotionally check out, you’ll lose that connection, too.It’s easy to think that your child needs to change their behavior or personality in order for you to feel differently about them. But this is pretty much completely out of your control, and as you wait for them to change, the relationship gets worse and worse. How To Shift From “Dislike” To “Like”There is a better way, and it starts with you. The strategies below will help you to change how you are thinking and feeling about your child so that you can shift out of that yucky mindset and improve your relationship.So much of parenting is about your mindset, which is great because you have control over how you think about something (including your kid and their behavior). Your thoughts then create your feelings, and your feelings drive the way you show up and act with your kid.You get to choose how you think and feel about your child. You can also reframe the way you think about their behavior, remembering that behavior is always an expression of how that person is feeling. What’s going on inside of them is showing up on the outside. This idea can help us be more curious and compassionate, and it is the root of gentle parenting. The Delight ListThis is one of my favorite tools for building closer connections between moms and their kids (or really anyone in your life).It’s an exercise that helps you train your brain to look for the good things about your child. Here’s how to create your Delight List:Write a list of 30 things that you like about your childRead this list aloud to someone - your partner, your friend, your mom, or your parent coach Commit to reading your list once a day.Think "delightful thoughts" while you are near your child.Tell your child one thing you enjoy or like about them each day.If you need some help, here are a few prompts to get you started:I like [blank] about my kid.My kid is really good at [blank].I feel the most happy when my kid does [blank]. II know my kid is great because [blank].Write your delight list in a journal, on your computer, in the notes section of your phone, speak it in a voice memo, or add it to your journal. Do it in a place where you can look at it a few times. The more you practice delight, the more you’ll feel it.The “I'm Mad at You” LetterSometimes, you can’t find t

You’ve probably heard about the value of play for kids, but did you know that it’s just as important for adults? Today, I’m joined by TJ Matton, who helps people find enjoyment in the everyday, playful ways to manage stress, and empowering ways to greater fulfillment.You’ll Learn:The value of play - for kids and adults alikeWhy we stop playing in the first placeHow embracing play affects your parentingWhere to start if you’re feeling stuckListen in to hear playing in your own way helps you organically manage your time, feel embodied and find purpose and meaning in everyday life. -----------------------------------------TJ Matton is a social worker, psychotherapist, coach, and educator. Through her business, The Playful Revolution, she helps adults learn to liberate their minds and bodies through play. Most people automatically associate play with children (or playing with kids). But play is a primal need of all humans, and TJ’s goal is to help adults re-engage their natural drive for play. Why Do We Need Play?Besides the fact that it’s enjoyable, play is a tool that we can use to regulate our nervous systems and manage our stress responses.In her work with moms, TJ has explored how mom rage is related to a play-deprived state. When we yell and scream at our kids, it gives us a feeling of power and control. It puts us back into our bodies. But we can get these same feelings from play…without the wave of guilt, shame and embarrassment that often comes after an episode of mom rage. Play helps us release the pent-up energy in our bodies and shift out of an activated state more easily. We often think of being playful as silly or humorous. And while it can look this way, play is really about being interested, engaged, curious and connected. It can be physical, intellectual or in our imaginations. Even tasks like cooking can be playful, if you’re feeling engaged and creative in the process.  Why Do We Stop Playing?As kids, play is everything! So, what happened?  VulnerabilityFor adults, play can bring up feelings of vulnerability, powerlessness or fear of failure.It requires us to abandon power dynamics. We might have to change rules or adjust a game to even the playing field and make it playful and fun for everyone involved. And there is often some risk taking involved. The point of play is to test limits, like when you build the tallest tower you can, knowing that it will fall.  This limit testing means that we are going to fail pretty much every time (and that’s what’s supposed to happen). But the older we get, the less acceptable we see failure to be. Instead, we can look at life from a place of curiosity and resilience. “My tower fell over, but that’s what’s supposed to happen. I didn’t do anything wrong. Now I get to try again. I wonder how tall I can get it next time?” Previous experiencesOur learned response to play also plays a role in how we approach it as adults. As a child, were you often told that your play was too loud, big, chaotic or messy? Were there gender expectations put on your play?  Gender differencesThe majority of girls lose play between the ages of 8 and 11. 70% of girls drop out of sports between 7 and 10 years old. They start to shift focus to peer and family relationships and behavioral expectations of being well-mannered and kind. They are encouraged to get out of self-connection and prioritize others instead. Types of PlayMost of us have an idea of what play “should” look like. TJ tells us that play isn’t something we have to go out and do. It’s more of a state we try to achieve. An experience that we feel within ourselves of feeling interested and engaged. Our play is like a blueprint of ourselves, and it is continuous throughout our lifetimes. This is so powerful because it means that the playful part of you is not gone. It is still there, waiting. And reconnecting to your preferred style of play feels like coming home to yourself.TJ introduces the 8 play personalities outlined by Dr. Stewart Brown and what play typically looks like for some of these common personalities. Some examples are kinetic play, which uses the body; competitive play, which challenges the player to accomplish something within a set of rules; exploration; collecting things; and jokers who are drawn to humor and vibrancy.She also highlights that some of us thrive as solo players, while others prefer parallel play or collaborative play.  Obstacles to PlayIf play is so good for us (and it’s enjoyable), why aren’t we doing it? TJ says that the biggest obstacles she sees are the expectations that we put on ourselves and expectations we feel from others. Those expectations are stressors that push the body down. Many of us have a story in our minds about how we “should” be. But where d

You know how some moms’ kids seem to listen to them and others don’t? What is it that makes some kids listen and follow directions more than others? What is it that allows the parent to have more ease in those moments?I believe leadership has a huge impact. In today’s episode, I’m talking about leadership energy in parenting and how it can shift the dynamic of your home (in a good way!).We’re getting into:The benefits of bringing leadership energy into parenting momentsHow to get more compliance and ease in your family (and less chaos and arguing)How to build the leadership traits of clarity, commitment, confidence and calmThis episode is an invitation to you to see the value of leadership and the value of connecting with your own leadership energy. --------------------------------------------What kind of energy are you bringing to your parenting, the decisions you make and the way you show up with your kids? I believe leadership has a huge impact on how well your kids listen to you, the ease you feel and the overall dynamic of your home.Individuals with leadership energy seem to be able to get people to work together and motivate people to follow their vision and plan. What I’ve seen with parents is that when you bring that leadership energy, there is a lot more compliance and ease and less chaos and arguing.  Why Is Leadership Important in Parenting?You may not be a leader in your job, but inside the four walls of your home, someone has to be in charge (and it’s not the kids). As the adult, you know what’s best. You understand time and money and nutrition and sleep. Your kids don’t. Plus, kids are wired to look to the adults around them for safety and to be guided and taught. The energy that you bring to that role will impact the way your kid responds. Imagine a situation where you ask your child to do something (get dressed, clean up their toys, get in the bathtub, etc.). When you tell your kid what to do, they will have some kind of response to it. They’re humans, after all, with their own personalities, desires and interests. If they don’t want to do what you’ve asked, you’re going to see some resistance and protest. This might look like ignoring you, saying “no”, complaining or negotiating.What happens next can go a couple different ways… Without Leadership EnergyYour kid’s resistance makes you feel powerless, overwhelmed, angry or resentful. You might think, “I don't have any control over this kid.”Often, the parent then tries to get the kid to buy in and agree to what they’re being asked to do. It turns into convincing or coercing them to behave a certain way. You might notice yourself explaining why something is important (and they usually start arguing back). Or maybe you try to bribe them with a promise of some future reward (which they’ll also try to negotiate). Or the threats of punishment come out and you use fear to try to get them to comply. Shame or comparison might even make an appearance. “Other kids get to school on time. Why can’t you?”When we get into these convincing strategies, we’re communicating that we feel out of control and we’re not sure how this is going to go. And it actually makes your kid feel unsafe because they’re looking to you to be the grown-up. On some level they know they shouldn’t be the one in control. These ineffective strategies come out when you feel like you’re backed into a corner and you don’t know what else to do.I want to offer that you DO know what to do. You have tons of evidence from times when your kids have listened to you. Maybe not always on your timeline or without protest, but you do know how to get what you want from your kids. With Leadership EnergyThe opposite of convincing is confidence. When you are in your leadership energy, you show up like, “100% these people are going to school” or “This kid is 100% going to bed.” You have clarity about what needs to happen. You’re committed because you know the outcome is inevitable.You may not know how long it’s going to take, but that kid is going to put their pajamas on and get into bed.Let yourself notice that, in fact, most nights your kid does put on their pjs and go to bed. Look for the patterns and evidence that you DO get the result you want. You ARE capable. You are the grown-up and you know best. 4 Traits of Leadership in ParentingThere are four common traits that make a strong leader, and they are skills you can learn and practice.#1: Clarity You see the big picture of how you want something to go. You are the grown-up, you have a lot of experience and you know what is best. If you aren’t feeling clear on what needs to happen, start by asking yourself what you want it to be like.Your kid might protest, but you know that feelings come and go, and feelings are okay. You can acknowledge feelings without changing your goal, having to negotiate,

Victoria Yates is back on the podcast today to talk with me about teaching kids to love their bodies and have a great relationship with food and their bodies. We’re addressing some of the challenges and fears that we face as parents, how society has told us to view our bodies, and then she’ll share some strategies to help you support your kid’s health in a positive way.Victoria is an intuitive eating and body image coach for women. She is also a former labor & delivery and pediatric nurse. The last time she was here, we talked about how we, as women, can heal our relationships with our bodies and move toward body acceptance and self love at a deeper level. Today, we’re taking it a step further to develop a body positive dynamic for the whole family. If you’ve been here for a while, you know that my mission as a parenting coach is to heal the next generation in advance. To help our kids get to adulthood without a bunch of trauma and insecurity that they need to heal from. One of the things that women (myself included) are healing from is our relationship with our bodies and with food. What would it be like if our kids didn’t need to heal these wounds? What is Body Positivity?Recent culture tells us that a small body = health. And there’s pushback against body positivity by people thinking this means that accepting our bodies means that health isn’t important anymore. Victoria explains that her idea of body positivity is not that there are good or bad bodies. Everyone has a different body. It’s a part of human diversity. Body positivity is really about saying, “This is the body that I was given,” and being a little more neutral and accepting of it. We aren’t all made to be one specific size, and there are a lot of factors that go into our size and weight. Some are things we can control, like our eating habits, movement, sleep and stress. But a large component also comes from our genetics. And our bodies are always changing. You can think of your relationship with your body like a relationship with another person (e.g. your kid or your spouse/partner). You’re always learning new things about them. You might be frustrated with them at times, but the acceptance and love is still there.  What Our Culture Says About BodiesThere is an anti-fat bias in our society. On the flip side of that, there is privilege that comes with being thin. Society uses our bodies to decide what is beautiful, healthy and even moral. And this translates into seeing a fat body and labeling it as not beautiful or healthy, like they’ve done something wrong. Living in a body that isn’t accepted by society comes with the risk of being made fun of or passed up for opportunities. As parents, this can feel scary. We want to keep our kids safe, and they are more likely to be valued in society if they are in a thin body. You might jump to thinking, “I’ve gotta put my kid on a diet,” or “I’ve gotta make sure they move.”I see these concerns about weight and body shape come in often around age 9 or 10, as kids are entering puberty. Their bodies are changing in a lot of ways, and kids seem to put on weight before they have growth spurts (not a doctor here, just an observation). It can be scary for parents to see those changes, and I sometimes see diet culture start to creep in. Victoria shares that most of her adult clients first started dieting in their teenage years. This can be generational, starting with a girl going to a Weight Watchers meeting or doing a diet plan with her mom. The truth is, people might judge your kid by the way they look. We can’t control that. They might even judge your parenting based on how your kid looks. It can be really hurtful. So how do we own the idea that their body is the right size, they’re in a relationship with their body and food and that they’re learning and figuring it out?It starts with the question, “What are you actually worried about - health or fitting in?”Victoria shares a few strategies parents can use to help their kids develop body positivity.  Teaching Kids To Love Their BodiesWhen it comes to food and bodies, instead of focusing on weight and size, here are some emotionally healthy frameworks to consider.Focus on health-promoting behaviors: movement, nutrition, sleep hygiene, being outside, and spending time with others. (Instead of focusing on weight loss.)The book Health At Every Size explains that the things we do, not our weight, determine our health. Eating intuitively, moving our bodies regularly, sleeping well and managing stress are the factors that actually impact health. Our weight is secondary. Ultimately, we want to cultivate a home environment that promotes a healthy relationship with food and body. Look at what your kid is doing and what habits are encouraged in your home. Are you bringing nutritious foods into the house? Are you moving as a family? Practice the d

Over the past 15 years, I’ve seen a shift in our society’s approach to parenting. We’re moving away from punishment and shame and toward compassion (I love it!!). But gentle parenting has its pitfalls, too. Today, I’m talking about why consequences matter and how you can use natural and logical consequences to help your child understand and take responsibility for the impact of their behavior without hurting your relationship. A Shift From Traditional To Gentle Parenting I've spent the last 15 years advocating for a shift in the way we approach discipline and consequences with our children. In the early days, it was revolutionary to me to learn that I didn't have to use pain, punishment, shame, spanking or time-outs to get through to my kids. Teaching parents this new, more compassionate approach was an uphill battle. These days, more and more moms are aware of gentler parenting philosophies. I’ve been able to see firsthand the shift that has happened over the last decade and a half. In working with moms of different generations, I’ve seen that Gen X struggles a lot more with trying to release themselves from those punitive measures and lecturing and shaming. It’s a lot of work. We didn’t have a model or map for this, but you’re here listening. You’re doing the work.In millennial parents, there is a deeper desire to show up for your kids with compassion. You’re connected and committed, and I love it. I also want you to see that permissive parenting is a pitfall of gentle parenting. We need to still parent our children, which means we need to help them understand that their behavior has a result.We’ve reached a point where parents are so aware of not wanting to hurt their kids that they’re often afraid to say no, to acknowledge that a behavior is causing a problem or to follow through with consequences. Why Consequences MatterThis shift to a gentler parenting approach can even go so far as not wanting our kids to experience any kind of discomfort and doing whatever we can to prevent that from happening. We try to rescue them from their own choices and behavior, from the results of their own actions.What I find myself teaching more and more now is that consequences aren’t mean. They’re necessary. It isn’t wrong to teach your kids that their behavior has an impact that is not okay.I completely understand the desire to protect your kids from discomfort. But the truth is, if you constantly rescue your kids and don't let them experience the negative impact of their behavior, their behavior will not change.The way that we teach our kids that their behavior causes problems is by showing them the problems and letting them experience the impacts of their behavior. If you don't bring impacts to your kids, how do they learn? What alternative do you have? You can talk and explain, but experience is the teacher.You can be firm. You can be strong. You can be the leader in your family. And you can do these things without being harsh, mean or hurting your relationship with your child.We do this by using natural and logical consequences, rather than punitive ones that focus on punishment, pain and shame. Natural and Logical ConsequencesNatural and logical consequences are two ways to let your kid experience the impact of their behavior. With natural consequences, the impact comes to your child. It is a direct result of their choice.For example, you provide breakfast before school. Your kid chooses not to eat, so they’re going to feel hungry later. You did your part by giving them the opportunity to eat. A hungry belly is a good lesson. They’ll feel a little uncomfortable, but they aren’t going to starve because they’ll have other chances to eat later in the day.With logical consequences, you bring the impact to your kid so that they see the connection between their behavior and the result of their behavior. Sometimes a natural consequence takes a long time to play out (e.g. hitting and insulting their sibling now might mean they don’t have a good relationship later) so we, as parents, need to bring the impact a little closer to our kids. Experiencing that impact is the motivating factor for them to change their behavior. The difference between a logical consequence and a more traditional punishment is that it isn’t our goal to make them feel pain or shame. Logical consequences usually start with a limit. For example, “You’re welcome to go play or use screens after your homework is finished.” So logically, if they don’t finish their homework, playtime or screentime doesn’t come. I also often teach the concept of restitution - restoring back the impact and fixing the mistakes that your behavior caused. Sometimes we have to get a little creative with these impacts. If you’re stuck, think of the three main resources we have: time, energy and money. Which of these is your kid’s behavior affecting? There is always a way you can transfer that impact bac

We all have them, those days when things are going well, you’re having a nice day with the kids and things feel easy…But then a switch gets flipped and everything goes to crap. In this episode, you’ll learn my process for resetting crappy moments so you can get back to feeling calm and connected (and maybe even have a little fun!).I know firsthand the challenges that come with managing unexpected meltdowns and dysregulated behaviors. Maybe your kid has a tantrum and you have no idea why or you hit your threshold before you even realize you’re starting to feel overwhelmed. Bonus points if you’re at the grocery store, out to eat or visiting someone else’s home. When Happy Turns to CrappyThis scenario of things escalating quickly is so common. I see it sometimes at restaurants. A family comes in and orders food. The kids are doing fine. They’re occupied while they wait for the food to come and eat it really fast because they’re hungry. Then, they start to act out. Mom’s thinking, “All I wanted to do was sit here and enjoy myself. Now my kids are super wild, and I don't know what to do. Do we leave? Do we not leave?” She’s about to lose it (and maybe she does).The problem here is that the kids now have full bellies. They have energy to burn and don’t know what to do while they sit and wait for everyone else to finish eating. And when mom runs out of patience and becomes harsh or starts to make threats, the situation escalates. Why Crappy Moments HappenIn these moments, your child's amygdala, the part of their brain that activates the stress response, is sounding an alarm. At the restaurant, it might be triggered by boredom or restlessness. This discomfort causes your child to become dysregulated, so they come up with strategies to communicate or cope with that uncomfortable feeling (like getting noisy or wild with their body). They’re feeling a certain way and showing it with their body. But we tend to bypass the emotion and jump straight to “fixing” the behavior. When your child is dysregulated and acting out, your brain is going to tell you to start threatening and punishing. To discipline the behavior and get them back in line. It sees their behavior as a threat. But this is not the time for consequences. It will only escalate the situation even more. Resetting Crappy MomentsThe first step is to simply recognize that these moments happened. At first, you might only realize it after the fact, but with practice you’ll learn to see it while it’s happening. When you feel like things are going off the rails and your kids are escalating and things are just really hard and feel awful, I want you to take a pause break with everyone. When you notice that your child is having feelings about something, take a moment to address it. This might mean pausing a conversation or activity. In the restaurant scenario, you could take the child aside or go sit next to them and calmly say, “We need to talk here for a second.” Taking this pause to calm yourself and your child comes from a leadership energy of believing that you are actually in control here. You know what to do. You know how to reset. Rather than making commands or threats, turn to your child and connect with them. Either in your own mind or with your kid, narrate what is happening and name the emotion that might be causing it. Then ask them what they’re going to do next. Empower them to make a decision about the next steps. Set some limits, and if they can’t hold them, you’ll have to pivot. If that pivot costs you anything (time, money, energy, etc.), it has an impact that you’ll pass back onto your kid later (aka a consequence). We don’t let our kids get away with bad behavior. Your child’s feelings are valid, their behavior makes sense, and they're still responsible for the impact of their behavior.I want your kid’s nervous system (and yours) to calm down before you deliver the consequence. This is what I call delaying a consequence.  When you take a beat to regroup, pause, connect and limit set, you are actually teaching your children how to pause and reset themselves. The long-term goal is that our kids will be able to notice when they’re getting dysregulated, they’ll have words for what they’re feeling and they will have healthy ways to cope with those feelings. It’s a life skill that will benefit them forever. The process is always the same. You and your kids can learn and practice it right alongside each other. Head to my website to learn more about upcoming programs and how you can get the tools and support you need. As you move through this week and challenging moments come up, ask yourself, “Can I choose my peace in this moment? Can I choose my kid’s emotional well-being in this moment?” You’ve got this, Mama! Take a pause, give yourself a chance to reset and start again. You’ll Learn:Common scenarios when things get off-t

In compassionate parenting, we talk a lot about emotions. In today’s episode I’m explaining the 5 emotional needs of kids, how unmet needs show up in behavior and how you can support your child’s emotional health.In last week’s Parenting 101 episode, I talked about the core needs of attachment and authenticity for humans, including how we can teach better coping strategies while validating our kids’ emotions and authentic selves.This week, we’re diving deeper into what is really going on when your child is misbehaving. Remember, feelings drive behavior. As parents, we can use our kids’ behavior as information to help them deal with the emotions underneath. 5 Emotional Needs of KidsThese five needs are essential for all of us, and anytime we have a need that isn’t being met, we’ll look for a strategy to cope or try to get what we want. The same is true of our kids.Please don’t judge yourself as we go through these. It is not your responsibility to meet every one of these needs at all times, but it is important to recognize that when your child has an unmet need, they will have feelings about it (fear, worry, sadness, etc.) and these will show up in their behavior. AttachmentFor humans, attachment means safety. Kids need to feel safe, secure and connected in their relationship with their parents. An unmet need for attachment feels unsafe, insecure, worried, anxious, scared or hurt. AcceptanceThis relates to our core need for authenticity, the ability to be accepted for who we are, without conditions or expectations. Your child doesn’t want to believe that they have to earn your love. They want to feel like, at their core, they’re great and there is nothing wrong with them. When kids start to sense that they aren’t being accepted for their authentic self, they might feel rejected, unwanted, neglected or abandoned.AffectionOur children thrive on physical touch and affection. This physical affection can serve as a symbol of your connection and attachment. Unmet affection needs show up as feelings of loneliness, fear or sadness. AppreciationWe all have work to do in the world. We have a primal need for our lives to matter and to feel like we have purpose. Even kids need to feel seen and that they matter. They need to feel valued and recognized for their efforts and achievements. Feeling unappreciated can also look like feeling unworthy, disapproved of or even unlovable. AutonomyKids crave a sense of independence and control over their lives (as becomes obvious when they learn the word “no” as toddlers). The need for agency and autonomy is there at all ages, but becomes especially true during the teen years. In order to go out into the world, they need to believe that they have power over their lives and be trusted with that power. When this need isn’t met, we feel powerless, trapped and scared.  Supporting Your Kids’ Emotional NeedsI sometimes call this therapeutic parenting, because you’re learning how the brain and psychology work so that you can become your child's emotional coach, guiding them through navigating their emotions and understanding their needs.When you see arguing, blaming, stalling, hitting, kicking, spitting, complaining, intense crying, hiding, lying or other challenging behaviors, you can get curious about what feelings and unmet needs are underneath.Step 1: Tune into your child’s emotional state. Be present, listen actively, and offer empathetic responses. Our kids need to feel seen, heard, and valued for their emotional experiences. We need to be present and attuned to their needs, but it doesn’t mean we have to solve every problem for them. Step 2: Recognize the need. Get curious about what need isn’t being met. As you look at your child’s behavior, ask yourself what is going on under the surface? What is the unmet emotional need here? Then, narrate to your child what they might be missing. This will help them start to understand themselves more and communicate their needs.Step 3: Offer solutions. Try to give them a little way to get that need met. Sometimes, our kids don't need us to solve the problem. They just need us to acknowledge their feelings and provide a supportive presence while they figure it out. They need to know their grown-ups have their back and they can trust them.  When a child feels that deep sense of safety, then they can take risks, problem solve, be creative, play and feel good. When they are able to be themselves, express their feelings and get their needs met, they are less anxious and irritable. There are fewer behavior problems because your kid feels good. This attachment comes from having a warm, attuned interaction with you. When you do this over and over, your child starts to learn that they can handle their feelings, they know how to take care of themself and that they can trust their parent. They grow up to be more content and know how to get their needs met. We wa

As we kick off 2024, it seemed like a good time to return to the basics of compassionate parenting. Plus, “Parenting 101” is a really fun title for our 101st episode! Today, I’ll walk you through some foundational principles and invite you to think about what you want to focus on as a parent this year. The Basics of Human NeedsIn his book, The Myth of Normal, Gabor Maté talks about the two essential needs of humans - attachment and authenticity. Attachment is what drives human behavior. It’s primal. Our nervous system is wired to seek physical and emotional closeness with other humans because we are safer when we are in a community. This need is even stronger in children, because they are completely dependent on their caregivers for a pretty long period of time. The attachment between child and caregiver is vital to their survival. This attachment looks like physical safety, biological needs being met and emotional safety. Ultimately, if I feel attached, I feel safe. The second primal need is authenticity. This means being able to know yourself and express who you are inside. This is a more individualized drive to understand ourselves, and includes building our intuition, trusting our gut and knowing what we’re capable of. It is at the root of self-esteem and self-concept.Ideally, we want to feel unconditional attachment with the freedom to express our true selves.  The Struggle Between Authenticity and AttachmentTension arises when being our authentic self threatens our attachments. This can happen a lot during childhood.  Kids (and all humans) express their thoughts and feelings through behavior. What often happens is if the caregiver finds the behavior unacceptable, they detach from the child or do other things that threaten their sense of attachment and safety. In parenting, this might look like:Time outsSpankingIgnoring our kidsOnly giving them our attention when they’re behaving the way we wantTime outs are often used as a punishment, rather than the original intent of providing a break for the child to calm themselves. The message is that your behavior (and therefore you) is not acceptable, and you cannot be here with us until you can act right. It tells them that your attachment is conditional on behavior. Spanking is another example where attachment is broken. The message is that you are going to hurt their body in order to teach them how to behave. Ultimately, they learn that they are not safe when they misbehave.You can threaten attachment to get control over your kids and manipulate them into behaving a certain way, but they’ll likely develop a low self-concept in the process. The child only learns to be performative. They try to figure out how to get their needs met through behaving a certain way, which leads to suppressing emotion, people pleasing and insecurity. It turns into a feeling that, at their core, they are not okay. Kids are constantly looking for reassurance that they are safe in the relationship and that they can rely on the adults around them. Attachment should never be conditional. The process I teach allows you to acknowledge that your child is struggling, set limits around the behavior and help them handle their feelings in a way that works for everyone. You can think of this more as a “time in”. On the flip side, when we reassure our kids of our unconditional love, they grow into adults who are secure and feel safe and worthy. They’ll be able to take risks, work toward big dreams and overcome obstacles. If you’re using any of these strategies I’ve mentioned, I don’t want you to freak out, blame yourself or think you’re a “bad” parent. These are traditional strategies designed to get compliance. Realize that you do these things because you don’t know what else to do with misbehavior. You aren’t intending to hurt your children. You just don’t have the tools and skills (yet). By reading this blog or listening to this podcast, you are learning a new way.  Parenting 101: The StrategiesThe strategies I teach are meant to give you the skills for parenting in a way that your kids won’t have to heal from. We do this by strengthening our kids’ feelings of attachment, safety and authenticity. The most important thing to remember about behavior is that it is always driven by feelings or unmet needs. There are behaviors that we need to work on, but we’re not going to use attachment as a way to control our kids. Instead, we reassure them that the attachment and our love is never in question as we guide them toward better behaviors.  Communicate Your Unconditional AttachmentWhen misbehavior happens, your kid will be upset when you follow through on a consequence. Younger kids, especially, might worry that you don’t love them. You can hold your limit while still reassuring them. “Listen, you’re safe. You’re okay. I’m not mad at you. This is just part of learni