Enter your email address to receive our FREE weekly parenting newsletter
|
Mar
13
|
|||
 This week, my 13 year old son’s verbal abuse turned physical for the first time. Needless to say, the incident really shook me up, and I ended up phoning the Parental Support Line of the Total Transformation Program for help. Here’s what happened: My son refused to eat leftovers at home the other night. He wanted to go out for a sit-down dinner. I didn’t want to give in to his tantrum. Then again, I worry when he won’t eat. I decided to get us out of the tense situation by bringing him to a church function with me, along with stopping by a fast food place on the way. | |||
Blog Posts by Lola Howle
|
Feb
13
|
|||
My 13 year old son with ADHD is as big as I am and when he refuses to comply, I often lose my temper. That’s when my son’s ability to manipulate goes into high gear. As soon as I lose it, he dramatically flinches. My guilt meter shoots off the chart. Pretty soon, consequences for his behavior are forgotten. It’s an unhealthy cycle that does nothing to help my son learn problem solving skills. | |||
|
Dec
01
|
|||
A little while ago, I blogged about starting to address my 13-year-old son’s offensive language. The changes started slowly, but he showed some improvement with consistent feedback. Whenever he slipped, he lost a specific video game or went to bed earlier. But the issue still hangs on. We both need more practice. | |||
|
Oct
17
|
|||
I’ve been thinking about the realities of being a so-called single parent. “So-called” because, although I may be divorced, the challenge of raising my son does not always include the feeling of being alone. Often, I feel inundated by advice from all sides: my mother, my friends, my son’s father, teachers, counselors, church members, the clerk at Wal Mart, political candidates — you name it, they want to tell me how to raise my 13 year old son. | |||
|
Oct
06
|
|||
I’m proud to say I have seen a glimmer of hope with my 13 year old son recently. Deciding to start small, I began addressing his bad language. Like most people, I slip occasionally and let fly a curse word or two in his presence. (Sometimes related to something he did or didn’t do.) I sat him down a few weeks ago and told him to clean up his language because it sounds (and is) disrespectful to me, his grandmother and anyone else who happens to be within earshot. I explained that I would participate in this with him, as well. (Doesn’t hurt to set a good example!) | |||
|
Sep
05
|
|||
Hi, my name is Lola Howle and I just became a “parent blogger” for Empowering Parents. Here’s a short run-down of where I am now: I recently got the Total Transformation program and began using it to help me with my 13-year-old ADD son. He is a genius at running over me, using abusive language, stopping just short of physical aggression. I look at my introduction to the Total Transformation as going back to Square One in my own childhood and learning structure, patience and logical consequences. I can’t remember ever having a curfew or structured consequences in my upbringing, so have nothing to draw upon in dealing with my son. | |||
