Do your kids stress you out? Do you find yourself becoming anxious when you think about their behavior, and how it might impact their future? Do your children know how to “push your buttons” and draw you into an argument?
If so, you're not alone. While parenting has its rewards and joys, it can also be exhausting, frustrating and challenging. Many parents wish they could have a peaceful home with less conflict and more understanding.
What's the most effective way to learn how to be a calm parent? Believe it or not, it starts with focusing more on yourself and less on your kids. You have the most control over yourself and your response to a given situation.
Learn positive parenting tips and calm parenting techniques in these articles from Empowering Parents.
Why is it so difficult to control our anger with our kids? There are many reasons, but I think it’s mainly because we allow ourselves to get angry and lose control. When we react emotionally to our kids and lose control, we’re allowing our kids to determine how we behave rather than the other way... Read more »
Our kids have the uncanny ability to get under our skin and bring out the very worst in us. We can lose our tempers and yell at our kids in a way that we would never do with a child who wasn't our own. Indeed, we often treat our loved ones the worst. Here's the... Read more »
Patience. It’s something many of us in the Empowering Parents community wish we had more of. In my coaching sessions, I often ask parents how they respond when their children act out. Most express the desire to develop more patience with their kids. But what exactly is patience? For many people, including me, patience means remaining... Read more »
Sometimes we parents don’t think we are anxious because we are not trembling in our boots. Often there is no visible sign of how anxious we are. Yet when we look inside our heads, we notice that we spend a lot of time thinking about our kids—sometimes scary thoughts about things that haven’t even happened.... Read more »
What’s one of the keys to avoiding constant fights with your child? Believe it or not, it’s the same skill that will help you through any crisis situation—your ability to remain calm. When your child is upset, anxious or angry, keeping your cool is half the battle. It’s a way for you to put out... Read more »
“I can’t take it anymore. My child is so disrespectful to me—especially in front of other people. I feel like a failure as a parent.” “My teen is failing three classes. She’s throwing her life away. I’m so worried about her I can’t sleep.” “My kid makes me crazy. He’s so angry and hardheaded. He always has... Read more »
If you need your child to behave for you to be calm, then you give your child tremendous power. They now control your emotions, and you feel overwhelmed and powerless. You will be much more effective as a parent if you can stay calm no matter what. “Calm?! How am I supposed to be calm when... Read more »
Have you been looking back on the last year, reflecting on how things went with your child? If so, perhaps you feel frustrated when you think about his or her behavior—and your reaction to it. Maybe you feel like no matter what you do as a parent, nothing changes. But understand that positive change can... Read more »
Kids grow up watching you for a living, and let’s face it, they learn pretty quickly how to push your buttons. It might be back talk, or constant complaining or eye-rolling, but whatever the behavior, nearly every parent will occasionally lose their temper with their kids. Many parents control their emotions most of the time. However,... Read more »
As a parent, you naturally worry about your child's future. It's part of being a parent, and it makes sense. A healthy dose of worry motivates you to set limits and keeps your child safe and on the right track. Nevertheless, too many of our worries are excessive and just don't make sense. Especially when we... Read more »
